Overview:
The objectives of this Knowledge Article are as follows:
- Provide summary information regarding Document and Object Record retention in Veeva Vault
- Share limitations, guidelines, and best practices related to Document and Object Record deletion in Veeva Vault
The focus is on cases where a user performs a deletion action in a Veeva Vault Production or Sandbox environment. This also includes deletions using (Legacy) Document or Object Workflows.
Table of Contents:
- Logging of Document Deletions
- Logging of Object Record Deletions
- Report and Dashboard Deletion Limitations
- Object Record Deletion Limitations
- Document and Binder Deletion Limitations
- Object Record Retrieval
- Document Retrieval
- Prevention of Unplanned Deletion
- Related Documentation
Logging of Document Deletions
Document deletions may be reviewed by navigating to the Admin --> Logs --> Document Audit History tab. The tab displays the date and time of the deletion, the username which performed the deletion, the Document Number, the Document version, and the event of the deletion.
The same steps are applied to Document Placeholders.
The following screenshots show the Delete action which is the equivalent of deleting an entire Document including its versions. Each event is tied to one Document. Filters may be applied to narrow down the results further.
Logging of Object Record Deletions
Object Record deletions may be reviewed by navigating to the Admin --> Logs --> Object Record Audit History tab. The tab displays the date and time of the deletion, the username which performed the deletion, the record, and the event of the deletion. Filters may be applied to narrow down the results.
The following screenshots show the Delete action which is the equivalent of permanently deleting an Object Record. When a user deletes an Object Record, the Object Record Audit History captures information about deleted records, such as their Object Type and Field values. Filters may be applied to narrow down the results further.
Report and Dashboard Deletion Limitations
Reports and Dashboards cannot be recovered in Veeva Vault. In the event a Report or Dashboard is deleted in a Vault instance, it becomes inaccessible.
Object Record Deletion Limitations
Object, Object Record, Object Relationship, and Object Field restoration are not possible in Veeva Vault. In the event any of these Vault elements are deleted, they become inaccessible.
Access the Table of Contents here.
Document and Binder Deletion Limitations
Deleting a Document will result in the following outcomes on the Vault User Interface (UI):
- All Versions of the Document are removed
- Any related Notifications, outgoing relationships, and outgoing reference links are deleted
- Any Annotations associated with the Renditions of the Document are deleted
- Any Document-level Comments are deleted
- The Document from all views of the users is removed. This also includes the Favorites view
- The Audit Trail of the deleted Document is preserved in the Document Audit History for Vault System Administrators
The following table provides an overview of the recoverability of related features and items in the event Document deletion occurs. More information on specific Items or Features can be accessed underneath the table.
Item or Feature | Recoverable? | Notes and Actions |
Source File | Yes | See below for information and recovery steps |
Yes | See below for information and recovery steps | |
Partially Yes | See below for more information | |
Document Audit Trail | Partially Yes | See below for more information |
Document Versions | Partially Yes | See below for more information |
Document Attachments | No | Manual reupload is necessary |
Document-level Comments | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Document to Document Relationships | No | Manual recreation is necessary Listed in the Audit Trail of the restored Document |
Document to Object Relationships | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Checkout State | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Binder | No | Manual recreation is necessary See below for workarounds |
Binder References | No | Manual recreation is necessary The Document is not affected if its Binder is deleted |
Reference Anchors | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Distributions from Content Distribution Network | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Document Notifications | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Crosslink Relationships | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Presence in Cart | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
Presence in User Recents and Favorites | No | Manual recreation is necessary |
The Document and its recoverable items are not fully purged from the system at the time of deletion. The infrastructure stores deleted Documents for approximately 30 days. After 30 days, recovery of deleted Documents is not guaranteed. This is also applied to Document Placeholders.
All Document Versions can be restored in case they were deleted at the same time as a result of an entire Document deletion. If a specific version was already not present at the time of deletion, it cannot be restored. If specific Document Versions are deleted from an existing Document, these versions cannot be restored.
The same situation is also applied to Viewable (Manual) Renditions across document versions. If a Rendition is deleted of an existing Document, it cannot be restored, however, restoring an entirely deleted Document restores its Rendition as well.
It is also not possible to:
- Restore Document Relationships (Document to Document) in Veeva Vault. In the event a Document is restored, its previously accessible Document Relationships will be listed in the Audit Trail. Manual recreation of the Document Relationship is necessary
- Restore only the Audit Trail of the Document in the events where the Document was deleted. The entire Document needs to be recovered which includes the restoration of its Audit Trail as well
- Restore Document Attachments. When a Document Attachment is deleted from a Document, the Attachment cannot be recovered. The user is required to manually reupload the deleted Attachment file
Binders cannot be restored in Veeva Vault. Documents that were in Binders are not affected unless they were individually deleted. Users have two options to rebuild the Binder after it is deleted:
- Option 1: The creation and editing of the Binder structure are logged in the Document Audit History Log. Reconstruct the Binder by exporting the Document Audit History Log and filtering for that Document (Binder). This gives the user a log of the elements added to the Binder which persists after deletion.
- Option 2: If using Binder Templates, a user can create a new Binder from the template to make recreation easier. This action does not restore the exact Binder but makes it easier than starting over completely if the Binder is similar to a template.
There are particular scenarios that can prevent a Document from being deleted.
- The Document is in an active Workflow
- The Document has Inbound Relationships or Reference Links
- The Document is in a Binder
- The user attempting the deletion does not have the necessary permissions
Access the Table of Contents here.
Object Record Retrieval
It is not possible to retrieve deleted Object Records.
Document Retrieval
Veeva Product Support is able to restore Documents and their existing versions that are not beyond the 30-day period. This is also applied to Document Placeholders.
It is required to provide the following information for Veeva Product Support:
- The affected Vault ID
- The Document Number or the Document ID of the deleted Documents
In the event Document retrieval is necessary, contact Veeva Product Support by raising a Vault Product Support Ticket on the Veeva Product Support Portal. It is required to provide the affected Vault ID and the Document Number in the Support Ticket.
Retrieving the Document Number of a deleted Document
In order to locate the Document Number of a deleted Document, follow the steps below.
Navigate to: Admin -> Logs, at the top of the page of the Document Audit History page.
To filter Document Audit History:
- In the picklist to the right of Timeframe, select a date range.
- Click on the blue Add filter button to additionally filter the audit log by Event. The operator: In and a second picklist appears. Select the Delete All Document Versions event from the second picklist.
- Optional: Click on the blue Add filter button to additionally filter the Audit Log by User. The operator: Equals and a second picklist appear. Select the desired user(s) from the second picklist.
- Click Apply.
- Find the Document Number in the Item column.
Retrieving the Document ID of an existing Document
In order to locate the Document ID of existing Documents, navigate to the following Knowledge Article: How to Retrieve the Document-Related IDs in Veeva Vault?
It is not possible to retrieve the Document ID of deleted Documents in Vault. However, in case the Document ID of the deleted Document is known from another source it can be provided to Veeva Product Support alternatively.
Access the Table of Contents here.
Prevention of Unplanned Deletion
Due to the limitations, it is recommended to consider preventing unintentional deletions. There are several ways the risk of accidental Object Record, Document loss can be significantly minimized.
These configurations or processes are as follows:
- Assess the Access Control and Authorization by revising Security Profiles, Roles
- Control deletion capabilities by restricting Delete permission from users on Documents and Object Records based on the risk and business requirements
- It is recommended to ensure that the Power Delete Permission is only applied to the relevant Security Profiles as this permission allows users to bypass the Document deletion controls present for all other users
- Configure Document Workflows or Object Workflows to secure and manage the deletion process
- The purpose of Vault Sandboxes is to store configuration
- Vault Loader provides the ability to extract Object Records
- The information about Object Record deletion applies to all Vault Suites and Applications
- In the event an automatic system action occurs the Audit Trail and Admin Logs will display the "System on behalf of [username]" text. Actions executed by Workflows are examples.
Related Documentation:
Vault Help Documentation:
I. Object Records and Documents:
- Reporting Overview
- About Vault Objects
- Managing Object Records
- Binders Overview
- Deleting Documents
- Deleting Specific Versions
- Archiving Documents
II. Logs and Access Control:
- Viewing Admin Logs
- Viewing the Audit Trails
- Object Audit Events
- Document Audit Events
- About License Types & Security Profiles
- About Power Delete Permission
- Workflows Overview
- About Vault Loader
- Administering Sandbox Vaults
III. Table Items:
- Source File
- Working with Content Placeholders
- Renditions
- Document Audit Trail
- Document Versions
- Document Attachments
- Document-level Comments
- Document to Document Relationships
- Document to Object Relationships
- Checkout State
- Binder
- Binder References
- Reference Anchors
- Distributions from Content Distribution Network
- Document Notifications
- Crosslink Relationships
- Presence in Cart
- Presence in User Recents and Favorites
Knowledge Base:
- How to Open a Ticket with Veeva Product Support?
- How to Find the Vault ID of a Veeva Vault Instance?
- How to Retrieve the Document-Related IDs in Veeva Vault?
Access the Table of Contents here.