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Resource deletion

There are several reasons to delete resources from a cluster:

  1. It frees up storage space, as Zeebe no longer needs to keep track of this definition in its state.
  2. It improves the overview in Operate, as deleted processes are no longer shown in the UI.
  3. It is more secure, as it prevents creation of process instances for a faulty process definition.

You can use resource deletion to remove resources from Camunda. There are two types of resources that can be deleted:

  1. Process definitions
  2. Decision Requirements Graphs (DRG)

You can delete a resource using Operate, or by sending the delete resource command to the Zeebe API.

Deleting a process definition​

You can delete a process definition by sending a delete resource command and providing the process definition key as the resource key.

It's possible to delete any version of a process instance. Once you have deleted a process definition, it no longer exists in Zeebe's state. As a result, it is not possible to create new process instances for this process definition. Trying to create one will result in a NOT_FOUND exception. Deleting a process definition also deletes historical data.

Zeebe will never reuse a process version. When deleting a process definition, it keeps track of the version number. Deploying a new process with the same ID will increment the version as usual.

Deleting the latest version​

When deleting the latest known version of a process definition, the previous version becomes the new latest version. Imagine there are three versions of a process deployed, where Version 3 is the latest version. Deleting this version means:

  • No more instances can be created for Version 3.
  • Creating a new process instance of the latest version of this process will create a new process instance of Version 2, as this version became the new latest.
  • If Version 2 contains any timer start event(s), they are reactivated. They are triggered according to the defined schedule.
  • If Version 2 contains any message and/or signal start event(s), they are reactivated. Publishing a message or broadcasting a signal causes correlation and creates a new process instance of Version 2.

Deleting Version 2 before Version 3 results in the same thing. The only difference is that Version 1 becomes the new latest instead.

Call activities​

A call activity references a process by ID. It's possible that all process definitions for this process ID are deleted. In this case, Zeebe creates an incident on the call activity, informing you that the process cannot be not found.

Limitations​

As of now it is not possible to delete a process definition that has one or more running process instances. If you want to delete the process definition you must first terminate/complete any running instances.

Deleting a decision requirements graph​

You can delete a decision requirements graph (DRG) by sending a delete resource command and providing the decision requirements key as the resource key.

Upon deleting a DRG, Zeebe also deletes decisions contained within. Trying to evaluate such a decision will result in a NOT_FOUND exception. Deleting a DRG also deletes historical data.

Business rule tasks​

A business rule task references a decision by ID. It's possible that all versions of this decision are deleted. When this happens, an incident is created on the business rule task with the message that no decision with the given decision ID is found.