The restore point is governed by two separate time-based policies: the GFS retention policy and the immutability period.

1. GFS Retention: The backup is flagged for monthly GFS retention, which is set for 6 months. Therefore, the retention policy will protect this restore point until November 27th, 2023 (May 27th + 6 months).

2. Immutability: The Linux Hardened Repository is configured with a 60-day immutability period. This lock prevents deletion until July 26th, 2023 (May 27th + 60 days).

Veeam will only delete a restore point after both its retention period and its immutability period have expired. Since the GFS retention period (November 27th, 2023) is longer than the immutability period (July 26th, 2023), the restore point will be deleted by the next job run after its retention expires.

A. 2V June 2023: This date (likely a typo for 27th June) is too early and does not align with either the 60-day immutability or the 6-month GFS retention.

B. 28th July 2023: This is when the 60-day immutability period expires, but the 6-month GFS retention policy still actively protects the restore point from deletion.

D. 5th August 2023: This date is arbitrary and does not correspond to the expiration of either the configured immutability or the GFS retention policy.

1. Veeam Backup & Replication V12 User Guide for VMware vSphere

"Retention for GFS Backups" section: "If a GFS restore point is stored on a hardened repository with immutability

Veeam Backup & Replication will remove it only after both retention and immutability periods are over." This confirms that the later of the two dates dictates the deletion.

2. Veeam Backup & Replication V12 User Guide for VMware vSphere

"Hardened Repository" section: "For each backup file

Veeam Backup & Replication sets an immutability flag with a time stamp when the file must become immutable until. The time stamp is calculated as follows: current time + number of days specified in the Make recent backups immutable for setting." This explains how the immutability period is applied.

3. Veeam Backup & Replication V12 User Guide for VMware vSphere

"GFS Retention Policy" section: This section details how GFS flags preserve specific full backup files for longer periods (weekly

monthly

etc.)

independent of the short-term retention policy. In this scenario

the 6-month policy is the active retention rule for this specific restore point.