Create a legal hold preservation policy

A preservation policy defines which files a legal hold preserves and how long to keep them. At least one policy must exist before you can create a matter, and one policy can be applied to many matters.

This article covers creating and configuring a policy. For what each setting does, see Legal Hold reference. For how to choose the settings, see Best practices for legal hold file selections and exclusions.

Before you begin

Creating a legal hold preservation policy requires the following.

• This procedure requires the Org Legal Admin or Cross Org Legal Admin role.
• Determine the necessary file selection and retention settings with your legal and compliance teams first. A policy that is left at its defaults preserves only the file selection from the custodian's organization.

The procedure for keeping an exclusion on ordinary backups without applying it to legal holds is in Best practices for legal hold file selections and exclusions.

Step 1: Create the policy

Create the preservation policy in the Legal Hold area of the CrashPlan console.

1. Sign in to the CrashPlan console.
2. Select Legal Hold > Preservation Policies.
3. From All Preservation Policies, select the create preservation policy icon (+).
4. Enter a name for the policy and confirm.
   The policy appears in the list.
5. Select the policy by name to configure it.

Step 2: Set the backup schedule

The default schedule runs backups continuously, which suits most legal holds. Narrowing the window extends the time a hold takes to complete its first backup.

1. In the General Backup section, select Edit.
2. Set backups to run continuously or during specific times.
3. Set how often file verification scans run. This controls how quickly some changes to the policy reach custodian devices. The default is daily.
4. Select Save.

Step 3: Set the file selection

File selection determines what the legal hold preserves and is the setting most worth agreeing with your legal team in advance.

1. In the File Selection section, select Edit.
2. Under Included files, select Select file path and choose the folders to preserve.
3. (Optional) Under Excluded files, select Select file path and choose the folders to leave out.
4. Select Save.

Step 4: Add filename exclusions (optional)

A new preservation policy contains no filename exclusions of its own. Each exclusion you add reduces what is available to collect later.

1. In the Filename Exclusions section, select Edit.
2. Select the operating system the exclusion applies to.
3. Enter a file extension, or select Regular Expression and enter a pattern.
4. Select Add.
5. Repeat for each exclusion. To add several at once, select Import and paste a list.
6. Select Save.

Step 5: Set frequency and version retention

These settings take precedence over the retention configured on a custodian's other backup sets while they are on hold, and their original retention resumes on release. See How legal hold works.

1. In the Frequency and Versions section, select Edit.
2. Set Backup changes every to control how often a changed file produces a new version.
3. Set each retention interval, and set Remove deleted files to control how long deleted files remain in the archive.
4. Select Save.

Step 6: Test the policy

Create a matter with a test device as its custodian and confirm the policy selects the files your legal team expects.

Changes to a policy reach a device at its next file verification scan. To see the effect sooner on a test device, open the CrashPlan app, go to Backup Set Settings, and select Scan for file changes.

Delete a preservation policy

A preservation policy can be deleted only when no matter is using it, so a policy protecting an active matter cannot be removed by accident. Attempting to delete one reports "Unable to delete preservation policy. In use by matter <matter id> and <number> others".

To delete an unused policy, select it from All Preservation Policies and choose Delete from the action menu. The confirmation message reads: "By deleting the preservation policy, it will no longer be able to be applied to a matter to increase collection and retention of specified files. Are you sure you want to delete this preservation policy?"

Next step

With a policy in place, create a legal hold matter and add custodians.