Data Archiving

Data archiving removes bulk data which is no longer required in the System, but which must be retained accessibly, from the database. Data in the R/3 database can only be archived via archiving objects, which describe the data structure. Financial accounting documents, for example are archived via the archiving object FI_DOCUMNT, which comprises the document header, company-code-dependent postings, change documents, SAPscript texts and other elements. The application archiving objects are pre-defined in the system. The archiving programs are scheduled as background jobs, but can run during on-line processing. The system need not be shutdown.

The archiving procedure comprises two main steps:

Create archive files: the data to be archived are first written sequentially into a newly created file. The data then exist twice in the database. These archive files can, e.g. be passed to an archive system, via ArchiveLink.
Execute delete program: the data in the archive files are removed from the database by the delete program.
You can check how the archive filenames and archive destination are setup in transaction FILE
Always remembers to check the setting before any archiving. The settings will determine things like whether the delete programs will start automatically. (it is not advisable to start your delete programs automatically).

You can configure all the customizing settings with transaction AOBJ - Archive Objects.

MM_MATBEL - Archive material document

OMB9 - Archiving - Material document retention period.
The default documents life is 200 days. You need to maintain the documents life for each Plant in your company before you can start archiving. If you did not maintain, you will get a list with 'Valid.period not maintained for tr./ev. type of doc.'.

MM_ACCTIT - Archive accounting interface tables
The documents store in the table are for applications which are to be supplied with the posting data at a later date of MM Inventory Management and MM Invoice Verification.
If you are using 3.x, this archiving object might not be found. You need to import it from sapservX. Read note 89324, 99388, 83076.
Take a look at OSS note 48009 for the detail explanation of which data is updated in the ACCT* tables.

PP_ORDER - Archive production order
OPJH - Production Order retention period. Maintain Retention 1 and 2.
If your set your retention 1 and 2 as 10, that means that after 10 days of setting the delete flag then you can set the deletion indicator. After 10 days of setting the deletion indicator then you can start archiving. Therefore, to archive immediately, you can leave retention 1 and 2 as space. Please take note that retention 1 and 2 act as a safety net if you happened to archive the wrong record. You will have to decide whether to have the retention time gap or not.

FI_DOCUMNT - Archive Financial Accounting Documents
Maintain the account life - transaction OBR7
Maintain the documents life - transaction OBR8

SD_VBRK - Archive Billing Documents
There are no posting date or fiscal year/period selection. You can only specify the billing documents date. In order that you do not archive the wrong record, you have to write a ABAP query or report to print out the various billing documents number ranges you want to archive. You can extract the data from table VBRK - Billing: Header Data.

VN01 - Check all the number ranges for Billing Documents.
Click Overview buttom or Hold the Shift key and press F7.

RV_LIKP - Archiving Deliveries
VORL - Maintain the retention period. Number of days which must have elapsed since the delivery was created, before the
delivery can be archived.

VLAL - Archive deliveries