This topic describes how to automatically renew an RDS for SQL Server instance. With the automatic renewal function enabled, you do not need to manually renew your RDS instance on a regular basis, and your database services will not become unavailable in case that you forget to renew the instance.

Each subscription-based instance has an expiration date. If an instance is not renewed in time when the instance expires, a service interruption or even data loss may occur. For more information about the impacts, see Expiration and overdue policy. Enabling auto-renewal guarantees that your business runs smoothly without the need of manual renewal when your instance expires.

Note A pay-as-you-go-based instance does not have an expiration date and no renewal is required.

Precautions

  • If you have enabled automatic renewal for your subscription-based instance, a payment will be deducted three days before the expiration date. You can pay the fees by credit cards or coupons. Make sure that your credit card has sufficient balance.

  • If you manually renew an instance before the automatic deduction date, the system will automatically renew the instance before the next expiration date.
  • The automatic renewal function takes effect the next day after you enable it. If your instance expires the next day, renew it manually to prevent service interruption. For more information, see Manually renew an RDS for SQL Server instance.

Enable automatic renewal when you purchase an RDS instance

Note After you enable automatic renewal, the system automatically renews your instance based on the specified Duration when the instance expires. For example, if you have purchased a three-month subscription-based instance and selected Auto-renewal, the fees are automatically paid every three months for each renewal.
When you purchase a subscription-based instance, you can select Auto Renewal on the purchase page.
选择自动续费

Enable automatic renewal after you purchase an RDS instance

Note After you enable automatic renewal, the system automatically renews your instance based on the selected renewal duration. For example, if you select a three-month renewal duration, the fees are automatically paid every three months for each renewal.
  1. Log on to the RDS console.
  2. In the upper-right corner, choose Billing Management > Renew.
    选择续费管理
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click ApsaraDB for RDS.
  4. On the Manually Renew or Auto-Renew tab, find the target RDS instance. You can enable automatic renewal for one or more RDS instances at a time.
    • Follow these steps to enable automatic renewal for one RDS instance:
      1. Find the target RDS instance and in the Actions column click Enable Auto-Renew.
        开启自动续费
      2. In the displayed dialog box, set Auto-Renew Cycle and click Enable Auto-Renew.
    • Follow these steps to enable auto-renewal for more than one RDS instance:

      Select the target RDS instances, and click Enable Auto-Renew below the instance list.

    • In the displayed dialog box, set Auto-Renew Cycle and click Enable Auto-Renew.

Change the auto-renew cycle of an RDS instance

  1. Log on to the RDS console.
  2. In the upper-right corner, choose Billing Management > Renew.
    选择续费管理
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click ApsaraDB for RDS.
  4. On the Auto-Renew tab, find the target RDS instance and in the Actions column click Modify Auto-Renew.
    修改自动续费
  5. In the displayed dialog box, select Modify Auto-Renew Cycle, select an auto-renew cycle, and click OK.

Disable automatic renewal for an RDS instance

  1. Log on to the RDS console.
  2. In the upper-right corner, choose Billing Management > Renew.
    选择续费管理
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click ApsaraDB for RDS.
  4. On the Auto-Renew tab, find the target RDS instance and in the Actions column click Modify Auto-Renew.
    修改自动续费
  5. In the displayed dialog box, select Disable Auto-Renew and click OK.

APIs

Operation Description
CreateDBInstance Used to create an RDS instance.
Note Automatic renewal is enabled when you create the instance.
RenewInstance Used to renew a subscription-based RDS instance.
Note Automatic renewal is enabled after you create the instance.