---
title: "Retention Settings"
description: "This section describes retention settings for backup files stored on the backup target. You use the Workstation edition and want to keep restore points in the backup chain for 10 days."
canonical: "https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/configurator/job_parameters_retention.html"
breadcrumb: "Configurator Reference > XML File Structure > Job Parameters > Retention Settings"
dateModified: "2026-10-22"
---

# Retention Settings

This section describes retention settings for backup files stored on the backup target.

<table style="width:100%;" class="Blue_Table">
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <th style="width:20%;">
      <p>Parent Tag</p>
    </th>
    <th style="width:20%;">
      <p>Parameter</p>
    </th>
    <th>
      <p>Description</p>
    </th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">RetentionInfo</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about short-term retention policy settings.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:10%;"></td>
    <td style="width:10%;">
      <p>RetentionType</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Type of the applied short-term retention policy. This parameter has the following value: 1.</p>
      <p>Veeam Agent retains restore points for a certain number of days.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>RestorePointsCount</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parameter defines the number of days during which Veeam Agent retains a restore point.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

## Example

You use the Workstation edition and want to keep restore points in the backup chain for 10 days. The input XML file will contain the following parameters:

```xml
<ExecutionResult>
  <JobInfo ConfigId="f5bb9cd2-9b7d-4bb3-9c72-435cec24420c" JobName="Backup Job">
    <RetentionInfo RetentionType="1" RestorePointsCount="10"/>
  </JobInfo>
</ExecutionResult>
```

## GFS Policy Settings

This section describes long-term retention settings that follow the Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) scheme. GFS retention lets you keep weekly, monthly, and yearly full backups on the target repository.

<table style="width:100%;" class="Blue_Table">
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <th style="width:20%;">
      <p>Parent Tag</p>
    </th>
    <th style="width:20%;">
      <p>Parameter</p>
    </th>
    <th>
      <p>Description</p>
    </th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">GfsPolicyInfo</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about GFS retention policy settings.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">GfsPolicy</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about weekly, monthly and yearly GFS tiers.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>IsEnabled</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parameter specifies whether the GFS retention policy is enabled. Possible values:</p>
      <ul>
        <li class="Table_List">True — GFS retention is enabled.</li>
        <li class="Table_List">False — GFS retention is disabled.</li>
      </ul>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">GfsWeeklyPolicy</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about the weekly GFS tier.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>IsEnabled</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parameter specifies whether the weekly GFS tier is enabled. Possible values: True or False.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>NumberOfWeeks</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Number of weeks during which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows retains the weekly GFS backup.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>BeginTimeUtc</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Date and time (UTC) from which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows starts to keep weekly GFS backups, for example: <span class="T_Filenames">11/18/2025 12:25:31</span>.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>DesiredTime</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Day of the week when the weekly GFS backup must be flagged for long-term retention. Value is the ordinal number of the day (0 — Sunday, 1 — Monday, ..., 6 — Saturday).</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">GfsMonthlyPolicy</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about the monthly GFS tier.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>IsEnabled</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parameter specifies whether the monthly GFS tier is enabled. Possible values: True or False.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>NumberOfMonths</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Number of months during which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows retains the monthly GFS backup.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>BeginTimeUtc</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Date and time (UTC) from which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows starts to keep monthly GFS backups.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>DesiredTime</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Week of the month whose backup is flagged as the monthly GFS backup.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td colspan="2" style="width:20%;">
      <p><span style="font-weight:bold;">GfsYearlyPolicy</span></p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parent tag that encapsulates information about the yearly GFS tier.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>IsEnabled</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Parameter specifies whether the yearly GFS tier is enabled. Possible values: True or False.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>NumberOfYears</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Number of years during which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows retains the yearly GFS backup.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>BeginTimeUtc</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Date and time (UTC) from which Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows starts to keep yearly GFS backups.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="vertical-align:top">
    <td style="width:20%;"></td>
    <td style="width:20%;">
      <p>DesiredTime</p>
    </td>
    <td>
      <p>Month of the year whose backup is flagged as the yearly GFS backup.</p>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>