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RN214 OS6.10.10 Snapshots
I found this post from 2021, but I am not seeing what I expect from snapshots.
I have had this config for a long time, let's assume >2Y. I expected a monthly snapshot to be retained, as the daily>weekly>monthly promoted snapshots are cleared out - specifically the last bullet point above.
However, what I see is snapshots back to the start of Aug'26:
I am a bit confused that promoted monthly snapshots are not being retained; I have 5.75TB / 14.54TB free, and my NAS is powered on 24/7 - although I do have disk spindown enabled.
Am I misunderstanding the way promoted snapshots work?
23 Replies
Check the snapshot pruning setting in the volume settings. While you have enough free space for the default setting, perhaps you inadvertanty changed it.
Thanks, volume settings>snapshot pruning is set to 90%.
Also, current snapshot size is only 627MB, so I'm not sure it's a size problem. Maybe quantity limit?
volume settings>snapshot pruning is set to 90%.
Which is the default, and it seems unlikely that you'd have gotten anywhere close to that that theshold at the beginning of August.
Also, current snapshot size is only 627MB, so I'm not sure it's a size problem. Maybe quantity limit?
That shouldn't matter.
I expected a monthly snapshot to be retained, as the daily>weekly>monthly promoted snapshots are cleared out - specifically the last bullet point above.
Have you downloaded the log zip file? There could be useful clues in there.
As an aside, I personally don't recommend "smart" snapshots (and won't use them myself). The reason is that the the monthly snapshots are retained for ever - which will eventually result in a full volume. Instead I set a reasonable snapshot retention limit, and only write snapshots when something in the share has change.
I analysed the NAS status.log and found the NAS simply starts deleting snapshots for no apparent reason!
Some snapshots have been present for >600 days. I have attached a file which shows every snapshot created/deleted, along with some stats like how old it made it. I also tried to attach the original log file, but this forum wouldn't accept (maybe size of post?). Some points:
- Snapshot #11
- created 2023-10-30, deleted 2025-07-05, age 614 days
- Snapshot #120:
- Created 2025-08-17, deleted 2026-04-25, age 275 days
- Both times, snapshots were completly removed over a period of a few weeks
I am open to sharing any more info to help better understand what is going on, but right now I'm thinking smart snapshot manageent is too random to be reliable.
Processed file showing snapshot history/info (it seems I can't insert the whole file, so here are some snips):
Column summary: Date Snapshot created date C# Created snapshot # D# Deleted snapshot # Depth Current number of snapshots Log/created date C# / D# Date of snapshot Depth days Current snapshots # 2023-10-09 00:00:17 C 1 1 oldest: 0 [1] 2023-10-12 00:00:18 C 2 2 oldest: 3 [1, 2] 2023-10-14 00:00:19 C 3 3 oldest: 5 [1, 2, 3] 2023-10-15 00:00:22 C 4 4 oldest: 6 [1, 2, 3, 4] 2023-10-17 00:00:21 C 5 5 oldest: 8 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 2023-10-18 00:00:22 C 6 6 oldest: 9 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] 2023-10-19 00:00:25 C 7 7 oldest: 10 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] 2023-10-20 00:00:26 C 8 8 oldest: 11 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] 2023-10-25 00:00:24 C 9 9 oldest: 16 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] 2023-10-26 00:00:24 C 10 10 oldest: 17 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] 2023-10-30 00:00:23 C 11 11 oldest: 21 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] 2023-11-05 00:00:17 C 12 12 oldest: 27 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] 2023-11-05 23:53:59 D 1 2023-10-09 00:00:17 age: 28 11 oldest: 25 [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] 2023-11-06 00:00:17 C 13 12 oldest: 25 [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] 2023-11-10 00:01:13 C 14 13 oldest: 29 [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-10 00:54:27 D 2 2023-10-12 00:00:18 age: 29 12 oldest: 27 [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-12 10:55:21 D 4 2023-10-15 00:00:22 age: 28 11 oldest: 29 [3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-14 07:55:55 D 5 2023-10-17 00:00:21 age: 28 10 oldest: 31 [3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-16 20:56:03 D 7 2023-10-19 00:00:25 age: 28 9 oldest: 33 [3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-16 20:56:03 D 6 2023-10-18 00:00:22 age: 29 8 oldest: 33 [3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-17 08:56:10 D 8 2023-10-20 00:00:26 age: 28 7 oldest: 34 [3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] 2023-11-19 00:00:07 C 15 8 oldest: 36 [3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15] 2023-11-20 00:00:09 C 16 9 oldest: 37 [3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] 2023-11-24 21:51:36 D 10 2023-10-26 00:00:24 age: 29 8 oldest: 41 [3, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] 2023-11-24 21:51:36 D 9 2023-10-25 00:00:24 age: 30 7 oldest: 41 [3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]2023-12-08 23:56:44 D 3 2023-10-14 00:00:19 age: 56 8 oldest: 39 [11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21] 2023-12-09 00:00:27 C 22 9 oldest: 40 [11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22] 2023-12-17 08:59:33 D 15 2023-11-19 00:00:07 age: 28 8 oldest: 48 [11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22] 2023-12-18 12:00:18 D 16 2023-11-20 00:00:09 age: 28 7 oldest: 49 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22] 2023-12-21 00:00:20 C 23 8 oldest: 51 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23] 2023-12-24 00:00:18 C 24 9 oldest: 54 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24] 2023-12-28 00:00:17 C 25 10 oldest: 58 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25] 2023-12-29 00:00:24 C 26 11 oldest: 60 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26] 2023-12-31 00:00:44 C 27 12 oldest: 62 [11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27] 2023-12-31 00:06:02 D 19 2023-12-03 00:00:59 age: 28 11 oldest: 62 [11, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27] 2024-01-03 09:06:23 D 21 2023-12-06 00:00:29 age: 28 10 oldest: 65 [11, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27] 2024-01-03 09:06:23 D 20 2023-12-05 00:00:28 age: 29 9 oldest: 65 [11, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]...
2025-04-16 00:00:27 C107 21 oldest: 533 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107] 2025-04-18 00:00:29 C108 22 oldest: 535 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108] 2025-04-20 00:00:30 C109 23 oldest: 537 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109] 2025-04-21 00:00:02 C110 24 oldest: 538 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110] 2025-04-22 00:00:04 C111 25 oldest: 539 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111] 2025-04-23 00:00:06 C112 26 oldest: 540 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112] 2025-04-26 00:00:05 C113 27 oldest: 543 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113] 2025-04-27 00:00:36 C114 28 oldest: 544 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114] 2025-05-04 00:00:02 C115 29 oldest: 551 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-04 00:27:20 D104 2025-04-06 00:00:55 age: 28 28 oldest: 551 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-05 09:28:08 D105 2025-04-07 00:00:28 age: 28 27 oldest: 553 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:04 D112 2025-04-23 00:00:06 age: 29 26 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:05 D111 2025-04-22 00:00:04 age: 30 25 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:05 D110 2025-04-21 00:00:02 age: 31 24 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:05 D109 2025-04-20 00:00:30 age: 32 23 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:06 D108 2025-04-18 00:00:29 age: 34 22 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 107, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:06 D107 2025-04-16 00:00:27 age: 36 21 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 106, 113, 114, 115] 2025-05-22 10:54:07 D106 2025-04-09 00:00:29 age: 43 20 oldest: 570 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 113, 114, 115] 2025-06-03 13:56:47 D115 2025-05-04 00:00:02 age: 30 19 oldest: 582 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 113, 114] 2025-06-03 14:56:55 D114 2025-04-27 00:00:36 age: 37 18 oldest: 582 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103, 113] 2025-06-21 13:00:14 D113 2025-04-26 00:00:05 age: 56 17 oldest: 600 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101, 103] 2025-06-21 14:00:22 D103 2025-03-19 00:00:03 age: 94 16 oldest: 600 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95, 101] 2025-06-21 15:00:31 D101 2025-02-28 00:00:21 age: 113 15 oldest: 600 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87, 95] 2025-06-21 17:00:39 D 95 2025-01-31 00:00:14 age: 141 14 oldest: 600 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82, 87] 2025-06-24 14:50:28 D 87 2024-11-30 00:00:20 age: 206 13 oldest: 603 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76, 82] 2025-06-25 06:50:37 D 82 2024-10-25 00:00:15 age: 243 12 oldest: 604 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73, 76] 2025-06-25 07:50:45 D 76 2024-09-15 00:00:26 age: 283 11 oldest: 604 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72, 73] 2025-06-25 08:50:53 D 73 2024-08-26 00:00:22 age: 303 10 oldest: 604 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60, 72] 2025-06-25 09:51:01 D 72 2024-07-29 00:00:15 age: 331 9 oldest: 604 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48, 60] 2025-06-26 12:51:09 D 60 2024-06-30 00:00:17 age: 361 8 oldest: 605 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40, 48] 2025-06-26 13:51:17 D 48 2024-05-31 00:00:06 age: 391 7 oldest: 605 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35, 40] 2025-06-27 15:51:26 D 40 2024-04-20 00:00:16 age: 433 6 oldest: 606 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33, 35] 2025-06-28 17:51:34 D 35 2024-03-28 00:00:08 age: 457 5 oldest: 607 [11, 18, 27, 31, 33] 2025-06-29 20:51:42 D 33 2024-02-24 00:00:09 age: 491 4 oldest: 608 [11, 18, 27, 31] 2025-06-30 09:51:51 D 31 2024-01-25 00:00:15 age: 522 3 oldest: 609 [11, 18, 27] 2025-06-30 10:51:59 D 27 2023-12-31 00:00:44 age: 547 2 oldest: 609 [11, 18] 2025-06-30 14:52:07 D 18 2023-11-27 00:00:05 age: 581 1 oldest: 609 [11] 2025-07-05 10:52:16 D 11 2023-10-30 00:00:23 age: 614 0 no active snapshots2025-07-05 10:52:16 D 11 2023-10-30 00:00:23 age: 614 0 no active snapshots 2025-07-06 00:00:24 C116 1 oldest: 0 [116] 2025-07-07 00:00:24 C117 2 oldest: 1 [116, 117] 2025-07-16 00:00:25 C118 3 oldest: 10 [116, 117, 118] 2025-07-20 00:00:54 C119 4 oldest: 14 [116, 117, 118, 119] 2025-07-24 00:00:22 C120 5 oldest: 17 [116, 117, 118, 119, 120] 2025-08-01 00:00:15 C121 6 oldest: 25 [116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121] 2025-08-03 12:16:03 D116 2025-07-06 00:00:24 age: 28 5 oldest: 27 [117, 118, 119, 120, 121] 2025-08-04 10:16:19 D117 2025-07-07 00:00:24 age: 28 4 oldest: 19 [118, 119, 120, 121] 2025-08-13 13:18:41 D118 2025-07-16 00:00:25 age: 28 3 oldest: 24 [119, 120, 121] 2025-08-17 18:19:59 D119 2025-07-20 00:00:54 age: 28 2 oldest: 24 [120, 121] 2025-08-21 00:00:05 C122 3 oldest: 27 [120, 121, 122] 2025-08-22 00:00:05 C123 4 oldest: 28 [120, 121, 122, 123] 2025-08-28 00:00:01 C124 5 oldest: 34 [120, 121, 122, 123, 124] 2025-08-29 15:55:48 D121 2025-08-01 00:00:15 age: 28 4 oldest: 36 [120, 122, 123, 124] 2025-09-18 10:57:33 D122 2025-08-21 00:00:05 age: 28 3 oldest: 56 [120, 123, 124] 2025-09-19 08:57:49 D123 2025-08-22 00:00:05 age: 28 2 oldest: 57 [120, 124] 2025-09-20 00:00:25 C125 3 oldest: 58 [120, 124, 125] 2025-09-21 00:00:56 C126 4 oldest: 59 [120, 124, 125, 126] 2025-09-24 00:00:08 C127 5 oldest: 61 [120, 124, 125, 126, 127] 2025-10-12 00:00:46 C128 6 oldest: 80 [120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128] 2025-10-14 00:00:15 C129 7 oldest: 81 [120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129] 2025-10-19 12:27:02 D126 2025-09-21 00:00:56 age: 28 6 oldest: 87 [120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129] 2025-10-24 00:00:10 C130 7 oldest: 91 [120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130] 2025-10-30 00:00:10 C131 8 oldest: 98 [120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131] 2025-11-01 00:00:09 C132 9 oldest: 100 [120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132] 2025-11-02 00:00:44 C133 10 oldest: 101 [120, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133] 2025-11-09 14:35:19 D128 2025-10-12 00:00:46 age: 28 9 oldest: 108 [120, 124, 125, 127, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133] 2025-11-11 13:35:28 D129 2025-10-14 00:00:15 age: 28 8 oldest: 110 [120, 124, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 133] 2025-11-15 11:36:25 D125 2025-09-20 00:00:25 age: 56 7 oldest: 114 [120, 124, 127, 130, 131, 132, 133] 2025-11-21 17:38:25 D130 2025-10-24 00:00:10 age: 28 6 oldest: 120 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 133] 2025-11-22 00:00:27 C134 7 oldest: 121 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134] 2025-11-27 00:00:24 C135 8 oldest: 126 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135] 2025-12-01 14:29:57 D133 2025-11-02 00:00:44 age: 29 7 oldest: 130 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135] 2025-12-04 00:00:02 C136 8 oldest: 133 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136] 2025-12-05 00:00:02 C137 9 oldest: 134 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137] 2025-12-07 00:01:01 C138 10 oldest: 136 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138] 2025-12-15 00:00:22 C139 11 oldest: 144 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139] 2025-12-16 00:00:23 C140 12 oldest: 145 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140] 2025-12-24 00:00:47 C141 13 oldest: 153 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141] 2025-12-25 00:00:19 C142 14 oldest: 154 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142] 2025-12-27 00:00:20 C143 15 oldest: 156 [120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143] 2025-12-27 00:53:56 D132 2025-11-01 00:00:09 age: 56 14 oldest: 156 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143] 2026-01-03 17:54:29 D137 2025-12-05 00:00:02 age: 29 13 oldest: 163 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143] 2026-01-03 17:54:29 D136 2025-12-04 00:00:02 age: 30 12 oldest: 163 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143] 2026-01-05 00:00:12 C144 13 oldest: 165 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144] 2026-01-05 00:54:38 D138 2025-12-07 00:01:01 age: 29 12 oldest: 165 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144] 2026-01-09 00:00:10 C145 13 oldest: 169 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145] 2026-01-11 00:00:11 C146 14 oldest: 171 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146] 2026-01-12 12:57:55 D139 2025-12-15 00:00:22 age: 28 13 oldest: 172 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146] 2026-01-14 23:58:04 D140 2025-12-16 00:00:23 age: 29 12 oldest: 175 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146] 2026-01-15 00:00:07 C147 13 oldest: 175 [120, 124, 127, 131, 134, 135, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147] 2026-01-20 12:58:30 D134 2025-11-22 00:00:27 age: 59 12 oldest: 180 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147] 2026-01-21 15:58:46 D141 2025-12-24 00:00:47 age: 28 11 oldest: 181 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147] 2026-01-22 12:58:54 D142 2025-12-25 00:00:19 age: 28 10 oldest: 182 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147] 2026-02-07 16:05:45 D145 2026-01-09 00:00:10 age: 29 9 oldest: 198 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 144, 146, 147] 2026-02-07 16:05:46 D144 2026-01-05 00:00:12 age: 33 8 oldest: 198 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 146, 147] 2026-02-11 09:06:27 D146 2026-01-11 00:00:11 age: 31 7 oldest: 202 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 147] 2026-02-12 10:06:59 D147 2026-01-15 00:00:07 age: 28 6 oldest: 203 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143] 2026-02-15 00:00:44 C148 7 oldest: 206 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 148] 2026-02-21 00:00:09 C149 8 oldest: 212 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 148, 149] 2026-02-23 00:00:13 C150 9 oldest: 214 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 148, 149, 150] 2026-02-26 00:00:11 C151 10 oldest: 217 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 148, 149, 150, 151] 2026-03-01 00:00:43 C152 11 oldest: 220 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152] 2026-03-15 12:40:56 D148 2026-02-15 00:00:44 age: 28 10 oldest: 234 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 149, 150, 151, 152] 2026-03-25 17:42:07 D150 2026-02-23 00:00:13 age: 30 9 oldest: 244 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 149, 151, 152] 2026-03-29 14:42:38 D152 2026-03-01 00:00:43 age: 28 8 oldest: 248 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 149, 151] 2026-03-30 16:42:46 D151 2026-02-26 00:00:11 age: 32 7 oldest: 249 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143, 149] 2026-04-18 10:44:21 D149 2026-02-21 00:00:09 age: 56 6 oldest: 268 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135, 143] 2026-04-19 11:44:29 D143 2025-12-27 00:00:20 age: 113 5 oldest: 269 [120, 124, 127, 131, 135] 2026-04-22 09:44:37 D135 2025-11-27 00:00:24 age: 146 4 oldest: 272 [120, 124, 127, 131] 2026-04-24 10:44:46 D131 2025-10-30 00:00:10 age: 176 3 oldest: 274 [120, 124, 127] 2026-04-24 20:44:54 D127 2025-09-24 00:00:08 age: 212 2 oldest: 274 [120, 124] 2026-04-25 10:45:02 D124 2025-08-28 00:00:01 age: 240 1 oldest: 275 [120] 2026-04-25 11:45:10 D120 2025-07-24 00:00:22 age: 275 0 no active snapshots 2026-05-03 00:00:52 C153 1 oldest: 0 [153] 2026-05-11 00:00:15 C154 2 oldest: 7 [153, 154] 2026-05-17 00:00:14 C155 3 oldest: 13 [153, 154, 155] 2026-05-18 00:00:15 C156 4 oldest: 14 [153, 154, 155, 156] 2026-05-31 01:19:44 D153 2026-05-03 00:00:52 age: 28 3 oldest: 20 [154, 155, 156]
but right now I'm thinking smart snapshot manageent is too random to be reliable.
FWIW, my custom settings are working as intended.
- Snapshot #11
It's acting as if it's doing pruning -- like it believed you were running out of space. Are there any warnings in the log about running out of space? Note that with BTRFS, you need to worry about both data and metadata use. Perhaps you are running low metadata. From SSH, what do btrfs filesystem df /data and btrfs filesystem usage /data show (assuming your volume is named data)?
Are you doing periodic defrags, and did one occur just prior to the mass deletions? Defrag and long-term snapshot retention don't go together well. Snapshots not taking much real space relies on the fact that most of the data doesn't change, and the snapshot simply points to most of the same sectors as the active data, not all different ones. Defrag moves the active sectors around, but cannot tell the snapshots where they moved to, so the snapshots still point to (and thus retain as in use) the old locations while the active data marks other sectors as in use.
Backups of some types of files that are large but don't have a lot of changes can also cause a lot of unnecessary content duplication. Large drive images and encryption volumes are examples.
Yes, something triggered the mass deletion, it seems quite random, I can't see anything in the lofs that would indicate a reason (so I am quite baffled 😕).
I don't believe there is any issue with free storage space, I generally do not delete anything on the NAS (it's mainly photos, family video, music, etc). Here is the live info
~# btrfs filesystem df /data Data, single: total=8.79TiB, used=8.79TiB System, RAID1: total=32.00MiB, used=992.00KiB Metadata, RAID1: total=1.00GiB, used=8.00MiB Metadata, DUP: total=1.00GiB, used=432.16MiB GlobalReserve, single: total=68.25MiB, used=0.00B ~# btrfs filesystem usage /data Overall: Device size: 14.54TiB Device allocated: 8.80TiB Device unallocated: 5.74TiB Device missing: 0.00B Used: 8.79TiB Free (estimated): 5.75TiB (min: 2.88TiB) Data ratio: 1.00 Metadata ratio: 2.00 Global reserve: 68.25MiB (used: 0.00B) Data,single: Size:8.79TiB, Used:8.79TiB /dev/md126 784.00GiB /dev/md127 8.03TiB Metadata,RAID1: Size:1.00GiB, Used:8.00MiB /dev/md126 1.00GiB /dev/md127 1.00GiB Metadata,DUP: Size:1.00GiB, Used:432.16MiB /dev/md127 2.00GiB System,RAID1: Size:32.00MiB, Used:992.00KiB /dev/md126 32.00MiB /dev/md127 32.00MiB Unallocated: /dev/md126 2.87TiB /dev/md127 2.87TiBThe status.log shows a defrag 21/Aug/2026 - the log goes back to 5/Oct/2023 (which is when I reset and reinitialised the system), so again, no real clues there (yet).
Any other thought of where to look?
I will consider the custom snapshots as StephenB​ mentions, but I'd love to get to the bottom of this too.
Looking at status.log again, I observe the snapshot deletions (clearouts) seem to happen soon after a reboot:
I haven't yet run my script to check the ages, but here is a snip:
[25/05/06 19:38:25 WEST] notice:system:LOGMSG_SYSTEM_HALT The system is shutting down. [25/05/22 10:54:04 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_23__00_00_05 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:05 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_22__00_00_03 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:05 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_21__00_00_01 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:05 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_20__00_00_29 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:06 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_18__00_00_28 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:06 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_16__00_00_25 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:07 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_09__00_00_28 from share or LUN Shared. [25/05/22 10:54:19 WEST] info:system:LOGMSG_START_READYNASD ReadyNASOS background service started. [25/06/21 13:00:14 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_04_26__00_00_05 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/21 14:00:22 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_03_19__00_00_02 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/21 15:00:31 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_02_28__00_00_20 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/21 17:00:39 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_01_31__00_00_13 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/22 00:01:22 WEST] notice:system:LOGMSG_SYSTEM_HALT The system is shutting down. [25/06/24 14:50:28 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_11_30__00_00_19 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/24 14:50:43 WEST] info:system:LOGMSG_START_READYNASD ReadyNASOS background service started. [25/06/25 06:50:37 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_10_25__00_00_14 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/25 07:50:45 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_09_15__00_00_25 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/25 08:50:53 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_08_26__00_00_22 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/25 09:51:01 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_07_29__00_00_14 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/26 12:51:09 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_06_30__00_00_16 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/26 13:51:17 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_05_31__00_00_05 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/27 15:51:26 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_04_20__00_00_15 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/28 17:51:34 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_03_28__00_00_07 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/29 20:51:42 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_02_24__00_00_08 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/30 09:51:51 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2024_01_25__00_00_14 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/30 10:51:59 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2023_12_31__00_00_43 from share or LUN Shared. [25/06/30 14:52:07 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2023_11_27__00_00_04 from share or LUN Shared. [25/07/05 10:52:16 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2023_10_30__00_00_22 from share or LUN Shared. [26/02/21 07:25:03 WET] notice:system:LOGMSG_SYSTEM_HALT The system is shutting down. [26/02/22 08:36:42 WET] info:system:LOGMSG_START_READYNASD ReadyNASOS background service started. [26/02/23 00:00:13 WET] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_INFO Snapshot c_1771804811 was successfully created for share or LUN Shared. [26/02/26 00:00:11 WET] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_INFO Snapshot c_1772064010 was successfully created for share or LUN Shared. [26/03/01 00:00:43 WET] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_INFO Snapshot c_1772323243 was successfully created for share or LUN Shared. [26/03/15 12:40:56 WET] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2026_02_15__00_00_43 from share or LUN Shared. [26/03/25 17:42:07 WET] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2026_02_23__00_00_11 from share or LUN Shared. [26/03/29 14:42:38 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2026_03_01__00_00_43 from share or LUN Shared. [26/03/30 16:42:46 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2026_02_26__00_00_10 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/18 10:44:21 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2026_02_21__00_00_08 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/19 11:44:29 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_12_27__00_00_18 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/22 09:44:37 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_11_27__00_00_23 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/24 10:44:46 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_10_30__00_00_09 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/24 20:44:54 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_09_24__00_00_07 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/25 10:45:02 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_08_28__00_00_00 from share or LUN Shared. [26/04/25 11:45:10 WEST] info:snapshot:LOGMSG_SMART_SNAPSHOT_DELETE_INFO Snapshot prune worker successfully deleted snapshot 2025_07_24__00_00_21 from share or LUN Shared.
Guys, deleting older snapshots behaviour seems consistent now, nothing lasts more than ~4-5 weeks.
However, Sandshark​ mentioned defrag and snapshot don't play nicely, and I did a defrag 21-Aug - maybe this caused this round of deletions (a bit delayed however, and not all (yet)):
This is a processed log from today (status_2026-09-17.log):
Column summary: Date Snapshot created date C# Created snapshot # D# Deleted snapshot # Depth Current number of snapshots Log/created date C# / D# Date of snapshot Depth days Current snapshots # 2026-08-11 10:30:19 D156 2026-05-18 00:00:15 age: 85 0 no active snapshots 2026-08-12 00:00:08 C161 1 oldest: 0 [161] 2026-08-13 00:00:09 C162 2 oldest: 1 [161, 162] 2026-08-16 00:00:10 C163 3 oldest: 4 [161, 162, 163] 2026-08-17 00:00:14 C164 4 oldest: 5 [161, 162, 163, 164] 2026-08-18 00:00:28 C165 5 oldest: 6 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165] 2026-08-20 00:00:03 C166 6 oldest: 7 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166] 2026-08-21 00:00:07 C167 7 oldest: 8 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167] [26/08/21 12:08:04 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_BALANCE_STARTED_VOLUME Balance started for volume data. [26/08/21 12:08:06 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_BALANCE_COMPLETED_VOLUME Balance complete for volume data. [26/08/21 12:08:51 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_DEFRAGSTART_VOLUME Defragmentation started for volume data. [26/08/21 12:20:00 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_DEFRAGEND_VOLUME Defragmentation complete for volume data. 2026-08-29 00:00:09 C168 8 oldest: 17 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168] 2026-08-30 00:00:12 C169 9 oldest: 18 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169] 2026-08-31 00:00:14 C170 10 oldest: 19 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170] 2026-09-05 23:39:25 C170 10 oldest: 24 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170] 2026-09-06 00:00:01 C171 11 oldest: 24 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171] 2026-09-08 07:57:51 C171 11 oldest: 27 [161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171] 2026-09-11 21:05:19 D162 2026-08-13 00:00:09 age: 29 10 oldest: 30 [161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171] 2026-09-11 21:05:19 D161 2026-08-12 00:00:08 age: 30 9 oldest: 26 [163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171] 2026-09-13 10:05:28 D163 2026-08-16 00:00:10 age: 28 8 oldest: 27 [164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171] 2026-09-14 14:05:45 D164 2026-08-17 00:00:14 age: 28 7 oldest: 27 [165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171] 2026-09-15 09:06:10 D165 2026-08-18 00:00:28 age: 28 6 oldest: 26 [166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 170, 171, 171]I could just give up (and switch to custom snapshots), but I'd love to get to the bottom of this issue - with help 😉!
For the time being, I will manually create snapshots and continue monitoring/processing.
However, Sandshark​ mentioned defrag and snapshot don't play nicely, and I did a defrag 21-Aug - maybe this caused this round of deletions (a bit delayed however, and not all (yet)):
defrags can greatly increase the snapshot space (as Sandshark​ pointed out in his reply). The puzzle here is that the defrag completed quite quickly.
In any event, the auto-deletion for volume safety deletes the oldest snapshots first, and stops when the free space goes back under the threshold. So it is possible I guess.
I didn't notice that the defrag and the balance were run back-to-back. So maybe also run another balance, now that you know you have free space.
Thanks, as I posted earlier, I don't see any issue with available free space, unless I'm missing something?
I ran another balance, it completed very fast, ~10s:
[26/09/20 22:12:23 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_BALANCE_STARTED_VOLUME Balance started for volume data. [26/09/20 22:12:42 WEST] notice:volume:LOGMSG_BALANCE_COMPLETED_VOLUME Balance complete for volume data.
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