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borg prune not deleting archive #10520
Description
with the current borg 2.0.0b25 i do not see any archive deletions and all lines are prefixed with
keeping archive (rule: secondly #1):
and the counter is not increasing. In my case all archives have separate names (i am using {hostname}.{user}._{utcnow} as name)
Verbose prune run output:
root@brillenpinguin:~/borgbackup/log# borg-2 prune -v --list --keep-secondly 7
Repository contains 52 archives.
Applying rules to the matching 52 archives...
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-12T19:57:07', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-12T19:37:11', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-12T16:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-11T22:55:07', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-11T19:38:04', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-11T16:55:07', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-11T06:54:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-10T22:55:11', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-10T19:38:04', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-10T16:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-10T02:42:03', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-10T00:45:03', host='adeliepinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-09T22:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-09T19:38:04', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-09T16:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-09T13:49:03', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-09T05:54:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T22:55:07', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-08T19:37:12', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-08T17:28:02', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T16:55:07', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-08T16:47:09', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T16:43:03', host='adeliepinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T09:09:10', host='adeliepinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T05:39:10', host='adeliepinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-08T04:37:06', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-08T02:57:12', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T02:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-07T15:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-07T15:45:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-07T09:19:04', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-07T07:25:04', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-07T07:02:03', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-07T06:16:02', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-07T04:57:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-07T02:58:09', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-06T16:10:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T15:16:03', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-06T09:55:06', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-06T06:54:07', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T06:05:04', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T05:50:03', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-06T02:57:12', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-05T22:15:10', host='zuegelpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-05T21:48:03', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-05T03:14:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-05T03:06:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-05T01:28:04', host='zwergpinguin-zfs'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-04T22:59:03', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-04T17:24:04', host='pve-hwtest'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-04T14:29:02', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Group (name='borg2selftest', host='brillenpinguin'): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0.
Keeping 52 archives, pruning 0 archives.
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-12T19:57:07 Mon, 2026-10-12 21:57:09 +0200 [d81143d5fc1320bdb233375202fff170ba644d50cdbdb77bdec2d9f3284ab353]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-12T19:37:11 Mon, 2026-10-12 21:37:15 +0200 [f2299d3b08aaf7b2b3d8c40e7b2730cc56623eb5360b2cded2e0045ddf3543fd]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-12T16:55:06 Mon, 2026-10-12 18:55:09 +0200 [728696fa116b27a1e599631838f0076ec05f8a4e26df42cd6e73be9301129eb1]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-11T22:55:07 Mon, 2026-10-12 00:55:09 +0200 [708e9babfc65aee4509732f2f5df53b81346f198798f457b51582cf05755a8c1]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-11T19:38:04 Sun, 2026-10-11 21:38:07 +0200 [657d2e5637904c888696dc0663187e42333b94f1c8ef23070fc94abcaf04ae1b]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-11T16:55:07 Sun, 2026-10-11 18:55:10 +0200 [b229634b52e8513f5f577e8fd330013b15a0a3ea18331f26560e44656ad14604]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-11T06:54:03 Sun, 2026-10-11 08:54:06 +0200 [15a7cf991713664823073ebf51ca9c86dab5a64676914b4c1633d67093218efe]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-10T22:55:11 Sun, 2026-10-11 00:55:15 +0200 [839d50cceae29f861a3553aba3d4a92fcdffec74dc537298937dd69bf435730a]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-10T19:38:04 Sat, 2026-10-10 21:38:07 +0200 [ed20d7bfeb3e1c3738116621712ae1660a5e1c8d6c40b83d2a46a1f49cc450d2]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-10T16:55:06 Sat, 2026-10-10 18:55:09 +0200 [de3c6d76698dc5306468e69060758bce55e67f78c37d3c956625f1bc3d45f780]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-10T02:42:03 Sat, 2026-10-10 04:42:07 +0200 [e695052fc5543fa670844a566c055b9ece52fff282ad8495ba879caf0be383a7]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-10T00:45:03 Sat, 2026-10-10 02:45:06 +0200 [0f3fae5aab9ddcc47339ab26116131253f270ef2ce1e12912bafd84f1e465451]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-09T22:55:06 Sat, 2026-10-10 00:55:09 +0200 [9f42a06a3a0b3158828c79cff00faa089d9e01bfd4a8972adbe7149513a02cbf]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-09T19:38:04 Fri, 2026-10-09 21:38:07 +0200 [eadebcf6b594fa607d69ac4b95b87c3ff53086a41e9327cd78705ec8cdeb67de]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-09T16:55:06 Fri, 2026-10-09 18:55:09 +0200 [3112e7ccdb4d87e78b7f994ffec3753506e3cda8b8bb553df92c4117c8ca33fc]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-09T13:49:03 Fri, 2026-10-09 15:49:06 +0200 [41ed559e9ef8bde060fa7eab1a67c410f88bbd4c46aab42a38d0ced2ca36b690]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-09T05:54:03 Fri, 2026-10-09 07:54:06 +0200 [386f9e8b48bef1e2dbd57fa0bc13e795b37b016926d41a8461425a9a7ca1ed8b]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T22:55:07 Fri, 2026-10-09 00:55:10 +0200 [0640af101c77463816f10dcbd732691f11c0e6cee244d2130b05defa15b501a1]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-08T19:37:12 Thu, 2026-10-08 21:37:15 +0200 [f64230fe904cba5aa936a27d9733ef9145026d70c86ccf9aae78dff698de2c7c]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-08T17:28:02 Thu, 2026-10-08 19:28:05 +0200 [61b5e0a33020e303972af6bac7f790039a6879ea2503aa69de792e19bd4da611]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T16:55:07 Thu, 2026-10-08 18:55:09 +0200 [eb3c68046635686051e5188095669790dd55f92ce50f35e70e95338d61eda03b]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-08T16:47:09 Thu, 2026-10-08 18:47:12 +0200 [da6624694ce742e08698adebea877202b0b5e707379dda562e611534763ec9dd]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T16:43:03 Thu, 2026-10-08 18:43:05 +0200 [1518eb23fcb934ac9ba19ce7a26c362f2a423e59ba5caf7a1237771bd6ae2e38]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T09:09:10 Thu, 2026-10-08 11:09:13 +0200 [22cd4cb0fcced99ed243249f58ca8275bfff0727892d48e69b90e8ff6f5084fa]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): adeliepinguin.root._2026-10-08T05:39:10 Thu, 2026-10-08 07:39:13 +0200 [eb64e2e672ef2c30ea46cffdcae191fadbde5bb090a91acabfd9ea56c38c3b50]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-08T04:37:06 Thu, 2026-10-08 06:37:10 +0200 [0c71315b4a394fc4f29db3d4d172ca8353b6a8529dbdccece6de371b050b6907]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-08T02:57:12 Thu, 2026-10-08 04:57:14 +0200 [cf4d70bcaf34c4502bcb4936c36268b7cf838db9c65f0bd26cb2c2b511b72faa]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-08T02:55:06 Thu, 2026-10-08 04:55:09 +0200 [7f710d4fa4d3c945c4f7a3a8b452c920345c2afe14cf0b79253baef5f397916c]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-07T15:55:06 Wed, 2026-10-07 17:55:08 +0200 [3aea643b8dae51d8515545bf35273bc005eea215ce163c5310a7545116c8ee24]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-07T15:45:03 Wed, 2026-10-07 17:45:05 +0200 [cc760f50debf0ace4dd19b93decc2135a935d88038b4031ea17b63b6bdcea735]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-07T09:19:04 Wed, 2026-10-07 11:19:06 +0200 [c3a4c7b9d83f37cb58bc771c7f1459f4d43a6ddffd74bc4a48afba697a27c547]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-07T07:25:04 Wed, 2026-10-07 09:25:06 +0200 [86e086fd00ef4691c42946a1f475356019af915bb6c803fe104eb2e08f7bcad1]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-07T07:02:03 Wed, 2026-10-07 09:02:07 +0200 [245e9cd4bdc59e97dadce17628a98bc1cd08e55764221fd5936ab7222a41088f]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-07T06:16:02 Wed, 2026-10-07 08:16:06 +0200 [693977d1ab858967897d850db59633adcb41afdcd2b2aeb2d05eb2dd333c1834]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-07T04:57:03 Wed, 2026-10-07 06:57:05 +0200 [a33ffd27d578a44c6072b14480ab308589f6cde116d6af3c2dc77d66cfcce2a3]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-07T02:58:09 Wed, 2026-10-07 04:58:12 +0200 [f482cdeaad5ef4a980e7bffa28d60b4a7a371f8baf95c13c458343aaa239628b]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-06T16:10:03 Tue, 2026-10-06 18:10:07 +0200 [4343ed4319b927c3466538a65d38d5bad6b823e5b94d5a089f232fb6f58d9382]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T15:16:03 Tue, 2026-10-06 17:16:06 +0200 [27158e29da35e7b430b6831b3beca39411878e86814fe29d17b3612d78108be0]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-06T09:55:06 Tue, 2026-10-06 11:55:09 +0200 [2ed473162797a5b274047065b8fcb552596e079be736c0bfee1ac5ce1eaa52f5]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-06T06:54:07 Tue, 2026-10-06 08:54:10 +0200 [9dcbdac2007f8cc02f2a4e8635aa12769611985e4ce25f92624200aed5eaea01]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T06:05:04 Tue, 2026-10-06 08:05:08 +0200 [4d635e341b75f1c4c3daa6caaa94b64856ac6a2afd40290c5ab1e60ce81ee636]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-06T05:50:03 Tue, 2026-10-06 07:50:06 +0200 [bb2f94896419079c66930fb2a0d9c81f67436e6acf674f7bdc60cd1f59cc9452]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-06T02:57:12 Tue, 2026-10-06 04:57:14 +0200 [815aab84a4f6914178392c6b2c0c1c40603da5bb6cadd600bb31aab359befee6]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zuegelpinguin.root._2026-10-05T22:15:10 Tue, 2026-10-06 00:15:13 +0200 [bc4511e16a3a2f84bbe8d42a9bd82501f1897ce47be61094cbe1d3f126442b8b]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-05T21:48:03 Mon, 2026-10-05 23:48:06 +0200 [d7711dfa5bac955b71bb81b0006b80f8e0c66e387216a837b2d25996f11c4c6c]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-05T03:14:03 Mon, 2026-10-05 05:14:06 +0200 [4597d03a3cd618021b1170b98e086efe0c17f6a8a29e634e87dbdd465f062a1e]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-05T03:06:03 Mon, 2026-10-05 05:06:05 +0200 [2ebf2f22e261c1e9f62d746cb2db43bda2599e5b3cf26ff73aa29d13cc038a9a]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): zwergpinguin-zfs.root._2026-10-05T01:28:04 Mon, 2026-10-05 03:28:07 +0200 [a126e2170487c4d1b0f54e6361edce67004215c973f5fb8d2b5c7d7e41bb079d]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-04T22:59:03 Mon, 2026-10-05 00:59:06 +0200 [fbeaa53d154622ccc930f90461c790e1a665cb2e93f8f9c0bf9e539c7cdca4b4]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): pve-hwtest.root._2026-10-04T17:24:04 Sun, 2026-10-04 19:24:07 +0200 [3c4219ad8cf77fc1023179758ac917412c2d248f5b22365f1f67184c1562625a]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): brillenpinguin.root._2026-10-04T14:29:02 Sun, 2026-10-04 16:29:11 +0200 [4e8e67d4c062aa4071caeb1bf578e6f7eddee6b7aa9b04ed3a0c9dfc446e9c00]
Keeping archive (rule: secondly #1): borg2selftest Sun, 2026-10-04 12:47:32 +0200 [f281e4e49b993d653d7950dc7cc526f6c9057baf785c78a6661ed4fa76eac392]
Activity
ThomasWaldmann commentedon Oct 12, 2026
Hi, thanks for the detailed report. This is not a bug in prune, but a consequence of how borg 2 groups archives.
What happens
Since 2.0.0b24,
borg pruneapplies the retention rules to each group of archives separately. The default grouping is--group-by name,host, which means one retention policy per archive series name and host.Your archive names contain the timestamp (
{hostname}.{user}._{utcnow}), so every archive has a different name. Each one therefore forms its own group of one archive, as your output shows (Group (name=...): 1 archives, keeping 1, pruning 0). A single archive is always the newest in its group, so--keep-secondly 7keeps it assecondly #1and nothing is ever pruned.I reproduced this locally: 4 archives with unique names,
--keep-secondly 2keeps all 4. With--group-by host, it keeps 2 and prunes 2.Workaround
Group by attributes that are stable across your archives, so they are not split by name:
This applies the rules per host and user. Use
--group-by hostif you want to ignore the user. Please try it with--dry-runfirst to check what would be pruned.Recommended naming
In borg 2, the archive timestamp, the hostname and the user are all stored separately in the archive metadata, so none of them belong in the archive name. The name should describe the contents of the backup, for example
docs,homes,systemorpictures. All archives of the same data share that name and form a series. The host and user are then used by--group-by(defaultname,host) to keep different machines' backups apart.With such names,
borg list,borg pruneetc. work per series without extra options, and the default grouping does what you'd expect. You can still select by origin with-a host:brillenpinguinor-a user:root.If you switch the naming scheme, the old archives with timestamped names still need
--group-by host,user(or similar) until they have been pruned away.I'll look at making the docs for
--group-byand the prune help clearer about this pitfall, since it is easy to run into.