--- title: "Manage sets" description: "Guide to managing Aerospike sets: configuring set indexes, limiting growth, setting TTLs, and truncating data." --- # Manage sets > For the complete documentation index see: [llms.txt](https://aerospike.com/docs/llms.txt) > > All documentation pages available in markdown. This page describes how to manage [sets](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/learn/architecture/data-storage/data-model) and [set indexes](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/learn/architecture/data-storage/set-index/) in an Aerospike namespace. An Aerospike set is similar to a table in a relational database, except you do not define a schema for it. - Sets are created dynamically and implicitly by the first record inserted into the set, a behavior which can be restricted through the use of [role-based access control](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/security/rbac/). - While records can be created without a set name, you can configure the namespace to [`disallow-null-setname`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__disallow-null-setname). ::: caution Truncation, expiration, and eviction are discouraged for strong consistency (CP mode) namespaces. ::: ## Managing set indexes Starting with Database 8.1.2, you can create and remove set indexes using the same commands as secondary indexes, [`sindex-create`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/info/#sindex-create) and [`sindex-delete`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/info/#sindex-delete), with the sindex-admin privilege. This allows set index management on Aerospike Cloud, where the `sys-admin` role is not available. The legacy method using [`enable-index`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__enable-index) configuration or the [`set-config`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/info#set-config) info command is deprecated but remains supported for backward compatibility. ### Adding a set index - **Preferred method (Database 8.1.2 and later):** Use [`sindex-create`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/info/#sindex-create). This requires the sindex-admin privilege (same as secondary indexes) and works on Aerospike Cloud. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'sindex-create:namespace=test;set=demo;indexname=demo-idx;indextype=set'" ``` - Use [`manage sindex create`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asadm/live-mode/#create-a-secondary-index) for a set index: Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage sindex create demo-idx ns test set demo" ``` ::: note Set indexes created with `sindex-create` require an index name. The same command is used for secondary indexes and set indexes. ::: ### Verify a set index After you add a set index, run [`info set`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asadm/live-mode/#set) and check the `Set Index` column for the namespace and set. A value of `Yes` means the set index exists on that node. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "info set" ``` Example output: ```text Namespace| Set| Node| Memory| Disk| Objects| Set | | | Used| Used| |Index test |demo|127.0.0.1:3000 |1.236 MB|0.000 B |99.711 K|Yes test |demo| |1.236 MB|0.000 B |99.711 K| ``` In a multi-node cluster, confirm that each node row for the set shows `Yes`. The aggregate row does not report a `Set Index` value. #### Deprecated methods - [`manage config`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asadm/live-mode/#config): Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace test set demo param enable-index to true" ``` - The `set-config` info command: Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'set-config:context=namespace;id=test;set=demo;enable-index=true' " ``` ### Removing a set index **Preferred method (Database 8.1.2 and later):** Use `sindex-delete` with the index name. Requires sindex-admin privilege. Use [`manage sindex delete`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asadm/live-mode/#drop-a-secondary-index-or-set-index): Terminal window ```bash Admin+> manage sindex delete demo-idx ns test set demo ``` Or use the `sindex-delete` info command: Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'sindex-delete:namespace=test;set=demo;indexname=demo-idx'" ``` ::: note A set index can only be removed using the same method that created it. An index created with `sindex-create` must be deleted with `sindex-delete`. An index created with `set-config enable-index=true` must be disabled with `set-config enable-index=false`. Attempting to cross methods fails with a warning. ::: **Deprecated method:** Using `asadm` to revert the `enable-index` set configuration: Terminal window ```bash Admin> enable Admin+> manage config namespace test set demo param enable-index to false ``` And using the raw info command: Terminal window ```bash Admin> enable Admin+> asinfo -v 'set-config:context=namespace;id=test;set=demo;enable-index=false' ``` ### Backward compatibility You can create set indexes using either the new `sindex-create` method or the deprecated `enable-index` / `set-config` method. Both methods can coexist, but each method’s indexes are managed independently: - A set index created via `sindex-create` can only be deleted via `sindex-delete`. Setting `enable-index` to `false` via `set-config` has no effect on it. - A set index created via `set-config enable-index=true` can only be disabled via `set-config enable-index=false`. `sindex-delete` has no effect on it. - SMD always takes priority when it has an entry for the set; set-config is only used when SMD has no entry. - If no SMD entry exists for the set, `enable-index` via `set-config` controls whether the set index is active. ### Monitoring set indexes The memory cost of enabling a set index is described in the [capacity planning](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/planning/capacity#calculating-storage-for-the-set-index) guide. To limit the combined memory usage by all indexes (primary, set, secondary) at the namespace level, use the [`indexes-memory-budget`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__indexes-memory-budget) configuration parameter. Setting limits on the number of objects and storage used by a set is described in [Limiting set growth](#limiting-set-growth). The memory used by all set indexes in a namespace is provided by the [`memory_used_set_index_bytes`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/metrics#namespace__memory_used_set_index_bytes) metric and also the [“memory-usage”](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/logs/#info__1909672775) server log ticker line. ## Managing expiration and eviction You can modify namespace [data retention](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/retention/) aspects like expiration, eviction and TTL at the set level. ::: note Configuration parameters are applied per-node. `asadm` sends the same info command to all the nodes in the cluster. ::: ### Defining set-level record TTL Starting with Database 7.0.0, you can specify a default time-to-live ([`default-ttl`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__default-ttl)) configuration option at the set level, which overrides any `default-ttl` option specified at the namespace level. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace test set demo param default-ttl 60D" ``` See [Specify a set-level default TTL](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/retention/#specify-a-set-level-default-ttl) for static configuration. ### Protecting a set from evictions To protect a set from evictions you can statically or dynamically [`disable-eviction`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__disable-eviction). When evictions are in effect for a namespace, sets with evictions disabled are skipped, regardless of the void-time of the records. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace test set demo param disable-eviction to true" ``` See [Disable eviction on sets](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/retention/#disable-eviction-on-sets) for static configuration. ## Limiting set growth To prevent a single set from exhausting storage, you can dynamically limit its growth using configuration parameters. This ensures high-density datasets do not impact the rest of your namespace. ::: note Configuration parameters are applied per-node, and thresholds are checked separately on each cluster node. Stop-writes behavior occurs independently on each node that exceeds the defined threshold. When using `asadm`, the same dynamic configuration is sent to all nodes in the cluster. ::: ### Limiting set storage size To limit the total storage used by a set, use [`stop-writes-size`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__stop-writes-size). If a cluster node breaches this threshold, it refuses client writes to that set. Deletions, replica writes, and migration writes remain permitted. Once the limit is reached, the server refuses all additional writes, including those that would decrease record size. To exit this state, you must increase or remove the limit, or delete records. While the limit is breached, record deletions using UDFs, delete-all-bins operations, or background queries are rejected. You must use standard record deletes, batch deletes, or wait for Namespace Supervisor (NSUP) expiration. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace test set demo param stop-writes-size to 250M" ``` Or using the raw info command: Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'set-config:context=namespace;id=test;set=demo;stop-writes-size=250M' " ``` See [Define a data size maximum on a set](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/retention/#define-a-data-size-maximum-on-a-set) for static configuration. ### Limiting the set record count Use [`stop-writes-count`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/config#namespace__stop-writes-count) to limit the total number of records in a set. If a node breaches this threshold, client writes are refused, though deletions and system writes (replica/migration) are still allowed. Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace test set demo param stop-writes-count to 1000000" ``` Or using the raw info command: Terminal window ```bash asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'set-config:context=namespace;id=test;set=demo;stop-writes-count=1000000' " ``` See [Define a set object count](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/manage/namespace/retention/#define-an-object-count-limit-on-a-set) for static configuration. ### Viewing stop-write status To determine if a set has reached its limit or why client writes are being refused, use the following methods: - Use asadm (recommended) This provides a cluster-wide view of specific metrics and the percentage of the threshold used. Terminal window ```bash Admin> show stop-writes for test employees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stop Writes (2025-05-19 04:16:15 UTC)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Show all stop writes - add 'for []' for a shorter list. Config|Namespace| Set| Node|Stop-Writes| Metric| Usage%| Usage|Threshold stop-writes-count|test |employees|10.0.1.127:3100|False |objects | --|10.000 K| -- stop-writes-size |test |employees|10.0.1.127:3100|True |data_used_bytes|117.84 %|1.178 MB| 1.000 MB Number of rows: 2 ``` - Use asinfo (node-specific) To check the raw status on a single node, query the set statistics directly: Terminal window ```bash asinfo -v "sets/test/employees" | tr ';' '\n' | grep "stop-writes" ``` - Server logs The server logs a WARNING when a threshold is crossed, which is useful for post-mortem analysis. ```text WARNING (nsup): {test:employees} breached stop-writes-size limit ``` ## Truncating a set in a namespace Use [`asadm`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asadm) to run the command on the whole cluster, or [`asinfo`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/tools/asinfo) to run a [`truncate`](https://aerospike.com/docs/database/reference/info#truncate) command on one Aerospike cluster node at a time. ::: caution Before truncating in a namespace that has transactions enabled, verify that all transactions are paused. See [Pause and drain transactions before truncating](#pause-and-drain-transactions-before-truncating). ::: ### Truncate with asadm Run `asadm` interactively: ```text asadm Seed: [('127.0.0.1', 3000, None)] Aerospike Interactive Shell, version 2.11.0 Found 1 nodes Online: 127.0.0.1:3000 Admin> info set ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Set Information (2026-06-11 23:20:00 UTC)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Namespace| Set| Node| Memory| Disk|~~~~~Quota~~~~~~| Objects| Stop| Disable| Set | | | Used| Used| Total|Used%| | Writes|Eviction|Index | | | | | | | | Count| | test |demo|127.0.0.1:3000 |1.236 MB|0.000 B |250.000 MB|0.0 %|801.000 |1000000|True |No test |demo| |1.236 MB|0.000 B |250.000 MB|0.0 %|801.000 | | | Number of rows: 1 Admin> enable Admin+> manage truncate ns test set demo before 2026-06-11T23:24:24Z iso-8601 You're about to truncate up to 801 records from set demo for namespace test with LUT before 23:24:24.000000 UTC on June 11, 2026 Confirm that you want to proceed by typing 5c0acf, or cancel by typing anything else. 5c0acf Successfully started truncation for set demo of namespace test Admin+> info set ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Set Information (2026-06-11 23:30:55 UTC)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Namespace| Set| Node| Memory| Disk|~~~~~Quota~~~~~~|Objects| Stop| Disable| Set | | | Used| Used| Total|Used%| | Writes|Eviction|Index | | | | | | | | Count| | test |demo|127.0.0.1:3000 |0.000 B |0.000 B |250.000 MB|0.0 %|0.000 |1000000|True |No test |demo| |0.000 B |0.000 B |250.000 MB|0.0 %|0.000 | | | Number of rows: 1 ``` Each server node logs the truncate job and the number of records deleted on that node: ```text Jun 11 2026 23:30:55 GMT: INFO (truncate): (truncate.c:193) {test|demo} got command to truncate to Jun 11 2026 23:24:24 GMT (518916264000) Jun 11 2026 23:30:55 GMT: INFO (truncate): (truncate.c:349) {test|demo} truncating to 518916264000 on 4 threads Jun 11 2026 23:30:55 GMT: INFO (truncate): (truncate.c:458) {test|demo} done truncate to 518916264000 deleted 801 ``` #### Truncate in non-interactive mode Terminal window ```bash asadm --enable -e "manage truncate ns test set demo --no-warn" ``` ### Truncate with `asinfo` The following command truncates a single node, and is then communicated to the other nodes as shared metadata (SMD): Terminal window ```bash asinfo -h 127.0.0.1 -v "truncate:namespace=test;set=demo" ``` ### Pause and drain transactions before truncating Use the following steps to truncate sets in a namespace with transactions enabled. 1. Pause the transactions using one of the following commands. ```java asadm -e "enable; manage config namespace param disable-mrt-writes to true" ``` or ```java asadm -e "enable; asinfo -v 'set-config:context=namespace;id=;disable-mrt-writes=true'" ``` 2. Run the following command to examine the special monitor set. ```java asadm -e "show statistics sets for /