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Setting Up Retention Labels in Azure Blob Storage

When using the repository type Azure Blob Storage, retention labels are created and managed through Document Central to classify documents according to legal, regulatory, or internal requirements. These labels enable the enforcement of retention policies, such as setting retention periods or protecting documents from changes.

In contrast to SharePoint, where retention labels are managed through Microsoft Purview, the creation and application of labels in Azure Blob Storage occurs directly within Document Central. This allows for central management and application to documents both manually and automatically, for example, based on document libraries, content types, or defined rules.

Setting Up Azure Blob Storage Retention Labels

When using the Azure Blob Storage repository type, the creation of retention labels occurs directly in Document Central.

To create a retention label directly in Document Central, follow these steps:

  1. Start on the Document Central - Retention Label page.
  2. Perform the New action to create a new retention label.
  3. Give your retention label a name and set the retention period.
  4. Optionally, you can use Set Retention After to define when the label should be set by the job queue Set Retention Label.

Information

In Document Central, you can easily edit or delete your created ABS labels. Documents that have already been labeled will not be changed. This functionality also allows you to select a label and change the retention period directly from the Document Central - Document Definition page.

Azure Blob Storage Retention Label Soft Label

For an Azure Blob Storage repository, you can configure a retention label to apply only to the document entry. In this case, the document itself is not labeled and can still be deleted, edited, or moved.

To configure the Soft Label:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central – Administrator.
  2. Open the Retention Label page through the Compliance section.
  3. Select the retention label you want to edit.
  4. Check the Soft Label checkbox.

Azure Retention Label Versions

To allow users to change retention labels when manually saving a version of a document, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central – Administrator.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance Setup action to open the Compliance Setup page.
  3. Navigate to the Version Configuration section.
  4. Enable the options Version Visibility and Manual Assignment of Retention Labels for Versions.

Info

The calculated or defined end time of the retention label must not be before the end time of the previous version.

Activating Retention Labels

To utilize retention labels, you must have completed the creation of SharePoint retention labels or ABS retention labels, depending on which repository you are using.

To enable the retention labeling feature in Document Central, follow these steps:

  1. Start as Document Central - Administrator in the role center.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance - Compliance Setup action.
  3. Enable the Retention Labeling option.

Compliance Administrator

If the user is set up as a Compliance Administrator in the Document Central user configuration, they can change, remove, or set a retention label for a document entry. Setting a new retention label is only possible if the existing retention label is removed first.

For SharePoint documents marked as Record, Compliance Administrators can additionally use the Change Record Lock action to lock or unlock the record. Only Compliance Administrators can change or remove retention labels on documents marked as Record.

Important

The Retention Labeling option must be enabled in the Compliance Setup before you can activate the Compliance Administrator for users.

To set up a user as a Compliance Administrator, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the Document Central Admin role center.
  2. Open Users through the Setup menu item.
  3. Select the User to be set up as a Compliance Administrator.
  4. Open the User Setup by clicking on the user's name.
  5. Enable the toggle for Compliance Administrator.

Setting Up Users for Manual Setting of Retention Labels

In some cases, it is necessary to give your users the ability to view the retention label when they manually save a document through the Document Central FactBox.

To allow users to see the retention label when manually saving a document through the Document Central FactBox, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance Setup action to open the Compliance Setup page.
  3. Enable the Retention Label Visibility option.

To allow users set up as Compliance Administrators to change retention labels when manually saving documents, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance Setup action to open the Compliance Setup page.
  3. Enable the Retention Label Manually option.

To enable the visibility of retention labels in Azure Blob Storage for a new document version, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance Setup action to open the Compliance Setup page.
  3. Enable the Enable Version Visibility option.

Setting Up the Retention Crawler

If you have previously used Document Central without the retention labeling feature, you may want to retroactively label existing Document Central documents. In this case, the so-called Retention Crawler can be used. The Retention Crawler is a dedicated queue that runs through the existing document entries and creates retention queue entries according to the retention label configuration.

To automatically apply retention labels to already saved documents using the Retention Crawler, follow these steps:

  1. Start in the role of Document Central - Administrator.
  2. Click on Compliance in the menu bar and perform the Compliance Setup action.
  3. Enable the Enable Retention Labeling option.
  4. Configure the crawler by specifying on which days and at what time it should run.
  5. Now activate the Retention Crawler with the Run Crawler option. When the crawler is active, the configuration cannot be edited.

Info

Additionally, the option "Search by Versions" is available in the compliance configuration. This allows the Retention Crawler in the Job Queue to also capture individual versions of documents in Azure Blob Storage and automatically synchronize their retention labels.

The labels are applied according to the Retention Label Assignment Configuration, which will be explained next.

Setting Up the Retention Label Assignment Configuration

Where retention labels are applied (manual and automatic document saving) can be configured at three different levels. The first (lowest) level is the configuration of a retention label for a specific document library. The next (middle) level is the configuration of a retention label for a content type. The third (highest) level is a specific content type within a particular document library.

Further Explanation/Example

If a value is specified at the document library level, all documents uploaded to this document library will receive the specified retention label. However, if a content type archived in the document library has a different retention label value configured, this will override the value from the document library when saving a document. This value will in turn be overridden by a value set in the specific content types of the chosen document library.

Level 1 - Configuring a Retention Label for a Document Library

To set up a retention label to be used for a document library, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central - Document Library List page.
  2. Click on Edit in a document library to which you want to assign the retention label.
  3. Under Document Library Settings, find the Retention Label field. If a value is specified here, all documents uploaded to this document library will receive the specified retention label.
  4. Once you have defined your retention label in the Document Library, all documents stored in the document library will receive the specified label.

Level 2 - Configuring a Retention Label for a Content Type

To set up a retention label to be used generally for a content type, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central - Content Type List page.
  2. Click on Edit in a content type to which you want to assign the retention label.
  3. In the header, find the Retention Label field. If a value is specified here, all documents uploaded with this content type will receive the specified retention label.
  4. Once you have defined your retention label in the Content Type, all documents saved with the content type will receive the specified label. Any values defined in the document library where the content type is stored will be overridden.

Level 3 - Configuring a Retention Label for a Content Type Assigned to a Specific Document Library

To set up a retention label to be used for a content type specifically assigned to a certain document library, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central - Document Library List page.
  2. Click on Edit in a document library where you want to assign a retention label to a specific content type.
  3. Go to the rows that contain the content types assigned to the document library.
  4. In the rows, you will find the column General Content Type Retention Label. If a value is displayed here, all documents uploaded with this content type will receive the specified retention label. This value is global and corresponds to the value defined in the content types. It is applied regardless of where the content type is stored.
  5. Additionally, there is a column Retention Label. If a value is specified here, this will be used instead of the retention label defined in the document library and the general content type configuration.

Level 4 - Configuring a Retention Label for a Metadata

To set up a retention label based on a metadata value:

  1. Navigate to the Document Central - Metadata Management page.
  2. Click on Edit in a metadata management row to which you want to assign a retention label for a specific metadata value.
  3. Enable the Retention definition option. This is only possible if the Enable Metadata Templates option is enabled. Currently, it is only possible to select a Retention definition.
  4. Go to the rows that contain the metadata values assigned to the metadata management row.
  5. In the metadata value rows, you will find the values that have been set up. If no values are present, first perform the following steps in metadata management.
  6. In the Retention Label column, select which retention label should be used based on the metadata value.

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