Clarification on VACUUM LITE operation

[dbxlearner]

Hi all, I wanted some insight and clarification on the VACUUM LITE command. VACUUM | Databricks on AWS

So I am aware that the VACUUM FULL command will deletes data files outside of the retention duration and all files in the table directory not referenced by the table

With the newer command VACUUM LITE, this command uses the Delta transaction log to remove files not referenced by any table version within the retention duration.

So if I set my retention duration to 3 days for a VACUUM LITE operation, does this mean I delete files (using the Delta transaction log) not referenced by any table within 3 days, and files older than 3 days are retained even if not referenced by any table?

Thanks!

[Alberto_Umana]

Hello @dbxlearner,

If you set your retention duration to 3 days for a VACUUM LITE operation, it means that the command will use the Delta transaction log to identify and remove files that are no longer referenced by any table versions within the last 3 days. Files that are older than 3 days and not referenced by any table will be retained. This ensures that only the files that are not needed by any table versions within the specified retention duration are deleted