# Releasing files
<a name="file-release"></a>

Release data repository tasks release file data from your FSx for Lustre file system to free up space for new files. Releasing a file retains the file listing and metadata, but removes the local copy of that file's contents. If a user or application accesses a released file, the data is automatically and transparently loaded back onto your file system from your linked Amazon S3 bucket.

**Note**  
Release data repository tasks are not available on FSx for Lustre 2.10 file systems.

The parameters **File system paths to release** and **Minimum duration since last access** determine which files will be released.
+ **File system paths to release**: Specifies the path from which files will be released.
+ **Minimum duration since last access**: Specifies the duration, in days, such that any file not accessed in that duration should be released. The duration since a file was last accessed is calculated by taking the difference between the release task create time and the last time a file was accessed (maximum value of `atime`, `mtime`, and `ctime`).

Files will only be released along the file path if they have been exported to S3 and have a duration since last access that is greater than the minimum duration since last access value. Providing a minimum duration since last access of `0` days will release files independent of their duration since last access.

**Note**  
The use of wildcards to include or exclude files for release is not supported.

Release data repository tasks will only release data from files that have already been exported to a linked S3 data repository. You can export data to S3 using either the automatic export feature, an export data repository task, or HSM commands. To verify that a file has been exported to your data repository, you can run the following command. A return value of `states: (0x00000009) exists archived` indicates that the file has successfully been exported.

```
sudo lfs hsm_state path/to/export/file
```

**Note**  
You must run the HSM command as the root user or using `sudo`.

To release file data on a regular interval, you can schedule a recurring release data repository task using Amazon EventBridge Scheduler. For more information, see [Getting started with EventBridge Scheduler](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/scheduler/latest/UserGuide/getting-started.html) in the *Amazon EventBridge Scheduler User Guide*.

**Topics**
+ [Using data repository tasks to release files](release-files-task.md)