Documentation

Delete a database

Use the influxdb3 delete database command, the HTTP API, or InfluxDB 3 Explorer to delete a database from InfluxDB 3 Enterprise.

Deleting a database cannot be undone

Deleting a database is a destructive action. Once a database is deleted, data stored in that database cannot be recovered.

Delete a database using the influxdb3 CLI

Provide the following:

  • Name of the database to delete
influxdb3 delete database 
DATABASE_NAME

Replace the following:

  • DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database to delete

Enter yes to confirm that you want to delete the database.

Delete a database using the HTTP API

To delete a database using the HTTP API, send a DELETE request to the /api/v3/configure/database endpoint:

DELETE localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/database

Include the following in your request:

  • Query parameters:
    • db: Database name to delete
  • Headers:
curl --request DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/database?db=
DATABASE_NAME
"
\
--header "Authorization: Bearer
AUTH_TOKEN
"

Replace the following:

  • DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database to delete
  • AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Response

A successful deletion returns HTTP status 200 with no content body.

Delete a database using InfluxDB 3 Explorer

You can also delete databases using the InfluxDB 3 Explorer web interface:

  1. If you haven’t already, see how to get started with Explorer and connect to your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server.
  2. In Explorer, click Databases in the left navigation.
  3. Find the database you want to delete in the list.
  4. Click the Delete icon (trash can) next to the database name.
  5. In the confirmation dialog, type the database name to confirm.
  6. Click Delete Database.

This action cannot be undone. All data in the database will be permanently deleted.

For more information, see Manage databases with InfluxDB 3 Explorer.

Delete data only (preserve schema and resources)

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise supports deleting only the data in a database while preserving the database schema and associated resources. This is useful when you want to clear old data and re-write new data to the same structure without recreating resources.

What is preserved

When using the data-only deletion option, the following are preserved:

  • Database schema: Tables and column definitions
  • Authentication tokens: Database-scoped access tokens
  • Processing engine configurations: Triggers and plugin configurations
  • Caches: Last value caches (LVC) and distinct value caches (DVC)

Delete data only using the CLI

Use the --data-only flag to delete data while preserving the database schema and resources–for example:

influxdb3 delete database --data-only 
DATABASE_NAME

Replace DATABASE_NAME with the name of your database.

Delete data and remove tables

To delete data and remove table schemas while preserving database-level resources (tokens, triggers, configurations), combine --data-only with --remove-tables:

influxdb3 delete database --data-only --remove-tables 
DATABASE_NAME

This preserves:

  • Authentication tokens
  • Processing engine triggers and configurations

But removes:

  • All data
  • Table schemas
  • Table-level caches (LVC and DVC)

Delete data only using the HTTP API

To delete only data using the HTTP API, include the data_only=true query parameter:

curl --request DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/database?db=
DATABASE_NAME
&data_only=true"
\
--header "Authorization: Bearer
AUTH_TOKEN
"

Replace the following:

  • DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database
  • AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Delete data and remove tables

To also remove table schemas, add the remove_tables=true parameter:

curl --request DELETE "localhost:8181
/api/v3/configure/database?db=
DATABASE_NAME
&data_only=true&remove_tables=true"
\
--header "Authorization: Bearer
AUTH_TOKEN
"

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See the Blog Post

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