If the global S3 Object Lock setting is enabled for the grid, S3 tenant users can create buckets with S3 Object Lock enabled and then select a Default retention period for each bucket.

If the global S3 Object Lock setting is enabled for the grid, S3 tenant users can create buckets with S3 Object Lock enabled and then use the S3 REST API to specify retain-until-date and legal hold settings for each object version added to that bucket.

S3 tenant users can add a lifecycle configuration to their buckets that specifies an Expiration action. If a bucket lifecycle exists, StorageGRID stores an object until the date or number of days specified in the Expiration action are met, unless the client deletes the object first. See Create S3 lifecycle configuration.

An S3 client can issue a delete object request. StorageGRID always prioritizes client delete requests over S3 bucket lifecycle or ILM when determining whether to delete or retain an object.

Set an S3 Object Lock maximum retention period for each tenant. Then, tenant users can set a default retention period for each of their buckets. The maximum retention period is also enforced on any newly ingested objects for that bucket (object's retain-until-date).

Create ILM placement instructions to control how long objects are stored. When objects are matched by an ILM rule, StorageGRID stores those objects until the last time period in the ILM rule has elapsed. Objects are retained indefinitely if "forever" is specified for the placement instructions.

Regardless of who controls how long objects are retained, ILM settings control what types of object copies (replicated or erasure-coded) are stored and where the copies are located (Storage Nodes or Cloud Storage Pools).