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K
Adobe Employee
Keerthana_H_NAdobe Employee
Adobe Employee
July 30, 2025
Solved

How to purge Asset Versions in AEMaaCS?

  • July 30, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 999 views

Hi,

How to purge the asset version in aem programmatically?
Configured OOTB Day CQ WCM Version Manager configuration to purge the versions but in this case not all the versions getting purged atleast 1 version will be there in the asset. 

Tried to get version programmatically and delete the versions but same issue here as well purge will work only if the versions are more than 1.

VersionManager versionManager = session.getWorkspace().getVersionManager();
VersionHistory versionHistory = versionManager.getVersionHistory(assetPath);

Iterator<Version> versions = versionHistory.getAllVersions();
while (versions.hasNext()) {
    Version version = versions.next();
    String versionName = version.getName();
    String versionPath = version.getPath();
    if (!"jcr:rootVersion".equals(versionName)) {
        versionHistory.removeVersion(versionName);
    }
}

I want a code which deletes all the versions of asset. Just keep the original version.

I tried deleting the property "mix:versionable" from the asset which is working and deleting all the versions. But when I upload newer version again all the older versions are getting added. Not sure whether the version is getting deleted or the version is getting unlinked when I run this code.

Node assetNode = session.getNode(assetPath);
if (assetNode.isNodeType("mix:versionable")) {
    assetNode.removeMixin("mix:versionable");
    session.save();
}

Please let me know if this is the right way. If not please share the appropriate way to delete all the asset versions.

Thanks.

Best answer by Keerthana_H_N

I was expecting the ACS commons public code would be useful 🙂


Hi @briankasingli ,

After removing the ref of version from asset then able to delete. I'm removing property "mix:versionable" and then deleted the versions. Can we do it this way?

session = resolver.adaptTo(Session.class);
VersionManager versionManager = session.getWorkspace().getVersionManager();
VersionHistory versionHistory = versionManager.getVersionHistory(assetPath);

List<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
VersionIterator versionIterator = versionHistory.getAllVersions();
while (versionIterator.hasNext()) {
    Version v = versionIterator.nextVersion();
    String name = v.getName();
    if (!name.equals("jcr:rootVersion")) {
        names.add(v.getName());
    }
}
Node assetNode = session.getNode(assetPath);
if (assetNode.isNodeType("mix:versionable")) {
    assetNode.removeMixin("mix:versionable");
    session.save();
}
for (String name : names) {
    versionHistory.removeVersion(name);
}

 

4 replies

Ekhlaque
Adobe Employee
EkhlaqueAdobe Employee
Adobe Employee
July 30, 2025

Hi @keerthana_h_n , as i understand ,you cannot purge every version of a versionable node programmatically using the JCR API ,there will always be at least one version (the root version) in the version history. This is by design, and is specified by the JCR and Oak implementation.I would recommend to stick with the “remove all but root version” logic and don’t try to delete jcr:rootVersion.

    K
    Adobe Employee
    Keerthana_H_NAdobe EmployeeAuthor
    Adobe Employee
    July 30, 2025

    Hi @ekhlaque ,
    I tried deleting all the versions but jcr:rootVersion using versionHistory. But I'm getting error while deleting the base version using this code.

    VersionManager versionManager = session.getWorkspace().getVersionManager();
    VersionHistory versionHistory = versionManager.getVersionHistory(assetPath);

    Iterator<Version> versions = versionHistory.getAllVersions();
    while (versions.hasNext()) {
        Version version = versions.next();
        String versionName = version.getName();
        String versionPath = version.getPath();
        if (!"jcr:rootVersion".equals(versionName)) {
            versionHistory.removeVersion(versionName);
        }
    }


    javax.jcr.ReferentialIntegrityException: OakIntegrity0001: Unable to delete referenced node: ${asset_version_node}
     

    arunpatidar
    Community Advisor
    arunpatidarCommunity Advisor
    Community Advisor
    July 30, 2025

    Hi @keerthana_h_n 

    Could you please check if this helps https://aem4beginner.blogspot.com/how-to-remove-version-history-in-cq-aem 

    Arun Patidar
      K
      Adobe Employee
      Keerthana_H_NAdobe EmployeeAuthor
      Adobe Employee
      July 30, 2025

      Hi @arunpatidar ,

      I'm doing same approach 

      VersionManager versionManager = session.getWorkspace().getVersionManager();
      VersionHistory versionHistory = versionManager.getVersionHistory(assetPath);

      Iterator<Version> versions = versionHistory.getAllVersions();
      while (versions.hasNext()) {
          Version version = versions.next();
          String versionName = version.getName();
          String versionPath = version.getPath();
          if (!"jcr:rootVersion".equals(versionName)) {
              versionHistory.removeVersion(versionName);
          }
      }

       It'll delete all the versions except rootVersion and last version. And getting this exception while deleting javax.jcr.ReferentialIntegrityException: OakIntegrity0001: Unable to delete referenced node: ${asset_version_node}

        arunpatidar
        Community Advisor
        arunpatidarCommunity Advisor
        Community Advisor
        July 31, 2025

        Hi @keerthana_h_n 

        I agree with @ekhlaque , keep the base version, if you can't delete it maybe rename the version to something else which would be easy to track.

        Arun Patidar
          BrianKasingli
          Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
          BrianKasingliCommunity Advisor and Adobe Champion
          Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
          July 30, 2025

          Hey @keerthana_h_n ,

          Take a look at the ACS Commons open-sourced Project. They have a servlet called DeletedContentVersionPurgerServlet https://github.com/Adobe-Consulting-Services/acs-aem-tools/blob/master/bundle/src/main/java/com/adobe/acs/tools/versions/impl/DeletedContentVersionPurgerServlet.java that removes version histories of content that has already been deleted.

            K
            Adobe Employee
            Keerthana_H_NAdobe EmployeeAuthor
            Adobe Employee
            July 30, 2025

            Hi @briankasingli ,

            I have written the similar code and this will not delete all the versions. Error occurs while deleting baseVersion.

            BrianKasingli
            Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
            BrianKasingliCommunity Advisor and Adobe Champion
            Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
            July 31, 2025

            I was expecting the ACS commons public code would be useful 🙂

            kautuk_sahni
            Community Manager
            kautuk_sahniCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            August 4, 2025

            @keerthana_h_n Just checking in — were you able to resolve your issue? We’d love to hear how things worked out. If the suggestions above helped, marking a response as correct can guide others with similar questions. And if you found another solution, feel free to share it — your insights could really benefit the community. Thanks again for being part of the conversation!

            Kautuk Sahni
            K
            Adobe Employee
            Keerthana_H_NAdobe EmployeeAuthor
            Adobe Employee
            August 4, 2025

            Hi @kautuk_sahni ,

            Thanks for checking. I was able to resolve and I have marked the right answer.

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