ProGet Retention Rules: option to keep package statistics

[sebastian...]

It seems that when cached packages are deleted by a retention rule, not just the cached package content is removed from disk, but all statistics are reset as well (we have observed this on our npm proxy feed, but it might affect all feed types). Can anyone say if this affects "Consumers" infos as well?

It would be nice to have an option to delete only the cached package content (i.e. what you get when you click "Download") but keep all the metadata/statistics (i.e. how often was that package version downloaded, what other packages/products is it consumed by, ...). Does such an option exist and we just missed it?

[stevedennis]

HI @sebastian,

There are three different package records:

• Downloads ("Record individual downloads for advanced statistics")
• Deployments ("Record where packages have been deployed")
• Usage ("Record where packages are being used") - i.e. package consumers

You can add these records for remote packages (or packages that don't even exist on the feed yet), and none of these records should be purged when you delete a package (manually or via retention). If you delete a package, and then add it back, those "old records" will reappear.

The "Download Count" is part of the "server-side package metadata", along with Listed/Unlisted Status, Tags, etc. This is one reason why "Download Count" and "Number of Downloads" can vary.

hope that helps,
Steve

[sebastian...]

Thanks for clarifying this! I did a test run with a package that has not been downloaded before and it seems you are correct: The total downloads per version (on the "Overview" and "All Versions" tabs) are reset to zero, but the statistics under "Usage & Statistics" seem to be unaffected.