# Bulk Deletion of Runs and Projects Using BaseSpace CLI with Windows PowerShell **Note** **The information in the article is for Windows users. It does not apply to CLI usage in Linux or Mac OS.** **Background** Sometimes users may need to delete runs or projects that date back several months or years, and additionally free up storage space in a BaseSpace account. In cases where many items must be removed at once, performing this manually through the Guided User Interface of BaseSpace or via the BaseSpace Command-Line Interface (BaseSpace CLI) can be time‑consuming and impractical. To streamline this process, the BaseSpace CLI can be combined with Windows PowerShell scripting to efficiently perform bulk deletion of multiple runs or projects. **Requirements** * BaseSpace CLI installed. Detailed installation instructions on the [CLI Overview](https://developer.basespace.illumina.com/docs/content/documentation/cli/cli-overview) webpage. * Windows PowerShell **Launching the Windows PowerShell** Bulk deletion via this approach can only be executed through Windows PowerShell. To open a Windows PowerShell session: 1. Open the Windows Start menu 2. Type “Windows PowerShell” into the search bar 3. Select **Windows PowerShell** 4. A PowerShell terminal Window will open **Authenticate to BaseSpace Account** Before performing any data deletion, ensure to authenticate both the BaseSpace instance and the account that contains the data intended to be removed. Instructions for performing authentication are provided in the [CLI Overview](https://developer.basespace.illumina.com/docs/content/documentation/cli/cli-overview). If needed to authenticate to a workgroup, navigate to [How to Authenticate BaseSpace CLI to a Workgroup](https://knowledge.illumina.com/software/cloud-software/software-cloud-software-reference_material-list/000008347) for detailed steps. For example, authentication to theEUC1 BaseSpace instance can be done using: ``` bs auth --api-server https://api.euc1.sh.basespace.illumina.com --force ``` To confirm authentication to the correct instance and account, run the following command: ``` bs whoami ``` This command will output account username, and BaseSpace instance under the Host section. Ensure this matches the environment where data deletion will be intended. **I. For Bulk Deletion of Runs** The following example demonstrates a bulk deletion operation that removes all Runs older than 50 days. This command can be customized based on the specific criteria required for data cleanup: ``` bs list runs --older-than=50d --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete run -i $_ -v --preserve-metadata} ``` In this example: \--older-than=50d #Filter for Runs older than 50 days. `--terse` #Outputs only the Run IDs. Each ID is piped “ | ” into bs delete run -i for deletion. -v/--verbose (optional) #Enables verbose output during deletion. `--preserve-metadata` (optional) #Enables metadata for runs to be retained while deleting more space-consuming files such as BCL-files. Details about the available arguments are included in the [CLI Overview](https://developer.basespace.illumina.com/docs/content/documentation/cli/cli-overview) and [CLI Examples](https://developer.basespace.illumina.com/docs/content/documentation/cli/cli-examples) webpages. Moreover, additional details are provided via the `--help` flag in BaseSpace CLI such as `bs list runs --help`. **Excluding Specific Runs From Bulk Deletion** During bulk deletion, certain Runs may need to be excluded from the operation. This can be achieved by filtering out specific Run IDs before piping the list into the deletion command. To exclude multiple Run IDs, `Select-String -NotMatch` can be used with a regular expression pattern. Separate each Run ID in the exclusion list using the pipe symbol “ | ”. The following example excludes Run IDs 27812785 and 27830803 from the deletion list: ``` bs list runs --older-than=50d --terse | Select-String -NotMatch '^(27812785|27830803)$' | ForEach-Object {bs delete run -i $_ -v --preserve-metadata} ``` **Additional Filtering Options and Details** The bs list runs and bs list projects commands supports additional filtering parameters that can help narrow down the list of Runs targeted for deletion including: \--newer-than #Filter for items that are newer than the given duration, for example 5m (5 minutes) or 12h (12 hours). Permitted suffixes are s, m, h, d, w, y `--older-than` #Filter for items that are older than the given duration, for example 10d (10 days) or 2y (2 years). Permitted suffixes are s, m, h, d, w, y `--filter-field` #Enter the field to use when for filtering (default: Name) `--filter-term` #Filter by regular expression The `--filter-field` and `--filter-term` options can be used together to filter Runs or Projects based on specific metadata fields. This is useful when items share identifiable naming patterns or attributes. For example, when working with Runs from a MiSeq i100 instrument whose serial number SH09999 is included in the Run name, all associated Runs newer than 5 days can be filtered and deleted using: ``` bs list runs --newer-than=5d --filter-field=Name --filter-term=SH09999 --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete run -i $_ -v --preserve-metadata} ``` Another example, to identify and delete Runs that are newer than 20 days, have a status of Failed, and without preserving any data or metadate, the following command can be used: ``` bs list runs --newer-than=20d --filter-field=Status --filter-term=Failed --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete run -i $_ -v} ``` The `--preserve-metadata` argument has been intentionally omitted from the bs delete run -i command in this example. As a result, both data and metadata associated with each Run will be deleted. **II. For Bulk Deletion of Projects** The same approach used for bulk deletion of Runs also applies to Projects. The key difference is that the deletion command must be updated to use bs delete project -i instead.\ As with Runs, filters and exclusion patterns can be combined to specify which Projects are deleted. ``` bs list projects --older-than=50d --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete project -i $_ -v} ``` **Excluding Specific Projects From Bulk Deletion** Specific Projects IDs can likewise be excluded in the same way as Runs by using the `-NotMatch` filter. The following example excludes Projects IDs 9686677, 9685676 and 9684677. ``` bs list projects --older-than=50d --terse | Select-String -NotMatch '^(9686677|9685676|9684677)$' | ForEach-Object {bs delete project -i $_ -v} ``` **III. Complete Bulk Deletion Without Filters** Filter options are optional and do not need to be applied in every scenario. If the intenstion is to delete **all Runs** or **all Projects** associated with an account, filtering parameters can be omitted entirely. The following command retrieves all Run IDs or Project IDs and deletes them without applying any filters: For Runs: ``` bs list runs --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete run -i $_ -v} ``` For Projects: ``` bs list projects --terse | ForEach-Object {bs delete project -i $_ -v} ``` **IV. Complete Bulk Deletion Process** After deletion, data or projects are moved to Trash and still count toward total storage. To finalize the deletion process, navigate to the Trash in BaseSpace and empty it to permanently remove the runs and/or projects from BaseSpace. \ \ \
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