EventLog.MinimumRetentionDays Property

Definition

Gets the number of days to retain entries in the event log.

C#
[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)]
public int MinimumRetentionDays { get; }
C#
[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(false)]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
public int MinimumRetentionDays { get; }

Property Value

The number of days that entries in the event log are retained. The default value is 7.

Attributes

Examples

The following example enumerates the event logs defined on the local computer, and displays configuration details for each event log.

C#
static void DisplayEventLogProperties()
{
    // Iterate through the current set of event log files,
    // displaying the property settings for each file.

    EventLog[] eventLogs = EventLog.GetEventLogs();
    foreach (EventLog e in eventLogs)
    {
        Int64 sizeKB = 0;

        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("{0}:", e.LogDisplayName);
        Console.WriteLine("  Log name = \t\t {0}", e.Log);

        Console.WriteLine("  Number of event log entries = {0}", e.Entries.Count.ToString());

        // Determine if there is an event log file for this event log.
        RegistryKey regEventLog = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("System\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\EventLog\\" + e.Log);
        if (regEventLog != null)
        {
            Object temp = regEventLog.GetValue("File");
            if (temp != null)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("  Log file path = \t {0}", temp.ToString());
                FileInfo file = new FileInfo(temp.ToString());

                // Get the current size of the event log file.
                if (file.Exists)
                {
                    sizeKB = file.Length / 1024;
                    if ((file.Length % 1024) != 0)
                    {
                        sizeKB++;
                    }
                    Console.WriteLine("  Current size = \t {0} kilobytes", sizeKB.ToString());
                }
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("  Log file path = \t <not set>");
            }
        }

        // Display the maximum size and overflow settings.

        sizeKB = e.MaximumKilobytes;
        Console.WriteLine("  Maximum size = \t {0} kilobytes", sizeKB.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine("  Overflow setting = \t {0}", e.OverflowAction.ToString());

        switch (e.OverflowAction)
        {
            case OverflowAction.OverwriteOlder:
                Console.WriteLine("\t Entries are retained a minimum of {0} days.",
                    e.MinimumRetentionDays);
                break;
            case OverflowAction.DoNotOverwrite:
                Console.WriteLine("\t Older entries are not overwritten.");
                break;
            case OverflowAction.OverwriteAsNeeded:
                Console.WriteLine("\t If number of entries equals max size limit, a new event log entry overwrites the oldest entry.");
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
    }
}

Remarks

Use the MinimumRetentionDays property to examine the current setting for an event log. Use ModifyOverflowPolicy to change the minimum number of days that each entry in the event log must be retained.

The MinimumRetentionDays value depends on the configured overflow behavior of the event log. If the OverflowAction property for an event log is set to OverwriteAsNeeded, then the MinimumRetentionDays value is 0. If the OverflowAction property for an event log is set to DoNotOverwrite, then the MinimumRetentionDays value is -1. If the OverflowAction property for an event log is set to OverwriteOlder, then the MinimumRetentionDays value is greater than zero, and represents the number of days to retain event log entries when the event log is full.

The overflow behavior only occurs when an event log reaches its size limit. When an EventLog has its OverflowAction set to OverwriteOlder, and the event log reaches its maximum size, then new entries are written only if they can replace entries whose age exceeds the MinimumRetentionDays period. Retaining event entries for a minimum period is appropriate when the event log is archived regularly. Otherwise, you risk losing new entries when the event log reaches its limit. To avoid losing new event information, set the minimum retention days for events based on your archive schedule for a particular event log.

Applies to

Produkt Versioner
.NET 8 (package-provided), 9 (package-provided), 10 (package-provided)
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0 (package-provided)
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

See also