You can release Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances that are not in use to reduce costs. The backend Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances are not deleted or affected after you release a CLB instance.

Prerequisites

Before you release a CLB instance, you must first turn off Deletion Protection.

Background information

Before you release a CLB instance, pay attention to the following items:
Warning If a domain name is resolved to the public IP address of your CLB instance, we recommend that you resolve the domain name to the public IP address of another CLB instance before you release the current instance. This helps avoid service interruptions.
  • You can release only pay-as-you-go CLB instances. Subscription CLB instances are automatically released if their subscriptions are not renewed upon expiration.
  • After a CLB instance is released, the backend ECS instances that are added to the CLB instance continue running. You can release backend ECS instances that are no longer needed.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the CLB console.
  2. On the Instances page, find the CLB instance that you want to release and choose 2 > Release in the Actions column, or select the CLB instance and click Release at the lower part of the page.
  3. In the Release dialog box, select Release Now or Release on Schedule.

    If you select Release on Schedule, you must specify a release time.

    Note The system releases the CLB instances at 30-minute and hour marks. However, the system stops billing the CLB instance at the specified release time.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Click OK to release the CLB instance.
    Note Released pay-as-you-go instances are not added to the Expired Instances list. Proceed with caution.