The expire_in sub-parameter is provided with a string defining how long artifacts should be kept for in the GitLab instance. If this is not specified, it defaults to the instance setting, which is 30 days by default for self-hosted GitLab or forever for GitLab.com projects. Some examples of strings that you can provide include the following:
- 42 weeks
- 42 days
- 42 mins 42 secs
- 2 mos 1 day
- 42 years 6 mos 6 hrs
- 1 week and 2 days
Keep in mind that the job that deletes old artifacts is run on an hourly basis, so units of time less than one hour might not be effective. There is also a Keep button in the GitLab web user interface that can be used to keep an artifact forever and override the specified time value.
