ALM stores all project files in a project repository located under the ProjRep directory. The files in this directory are stored in an optimized folder structure that allows maximum storage space. In addition, any two files with identical content are stored only once in the ProjRep directory. This results in a significant reduction in disk space. For example, if you attach the same file to several ALM records, the file is stored only once in the project repository. Periodically, ALM clears the repository of duplicate files.
Caution: You must not make any changes to the files in the ProjRep directory. Any change to a file, including editing a file's content, can cause irreversible damage to the project repository.
Project Repository Cleanup
When you add a file to an entity, ALM checks whether an identical file exists in the project repository. If an identical file is located, no physical file is added to the repository.
When you delete a file from an entity, the file is not immediately deleted from the project directory, as it may still be used by other entities.
At regular intervals, the project repository is scanned for files that are no longer used by any entity. Any such files are deleted from the project repository. By default, each project repository is scanned once every seven days.
You can promote or postpone a project's repository cleanup. For more details, see
Updating Project Details.
You can define the following site configuration parameters to regulate the project repository cleanup process:
- REPOSITORY_GC_INTERVAL. Defines the time interval between cleanup processes of each project repository. For more details, see REPOSITORY_GC_INTERVAL.
- REPOSITORY_GC_JOB_PRIORITY. Defines the speed at which the cleanup process is performed. For more details, see REPOSITORY_GC_JOB_PRIORITY.
- SUSPEND_REPOSITORY_GC. Enables you to stop the project repository cleanup process. For more details, see SUSPEND_REPOSITORY_GC.
