Build Object Storage lifecycle policy rules for archival, tiering, and automatic deletion.
Last verified: May 2026
Output will appear here...The builder constructs OCI Object Storage lifecycle policy JSON with rules array. Each rule has: name, action (ARCHIVE / INFREQUENT_ACCESS / DELETE / ABORT_INCOMPLETE_MULTIPART_UPLOAD), object name filter (prefix, exclusion patterns), time amount + time unit (days), and is_enabled flag. Output is generated as oci os object-lifecycle-policy commands and Terraform oci_objectstorage_object_lifecycle_policy resources.
OCI Object Storage lifecycle policies automate the management of objects by defining rules that transition objects between storage tiers (Standard, Infrequent Access, Archive) or delete them after specified periods. Effective lifecycle policies reduce storage costs by ensuring data moves to cheaper tiers as it ages and is automatically cleaned up when no longer needed. This builder helps you configure lifecycle rules with prefix filters, time conditions, tier transitions, and deletion policies.
Your team's Object Storage bill is $4K/month across 30 buckets. Audit reveals 70% of storage is in Standard tier but most data hasn't been accessed in months. The builder generates a standard 4-rule policy: abort incomplete multipart uploads after 7 days, transition to Infrequent Access after 30 days, transition to Archive after 90 days, delete after 365 days. Apply across all 30 buckets via Terraform. After 3 months of policy execution, storage tier mix shifts: 20% Standard / 30% IA / 50% Archive. Monthly cost drops to $1,200. Annual savings: $33K.
Lifecycle policies are evaluated daily at midnight UTC, NOT in real-time. A rule saying 'delete after 30 days' might delete on day 30.5, not the moment it crosses 30 days. Account for this 24-hour evaluation window when designing time-sensitive lifecycle rules.
Always include an abort-incomplete-multipart-uploads rule (e.g., abort after 7 days). Failed uploads can silently accumulate gigabytes of hidden storage costs — neither in the regular bucket listing nor obvious in cost reports. This is a one-line rule that prevents a class of unnoticed billing creep.
Archive tier is dramatically cheaper but has a 1-hour retrieval delay AND minimum 90-day storage charge. If you transition to Archive too aggressively, you'll pay 90-day-equivalent for data deleted before that. Match your retention policy to the tier's minimum storage period.
Standard tier is for frequently accessed data with instant retrieval — use it for active application data, recent logs, and hot datasets. Infrequent Access tier costs about 60% less per GB but has a minimum 31-day storage charge and per-GB retrieval fee — use it for data accessed monthly or less. Archive tier costs about 90% less than Standard but requires 1 hour to restore and has a minimum 90-day storage charge — use it for compliance archives, old backups, and rarely accessed historical data.
Yes. Lifecycle rules support object name prefix filters that target specific objects or folders within a bucket. For example, you can create a rule that applies only to objects with the prefix 'logs/' and another for objects with prefix 'data/raw/'. Rules without a prefix filter apply to all objects in the bucket. Multiple rules can coexist on a single bucket, each targeting different prefixes with different transition and deletion schedules.
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