Pause an instance

Notes

• After the instance is paused, RDS releases its compute resources and stops charging for instance specifications.

  Note

  You continue to be charged for storage space, backups, and other resources. For more information, see Billing items.

• The maximum pause duration is 15 days. If you do not start the instance within 15 days, it starts automatically to allow necessary maintenance.

Impact

• While your instance is paused, all features are unavailable, including connecting to the instance, backup, and upgrade or downgrade. Adjust your workloads before pausing the instance.

• During the pause, RDS retains the most recent full backup—even if it exceeds the backup retention period. Other backup data is deleted once it exceeds the retention period.

  Warning

  After a backup expires, you cannot restore data to that point in time. Alibaba Cloud is not responsible for any loss or consequence caused by expired backups.

• Because compute resources are reclaimed after pausing, starting the instance again might fail due to insufficient inventory. Wait and try again later, or restore PostgreSQL data from a full backup.

• The original public and private endpoints remain available after pausing and can be reused when the instance restarts.

Pause an instance

1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.

2. Find the instance to pause. In the Actions column, choose More > Pause Instance.

3. In the dialog box that appears, click OK.

   On the Instance Details page, wait until the Status of the target instance changes to Paused, indicating the instance is paused.

Start an instance

1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.

2. Find the instance to start. In the Actions column, choose More > Start Instance.

3. In the dialog box that appears, click OK and wait until the instance Status changes to Running.

Related APIs

FAQ

• Q: How does the instance status change when pausing or starting an instance?

  A: The instance status changes as follows:

  • When pausing, the status changes from Running to Pausing, then to Paused after completion.

  • When starting, the status changes from Paused to Starting, then to Running after completion.

• Q: Do I need to restart or recover the instance after starting it?

  A: No. Start the instance using Start Instance. After it starts, no further action is needed.

• Q: Is historical monitoring data retained after pausing the instance?

  A: Yes. Historical monitoring data is retained.

• Q: Is data in memory retained after pausing the instance?

  A: No. Only data stored on disk is retained. Data in memory is cleared.

• Q: Does pausing remove pending operations, such as zone migration or specification changes scheduled during the maintenance window?

  A: Pausing prevents additional O&M operations like specification changes, zone migration, or restarts. However, pending operations are not removed.

• Q: Does the backup retention period include the time while the instance is paused?

  A: No. Backups expire based on the backup policy’s time-to-live (TTL) during the pause. However, the most recent full backup is always retained—even if it exceeds the retention period.

• Q: For a multi-zone instance, can the primary and secondary zones switch after starting the instance?

  A: Yes. Starting the instance might trigger a primary/secondary switchover, causing the primary and secondary zones to switch.