Delete and recover packages

TFS 2017

Azure Artifacts safely stores different types of packages in your feed, whether you published them directly or saved them from upstream sources. As older package versions fall out of use, you might want to clean them up either manually or automatically by using retention policies.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Delete packages from feeds.
• Set up retention policies to automatically delete older packages.
• Recover recently deleted packages from the Recycle Bin.

Note

To delete/recover packages or set up retention policies, you must be a feed Owner.

Delete packages

Maven

1. Select Build and Release, and then select Packages.

2. Select your feed, and then select the package that you want to delete.

3. Select Delete latest to delete the latest version of your package.

   

In Azure Artifacts, packages are immutable. When you publish a package to your feed, its version number will be reserved permanently. You can't upload a new package with that same version number, even if you delete it from your feed.

npm

There are two options to delete an npm package from your feed:

• Deprecate: When you deprecate a package version, a warning message is added to the package's metadata. Azure Artifacts and most npm clients will display the warning message whenever the package is viewed or installed.
• Unpublish: Unpublishing a package version makes it unavailable to install. Unpublished packages can be restored from the Recycle Bin within 30 days of deletion. After that, the packages will be permanently deleted.

In Azure Artifacts, packages are immutable. When you publish a package to your feed, its version number will be reserved permanently. You can't upload a new package with that same version number, even if you delete it from your feed.

Note

You must be a Contributor to deprecate a package and an Owner to unpublish it.

1. Select Build and Release.

2. Select Packages, and then select the package that you want to delete.

3. Select Deprecate or Unpublish latest.

   

Deprecate or unpublish an npm package by using the CLI

1. Set up your client's .npmrc file.

2. Use the following command to deprecate an npm package:

   npm deprecate <package>[@<version>] <message>
   

   Use the following command to unpublish an npm package:

   npm unpublish <package>@<version>
   

Note

The npm unpublish command won't unpublish all versions of the package. For more information, see the deprecate or unpublish documentation.

NuGet

Two options are available to delete a NuGet package from your feed:

• Unlist: Unlisting a package version hides it from the search results in Azure Artifacts feeds and on NuGet.org.
• Delete: Deleting a package version makes it unavailable to install. Deleted packages can be restored from the Recycle Bin within 30 days of deletion. After that, the packages will be permanently deleted.

In Azure Artifacts, packages are immutable. When you publish a package to your feed, its version number will be reserved permanently. You can't upload a new package with that same version number, even if you delete it from your feed.

Note

You must be a Contributor to unlist a package and an Owner to delete it.

1. Select Build and Release.

2. Select Packages, and then select the package that you want to delete.

3. Select Unlist or Delete latest.

   

Unlist a NuGet package by using NuGet.exe

1. Select Artifacts, and then go to your feed. Select Connect to feed.

   

2. Select NuGet.exe, and then find and copy your Package Source URL.

3. Run the following command:

   nuget.exe delete <PACKAGE_NAME> <PACKAGE_VERSION> -Source <PACKAGE_SOURCE_URL> -ApiKey <KEY>
   

Note

Azure DevOps and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server interpret the nuget.exe delete command as an unlist operation. To delete a package, you must use the REST API or the web interface.

Python

1. Select Artifacts, and then select your feed.

2. Select the package that you want to delete, and then select Delete latest.

Note

You must be a feed Owner to delete a Python package.

Universal Package

1. Select Artifacts, and then select your feed.

2. Select the package that you want to delete, and then select Delete latest.

Note

You must be a feed Owner to delete a Universal Package.

Note

Packages sent to the Recycle Bin will be deleted permanently after 30 days. However, these packages still count as part of your storage bill. If you want to delete them sooner, go to the Recycle Bin and delete them manually.

Delete packages automatically with retention policies

The number of versions for each package hosted in your feed can grow quickly. To free up storage space, you can set up retention policies to automatically delete old packages.

If you want to retain a package indefinitely, you can promote it to a view. Packages promoted to a view are exempt from retention policies and won't be deleted.

Note

Package demotion is not supported. If you want this feature to be added to future releases, feel free to use Suggest a feature on our Azure DevOps Developer Community page.

To configure retention policies:

1. Select Build and Release.

2. Select Packages, and then select the gear icon to access your feed's settings.

   

3. From the Retention tab, enter values for:

   • Maximum number of versions per package: How many versions of a package you want to keep.
   • Days to keep recently downloaded packages: Packages will be deleted only if they haven't been downloaded for the number of days set in here.

   

4. Select Save when you're done.

Note

When you enable package retention, a version of a package will be deleted when both of the following criteria are met:

• The number of published versions reaches the Maximum number of versions per package limit.
• A version of that package has not been downloaded for the period defined in Days to keep recently downloaded packages.

What happens with old or existing packages when we enable retention policies?

Old or existing packages will be soft-deleted and moved to the Recycle Bin. The deletion job runs once a day, but there might be an initial delay after the policy is turned on for the first time because of an influx of packages.

Packages remain in the Recycle Bin for 30 days before they're permanently deleted. To remove the packages from your billable storage, you can choose to delete them manually by using the UI or the REST API before the 30 days are up.

Recover deleted packages

Deleted packages will remain in the Recycle Bin for 30 days. After that, they'll be permanently deleted. You must be a feed Owner to recover deleted packages.

1. Select Build and Release, and then select Packages.

2. Select Recycle Bin.

   

3. Select the appropriate package, and then select the package version that you want to delete.

   

4. Select Restore to feed.

   

Related articles

• Understand upstream sources
• Feeds permissions
• Configure upstream sources
• Promote a package to a view