Delta Lake Time Travel: Querying Previous Table Versions

    Who this is for:

    Architecture / Concept Overview: Delta Lake Time Travel: Querying Previous Table Versions

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    *The transaction log records every version. Readers can target any historical version as long as the underlying files have not been vacuumed.*

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    *Time travel serves multiple operational use cases, from compliance auditing to ML experiment reproducibility.*

    Key Terms

    Prerequisites and Setup

    • Databricks Runtime 13.3 LTS or later
    • A Delta table with multiple committed versions
    • SELECT privilege for time travel queries; MODIFY for RESTORE operations
    • Sufficient retention period (delta.deletedFileRetentionDuration) to cover your time travel window

    Step-by-Step Implementation

      Configuration Reference

      Delta Lake Time Travel: Querying Previous Table Versions configuration options
      PropertyDefaultDescription
      delta.logRetentionDuration30 daysHow long commit JSON files are retained
      delta.deletedFileRetentionDuration7 daysMinimum age of files before VACUUM can remove them
      versionAsOf (read option)—Read a specific version number
      timestampAsOf (read option)—Read the version active at a given timestamp

      Monitoring, Cost, and Security Considerations

      Common Pitfalls and Recommended Patterns

        Frequently Asked Questions