This article covers the usage of the Duplicate File Remediation tool in the Content Lifecycle section of Secure & Govern. This feature allows the user to create “duplicate file jobs” which can be used to identify and delete duplicate files within an individual Egnyte content source. Duplicate files can be deleted individually or in bulk based on how the user wants to address them.
How to Use Duplicate File Remediation
Generate List
- Navigate to the Content Lifecycle tab from Egnyte Secure & Govern.
- Click on the desired folder location to visualize the duplicate files. On the Duplicate Files widget, the total number of files duplicated elsewhere will be visible and there will be two options:
- Export list of duplicate files, which will generate a spreadsheet listing all of the duplicate files.
- Generate list of duplicate files, which will start the process of creating a duplicate file job through which the user can delete duplicate files
- Select the Generate list option.
- Enter a name for the list and Select Create.
View Duplicate Lists
- After creating a job, the user can view all lists by clicking the View Duplicate Lists button in the top right corner of the Content Lifecycle View.
- All current and previous lists will be shown in the duplicate lists view.
- Lists that are still searching for duplicates will have a spinning icon in the size column.
- The view will show the job name, the source specific to the job, path the list was created from, days left until the job expires, total size of the duplicate files in that list and created date and timestamp.
Each duplicate files list that has been created will be visible in the duplicate file lists view. The view will show the job name, the source specific to the job, the path the list was created from, the days left until the job expires, the total size of the duplicate files in that list and when the list was created. There will also be a menu available for each list with 3 options:
- Show list - view and delete all of the duplicate files found
- Refresh list - rescan the location to update the duplicate files list
- Delete job - remove the duplicate files list
Users can also Create a new list (which will be based off the last selected folder in the Content Lifecycle tree) or Close the file lists view.
Show List
- Select Show list to view all the duplicate files found.
- Click any of the file names in the list for additional details regarding the duplicates for that specific file. Information for each file will include:
- File name
- Size
- Location
- Creation date
In the file view, there will be several actions that can be taken:
- Delete - delete all of the files selected from the list
- Preview file - show the contents of the files
- Show permissions - show the permissions of the file in the S&G permissions viewer
- Export list - generate a spreadsheet listing all of the duplicate files in that view
Delete Duplicate Files
When deleting files, the user will be presented with a confirmation dialog and the option to enter comments. They will also be provided the option to leave either a stub file or a shortcut in the place of the deleted file.
- Select one or both of the options and Click on Delete.
- Stub files will contain customizable text that lets the users know why the file was deleted
- Shortcuts will link to a “main” file that resides in another location that users can access instead of the duplicate file that was deleted
- In order to leave a shortcut, the user must specify the “main” file to link to. The main file can be any of the files listed for that duplicate.
While a file deletion is in progress, an icon will appear next to the files selected for deletion.
Files will remain in the “deleting” status until file deletion is confirmed and the page is refreshed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What sources can a user remediate duplicate files on?
A: Duplicate file remediation is available only for Egnyte sources
Q: How long is a duplicate file list available for?
A: Duplicate file lists are available for 30 days. Expired lists will still be visible in the list view until they are deleted.
Q: How many active duplicate file lists can a user have?
A: There is a limit of 10 active duplicate file lists. To create a new list if 10 already exist, the user will need to delete an existing list or wait for one of the active lists to expire.