---
title: Set the retention period for logging and metrics indices
description: Elastic Cloud Enterprise sets up index lifecycle management (ILM) policies for the ECE platform monitoring data it collects inside the logging-and-metrics...
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/deploy-manage/monitor/orchestrators/ece-monitoring-ece-set-retention
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available
---

# Set the retention period for logging and metrics indices
Elastic Cloud Enterprise sets up index lifecycle management (ILM) policies for the [ECE platform monitoring](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/deploy-manage/monitor/orchestrators/ece-platform-monitoring) data it collects inside the `logging-and-metrics` [system deployment](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/system-deployments-configuration).
By default, metrics indices are retained for two days and logging indices for eight days, as defined in the `ece_metrics` and `ece_logs` ILM policies of the deployment. This accounts for daily rollover plus the additional retention periods of one day for metrics and seven days for logs. These default policies and their associated index templates are managed by Elastic Cloud Enterprise and should not be modified.
You might need to adjust the retention period for one of the following reasons:
- If your business requires you to retain logs and metrics for longer than the default period.
- If the volume of logs and metrics collected is high enough to require reducing the amount of storage space consumed.

<important>
  Before increasing retention, ensure the `logging-and-metrics` system deployment has sufficient resources and disk capacity. Longer retention increases storage usage and cluster workload, and can result in a busy or overloaded cluster if the deployment is not scaled appropriately. Refer to [ECE system deployments configuration](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-enterprise/system-deployments-configuration) for more information.
</important>


## Available index templates

The following list contains the names of the most relevant index templates and data streams in the ECE `logging-and-metrics` system deployment. You can check the entire list directly in Kibana on the **Index Management -> Index templates** page:

| Index template and data stream name | Default ILM policy | Description                                                         |
|-------------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| cluster-logs-<version>              | ece_logs           | Logs from all deployments managed by ECE                            |
| proxy-logs-<version>                | ece_logs           | ECE proxy logs                                                      |
| service-logs-<version>              | ece_logs           | Logs produced by internal ECE services                              |
| metricbeat-<version>                | ece_metrics        | Metrics from all containers and hosts                               |
| allocator-metricbeat-<version>      | ece_metrics        | Metrics from the Elastic Stack containers running in the allocators |

<note>
  Index templates and data streams include a `<version>` tag as part of their name. This corresponds to the Elastic Stack version of the internal component that sends data into the cluster, for example, `proxy-logs-8.18.8`. This version can change after an Elastic Cloud Enterprise upgrade and must be taken into account when you apply any type of customization.
</note>


## Customize retention period

To customize the retention period for the different data streams, [create a new ILM policy](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/manage-data/lifecycle/index-lifecycle-management/configure-lifecycle-policy) with the required settings, and apply it to the relevant data sets as follows:
1. In Kibana, go to **Index Management → Index Templates** and identify the template that applies to the data stream or indices whose retention you want to change. Refer to [Available index templates](#available-templates) for a list of the most common templates.
2. Open the template’s contextual menu and select **Clone** to [create a new template](/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/manage-data/data-store/index-basics#index-management-manage-index-templates). When cloning the template:
   1. Assign a higher `priority` to the new template so it takes precedence over the default template.
2. In the **Index settings** section, set `index.lifecycle.name` to the custom ILM policy that has the required retention settings.
   <note>
   Cloning an existing index template is recommended over creating one from scratch, so as to ensure that all required mappings and settings are preserved.
   </note>
3. Save the new template and verify that it differs from the default template only in the `priority` and `index.lifecycle.name` settings.
4. If you want the changes to take effect immediately, you can [manually roll over the associated data stream](/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/manage-data/data-store/data-streams/use-data-stream#manually-roll-over-a-data-stream) using the [Kibana Console](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/5399/explore-analyze/query-filter/tools/console). For example:
   ```json
   ```
   After the rollover completes, a new backing index is created using the new index template and is associated with the custom ILM policy. You can verify this by checking the data stream information:
   ```json
   ```
   <dropdown title="Response example">
   ```json
   {
   "data_streams": [
   {
   "name": "cluster-logs-<version>",
   ...
   "indices": [
   {
   "index_name": ".ds-cluster-logs-<version>-<date>-000001",
   "index_uuid": "6hPZZ0YbTdaflfBZ9UkVUw",
   "prefer_ilm": true,
   "ilm_policy": "ece_logs", 
   "managed_by": "Index Lifecycle Management"
   },
   ...
   {
   "index_name": ".ds-cluster-logs-<version>-<date>-000002",
   "index_uuid": "rGrlk1_iR-as_ZM3iw6EFg",
   "prefer_ilm": true,
   "ilm_policy": "<NEW_ILM_POLICY>", 
   "managed_by": "Index Lifecycle Management"
   }
   ],
   "template": "<CLONED_TEMPLATE>", 
   "ilm_policy": "<NEW_ILM_POLICY>", 
   ...
   }
   ]
   }
   ```
   </dropdown>

<important>
  In Elastic Cloud Enterprise, the names of default index templates and data streams include the Elastic Stack version of the internal component that sends the data (for example, `cluster-logs-8.18.8`). After an Elastic Cloud Enterprise upgrade, new templates and data stream names can be created with updated version numbers. When this happens, your cloned template might no longer apply, and you must repeat this procedure to ensure your custom ILM policy continues to be applied.
</important>