Suggestion for a cleaner job-log

This would be a nice feature, I have the same problem in our environment.. until an official solution arrives I’ve slapped together something custom to solve it. For anyone interested.

A trigger script that runs on ANY job completion:

param ($Job)

$jobId = $Job.Id

Write-Information "$jobId - $($Job.Script.Name) ran by $($Job.Identity.Name) @ $($Job.StartTime) for $(($Job.EndTime - $Job.StartTime).TotalSeconds) seconds."

if (!$Job.Schedule)
{
    Write-Information "Job is not scheduled - aborting."
    return
}

$output = Get-PSUJobPipelineOutput -JobId $jobId -Integrated #-AppToken $apiToken.Token

$HostOutput = Get-PSUJobOutput -JobId $jobId -Integrated

if ($HostOutput)
{
    Write-Information "[Job Output]"
    Write-Information ($HostOutput -join [Environment]::NewLine)
    Write-Information "[/Job Output]"
}

if ($output.Archive -eq $true)
{
    # Archieve job

    $apiToken = Get-PSUAppToken -Identity "JobArchiver" -Integrated | Where-Object -Property Revoked -Eq $false | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Token -First 1

    if (!$apiToken)
    {
        Write-Error "Failed to retrieve api token!"
        return
    }

    Write-Host "Archiving job.. " -NoNewLine

    $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://localhost/api/v1/job/archive/$jobId" -Method "DELETE" -SkipCertificateCheck -Headers @{

        Authorization="Bearer $apiToken"
    }

    if($response.Archived)
    {
        Write-Host "✅ OK" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
    else {
        Write-Host "Not archived?" -BackgroundColor Red
    }
}


Write-Debug "Triggered by job:"
Write-Debug ($Job | ConvertTo-Json -WarningAction Ignore)

and then I return an object with Archive = $true at the end of every job that I want to discard. Example:

return @{
    Archive = ($actionCount -eq 0)
}

Nice workaround! I’ll look at it, should be easily adaptable for my environment.

I’ve had a need limit log entries. When the log table gets over a certain size the queries take too long to complete and cause issues.

I’ve taken a different approach which is to purge entries in the table older than 5 days by changing the setting in Powershell Universal Admin > Settings > Data > Database Retention Log

I have a script scheduled daily that archives the entries to log files. It might need a little tweaking depending on your set up.

<#
.DESCRIPTION
    Powershell Universal Job Output Export

.NOTES
    Author: Mike Simmons
    Created: 05/03/2026
    Reviewed: 05/03/2026

.CHANGELOG
	<< 01/01/1970 >> << Editor Name >>	<< Change Description >>

#>

# Days to keep log files
$RetentionPeriod = 90

# SQL Server
$SQLServer = '<sql server>'

# SQL Database
$Database = '<database>'

# Ignores certificate issues on SQL server
Set-DbatoolsInsecureConnection -SessionOnly | Out-Null
Set-DbatoolsConfig -FullName logging.errorlogenabled -Value $false -PassThru | Register-DbatoolsConfig
Set-DbatoolsConfig -FullName logging.errorlogfileenabled -Value $false -PassThru | Register-DbatoolsConfig
Set-DbatoolsConfig -FullName logging.messagelogenabled -Value $false -PassThru | Register-DbatoolsConfig
Set-DbatoolsConfig -FullName logging.messagelogfileenabled -Value $false -PassThru | Register-DbatoolsConfig

# Get logs from previous 25 hours 15 minutes (Allows 1 hour overlap and allows for daylight saving issues)
$Query = @"
    SELECT
        j.ScriptFullPath,
        o.Message,
        o.Timestamp
    FROM [$Database].[dbo].[Job] j
    INNER JOIN [$Database].[dbo].[JobOutput] o
        ON j.Id = o.JobId
    WHERE o.Timestamp >= DATEADD(MINUTE, -1515, GETDATE())
    ORDER BY j.ScriptFullPath, o.Timestamp ASC;
"@

$Logs = Invoke-DBAQuery -SqlInstance $SQLServer -Query $Query -Verbose

# Loop through each log and save to a file
# C:\ProgramData\UniversalAutomation\Repository\Logs\<ScriptFolder>\<ScriptName>\<LogDate>.Log
Foreach ($Log in $Logs) {
    $ScriptPath = $Log.ScriptFullPath
    $Message = $Log.Message
    $TimeStamp = Get-Date($Log.Timestamp) -Format "dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss"
    $Date = Get-Date($TimeStamp) -Format "yyyy-MM-dd"

    # If script path has changed, it means the date or the script has changed and we need a new file
    # So we append any existing data, deduplicate and write the content of $Rows to the file.

    if ($ScriptPath -match '\\') {
        $Folder = $ScriptPath.split('\') | Select -First 1
        $ScriptName = ($ScriptPath.split('\') | Select -Last 1).split('.') | Select -First 1
        $LogPath = "$Repository\Logs\$Folder\$ScriptName\$Date.log"
    } else {
        $ScriptName = $ScriptPath.split('.') | Select -First 1
        $LogPath = "$Repository\Logs\$ScriptName\$Date.log"
    }

    if (-not(Test-Path $LogPath)) {
        New-Item -ItemType File -Path $LogPath -Force | Out-Null
        Write-Output "[INFO]:: Created $LogPath"
    }

    if ($LogPath -ne $LastLogPath) {

        Write-Output "[INFO]:: Processing script $ScriptName"

        if ($LastLogPath) {
            if (Test-Path $LastLogPath) {

                $ExistingData = Get-Content $LastLogPath

                if ($ExistingData) {
                    $ExistingDataLineCount = $ExistingData.Count
                    $ExistingData += $Rows

                    $Rows = $ExistingData | Select -Unique

                    Write-Output "[INFO]:: Appending $($Rows.Count) lines to existing $ExistingDataLineCount lines in $LastLogPath"
                }
            }

            Set-Content -Path $LastLogPath -Value $Rows -Force
            Write-Output "[INFO]:: Updated $LastLogPath"

        }

        # Reset Rows variable
        $Rows = @()
    }


    # If we don't have a new file, we continue to build the log by adding to the $Rows array
    $LastScriptPath = $ScriptPath
    $LastLogPath = $LogPath

    $Rows += "[$TimeStamp]:: $Message" -Replace "`n"

}

# Write the final file
if (Test-Path $LogPath) {
    $ExistingData = Get-Content $LogPath

    if ($ExistingData) {
        $ExistingDataLineCount = $ExistingData.Count

        $ExistingData += $Rows

        $Rows = $ExistingData | Select -Unique

        Write-Output "[INFO]:: Appending $($Rows.Count) lines to existing $ExistingDataLineCount lines in $LogPath"
    } else {
        Write-Output "[INFO]:: Creating new file $LogPath with $($Rows.Count) lines"
    }
}

Set-Content -Path $LogPath -Value $Rows -Force

if ($ExistingData) {
    Write-Output "[INFO]:: Appended: $LogPath"
} else {
    Write-Output "[INFO]:: Created: $LogPath"
}


# Clean up after retention period expired
Get-ChildItem "$Repository\Logs\" -Recurse | Where {$_.CreationTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays($RetentionPeriod * -1)} | Remove-Item -Force | Out-Null