This document provides an overview and instructions on terminating and releasing instances. For more information on expiration, please refer to Expiration Reminder.
Overview
When you no longer need an instance, you can terminate it, and the terminated instance will be placed in the recycle bin. For instances in the recycle bin, you can renew, restore, or release them based on different scenarios and requirements.
Note
If your account is overdue, you need to make up the overdue payment to resume the PAYG instances.
Methods for Termination/Release
For both monthly subscription and pay-as-you-go instance types, the methods for instance termination and release are as follows:
Manual termination method: For unexpired monthly subscribed instances or pay-as-you-go instances without overdue payments, you can choose to manually terminate them. Monthly subscribed instances will be completely released after being kept in the recycle bin for up to 15 days. Pay-as-you-go instances will be completely released after being kept in the recycle bin for up to 2 hours.
Scheduled Termination: Set a scheduled termination for pay-as-you-go instances. You can choose a future time to terminate the resources, with the termination time accurate to the second. Instances set for scheduled termination will be released immediately without entering the recycle bin. You can cancel the scheduled termination at any time before it occurs.
Automatic termination for expired/overdue instances: For subscription instances, they will be retained in the recycle bin for up to 15 natural days after expiration and will be automatically released if not restored. Pay-as-you-go instances will be automatically released after 2 hours of negative balance + 15 days (fees will continue to be deducted for the first 2 hours, and the instance will be shut down and stop charging for the next 15 days. Overdue pay-as-you-go instances do not enter the recycle bin, and you can view them in the instance list). You can continue using the instances by completing the renewal within the specified time.
Instance Type | Manually terminate (not overdue) | Scheduled Termination (No Overdue Payment) | Auto-termination upon expiration/overdue payment |
Monthly Subscription Instance Type | After termination, instances will be retained in the recycle bin for up to 15 days. If not restored within this period, the instance will be released. | - | Instances terminated after expiration will be placed in the recycle bin and retained for up to 15 days. If not restored within this period, the instance will be released. |
Pay-as-you-go Instances | After termination, the instance will be retained in the recycle bin for up to two hours. If not restored within this period, the instance will be released. | Instances for which timed termination is set will be released immediately as scheduled, instead of going into the recycle bin. | After an instance becomes overdue, it will continue to be billed and function normally for the first 2 hours. For the following 15 days, the instance will be shut down and billing will stop. Overdue pay-as-you-go instances will not be placed in the recycle bin. If the payment is not made during this period, the instance will be released. |
Related Impacts
When an instance is terminated, the relevant impact on instance data, EIPs, and billing is as follows:
Billing: Once the instance status changes to "Terminating" or "Released," it will no longer incur fees associated with that instance.
Instance Data: Mounted local disks and non-elastic cloud disks will be released together, and the data cannot be retrieved. Please back up in advance. Elastic cloud disks will follow their own lifecycle.
Elastic IP: The Elastic IP (including the IP on the secondary network interface) of the terminated instance will be retained, and idle IPs will incur fees. If you don't need to keep them, please release them promptly.
Instructions
You can manually terminate/release instances through the following ways:
To terminate or return an instance using the console, please refer to Terminating or Returning an Instance in the Console.
To terminate or return an instance using an API, please refer to the TerminateInstances API.