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    :ECS Backup Essential Edition user guide

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    :ECS Backup Essential Edition user guide

    Last Updated:Aug 20, 2026

    This guide covers the features, advantages, and principles of Cloud Backup ECS Backup Essential Edition. It also explains how to purchase a subscription instance and perform backup and restore operations.

    Introduction

    ECS Backup Essential Edition lets you perform basic backups for files, self-managed databases (MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server), and the entire ECS machine on an ECS instance. It operates on the same principles as the full-featured version of Cloud Backup but provides a simplified process and a unified interface for ECS data protection.

    Key advantages

    • Predictable budgeting

      Billing is based only on the number of ECS instances to be backed up, not the amount of backup storage used after deduplication and compression.

    • Controllable costs

      If the source data size from the protected ECS instance exceeds the 500 GB quota, the backup job fails. This prevents unexpected pay-as-you-go charges.

    • Simple configuration

      Pre-configured policies simplify the backup process, enabling a one-click setup with a low learning curve.

    • Unified interface

      Manage all operations from a single interface for efficient backup management, eliminating the need to switch between views.

    Use cases

    ECS Backup Essential Edition is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses or developers who are budget-sensitive and want to achieve routine data protection and basic compliance for their ECS instances at a low cost.

    For example, you have an ECS instance in a specific region with 200 GB of files and a 150 GB self-managed MySQL database that need to be backed up. Your backup and restore needs are straightforward, requiring only simple file and database backups for data recovery purposes. In this scenario, ECS Backup Essential Edition is a suitable choice.

    Limitations

    Important

    Currently, ECS Backup Essential Edition is not covered by the Cloud Backup Service Level Agreement.

    General limitations

    • Each ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance can protect up to 500 GB of data from an ECS instance. This quota includes only the total source size of file and database backups, excluding the capacity of entire machine backups. If the data size exceeds this quota, the backup job fails. You cannot increase the data quota by binding multiple subscription instances to a single ECS instance.

    • A subscription instance can be bound to only one ECS instance.

    • Fixed backup policy: backups are performed once a day and retained for 30 days. This policy cannot be modified.

    • You cannot delete individual recovery points.

    • Replication to a destination backup vault (backup vault replication) is not supported.

    • Cross-account backup is not supported.

    • Automatic archiving of backup data is not supported.

    • Subscription instances are region-specific and cannot be used across different regions. For a list of supported regions, see Supported regions for ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instances.

    • You must bind an ECS instance to the subscription instance before the subscription expires.

    Database backup limitations

    Real-time and log backups are not supported. Full and incremental backups are configured automatically.

    Entire machine backup limitations

    Application-consistent settings and cross-machine consistency groups are not supported.

    Prerequisites

    To use ECS Backup Essential Edition, you must purchase an ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance and prepare the ECS instance that you want to back up. The pay-as-you-go billing method is not supported. The subscription duration is one year and can be configured for automatic annual renewal.

    Purchase a subscription instance

    1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Backup.

    3. On the ECS Backup Basic Edition

    4. On the purchase page, select a region, purchase duration, and quantity, and then follow the wizard to complete the payment.

      On the ECS Backup Basic Edition

      After the purchase is complete, you can bind the subscription instance to an ECS instance when you add the ECS instance for backup.

    Prepare an ECS instance

    • The ECS instance to be backed up must be in the Running (Running) state.

    • File backups and database backups rely on Cloud Assistant. Therefore, Cloud Assistant must be installed on the ECS instance that you want to back up.

    • To use this backup method, you must first cancel any other backup protection. The files, databases, or the entire machine on the ECS instance must not be protected by other Cloud Backup

    Add an ECS backup

    When you add an ECS backup, you can back up any combination of files, self-managed databases, and the entire ECS machine. The available options are shown in the following table.

    Backup source

    Frequency

    Backup content

    ECS files

    Once per day, retained for 30 days.

    No Backup

    All Folders

    Specified Folders

    Exclude System Folders

    ECS self-managed database

    No Backup

    Any one of MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server

    Entire ECS machine (including cloud disks)

    No Backup

    All Disks

    Specified Disks

    1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Backup.

    3. In the top menu bar, select a region in the upper-left corner.

    4. On the ECS Backup Basic Edition

    5. In the Add ECS

      1. Select an ECS instance that is in the Running state and has Cloud Assistant installed, and then click Next

        Note

        You can only select an ECS instance that has not been added to ECS Backup Essential Edition and is not protected by the standard version of Cloud Backup.

      2. Configure the backup parameters, and then click OK

        Parameter

        Description

        Basic Settings

        • Selected ECS Instances

        • ECS Usage

          • Backup and Restore

            The added ECS instance can be used as a backup source or a restore destination. You must purchase and bind a subscription instance.

          • For Restoration Only

            The added ECS instance can only be used as a restore destination. You do not need to purchase or bind a subscription instance. You can convert this instance to a backup and restore instance later.

        • Bind Subscription Instance

        • Start Time

        Backup Content

        File

        Configure the directories of the ECS files to back up.

        • No Backup

        • All Files

        • Exclude System Folders: Backs up all folders on the ECS instance, excluding system directories. You can click the question mark icon to view details about excluded system directories.

        • Specified Folders

          • You can enter up to 20 paths without using wildcards (*).

          • If you use wildcards (*), you can enter only one path. Wildcard formats like // are supported.

          • Each line must be an absolute path, for example, starting with /, \\, C:\, or D:\.

          • When you use UNC paths, VSS, wildcards, and file exclusions are not supported.

          • Backup Rule

            • Include All Files: Backs up all files in the specified path.

            • For Include Files or Exclude Files, manually enter a list of files to include or exclude. Files in the specified path are backed up according to the rule.

              Enter one path per line in the file list, for example, /home/user or C:\Users.

              Note

              Set a subpath relative to the backup path:

              1. If a filter subpath starts with a / prefix, it is matched against the full path under the backup path. The filtering is based on a full path prefix match under the backup path.

              2. If a filter subpath does not start with a / prefix, it is matched as a relative path under the backup path. Any subpath under the backup path that matches the rule is included in the filter.

        Databases

        Configure the type of self-managed database on the ECS instance and the database account and password used to manage the database. Only one type of self-managed database is supported on the same ECS instance.

        • No Backup

        • MySQL

          The minimum required permissions for this user are RELOAD, LOCK TABLES, REPLICATION, and PROCESS. For example, if the username is hbr_backup_admin, you can log in as the root user and run the following commands to grant the permissions.

          grant RELOAD, REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE, LOCK TABLES, PROCESS on *.* to 'hbr_backup_admin'@'%';
grant BACKUP_ADMIN on *.* to'hbr_backup_admin'@'%';
flush privileges; # Refresh privileges.

          For limitations on supported database versions and backup features, see Supported database versions and backup features.

        • Oracle

        • SQL Server

        ECS Instance

        • No Backup

        • All Disks

          Note

          Entire machine backup uses the disk snapshot service. The snapshot capacity used by this feature is charged by ECS. For more information about billing, see Billing methods and billable items.

        • Specified Disks

        Restoration Type

        Important

        Cloud Backup

        File

        Configure whether the ECS instance can be used to restore files.

        • Does Not Require Restoration

        • Requires Restoration

        Database

        Configure whether the ECS instance can be used to restore databases.

        • Does Not Require Restoration

        • MySQL

        • Oracle

        • SQL Server

        After the instance is added, the backup status changes to Initializing and then to Waiting.

        If the For Restoration Only

        At the scheduled backup time each day, Cloud Backup

    Create a restore job

    Restore and browse files

    Restore ECS files

    On the File Backup

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Restore

    2. In the Create Restore Job panel, follow the configuration wizard to complete these steps.

      1. Configure the items to restore, and then click Next

        This step includes the following items:

        Parameter

        Description

        Restore Items

        Specify the files or folders to restore.

        • Include All Files

        • Include Files

          You can also click Enter Paths

          Enter one path per line. Each line must start with the last folder of the source backup path. For example, if the backup path is folder/test/data, to restore file.txt and abc.png within the data folder, enter the paths in the following format:

          /data/file.txt
/data/abc.png

        • Exclude Files

      2. Configure the restore destination, and then click Next

        Note

        • Restore to the source ECS instance: You can restore to the source ECS instance that is bound to the ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance.

        • Restore to a new ECS instance: You can restore to an ECS instance that is not bound to an ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance and is designated for For Restoration Only

        In the Restoration Destination step, if the target ECS instance is not in the list, you can click Add ECS to add it. From the ECS instance list, select an instance with an Activated Client Status.

      3. Configure the restore path, and then click Start to Restore

        Parameter

        Description

        Restore Path Type

        • Specify Path

        • Origin Path

        Destination Path

        Required only if Restore Path Type

        File Conflict Policy

        • Skip This File

        • Overwrite The File

        • Compare update times (accurate to the second) and retain the latest version.

      After the restore job is created, the Restore Jobs widget in the lower-right corner of the page shows a status of Running. You can hover over Restore Jobs

    Browse ECS files

    On the File Backup

    After you select a historical recovery point, click Browse at the bottom of the backup details panel that appears.

    Restore a database

    On the Database Backup

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Restore

    2. In the Create Restore Job

      Parameter

      Description

      Retry Time

      The interval, in minutes, at which the system attempts to reconnect to the database after a disconnection during the restore process.

      Speed Limit

      The rate at which data is restored, in MB/s.

    3. Configure the target restore instance, and then click Create

      Important

      • Restore to the database on the source ECS instance: You can restore to the source ECS instance that is bound to the ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance.

      • Restore to the database on a new ECS instance: You can restore to an ECS instance that is not bound to an ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance and is designated for For Restoration Only

    After the restore job is created, the system starts to restore the database. You can click the recovery point to see the restore job status as Running

    You can hover over Restore Jobs

    When the restore job is finished, the status column shows Completed, and the progress bar shows 100%.

    Restore an entire ECS machine

    Restore an entire ECS machine (rollback)

    On the Instance Protection

    In the backup history area, select the View Entire Machine tab. The timeline displays the completion status of each recovery point. Green indicates a successful backup, and red indicates a failed backup.

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Restore

    2. In the confirmation dialog box, carefully read the notes, and then click Confirmation

      Important

      Restoring an entire ECS machine to a specific recovery point erases all data created on the protected cloud disk after that point. You can restore an ECS instance only if it is stopped and no backup is being created for it. Proceed with caution.

      Parameter

      Description

      Automatically Start ECS After Successful Rollback

      If you select this option, the ECS instance automatically starts after the rollback is complete.

    After the restore job is created, the system starts to restore the entire ECS machine. You can click the recovery point to see the restore job status as Running

    You can hover over Restore Jobs

    After the restore job is finished, the restore status changes to Completed, and the progress shows 100%.

    Clone an entire ECS machine

    On the Instance Protection

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Clone

    2. In the Create ECS Instance from Backup panel, enter a hostname and instance name, and select a Virtual Private Cloud, vSwitch, and instance type.

    3. Click Create

      Note

      Creating a new ECS instance incurs charges based on ECS billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

      After the instance is created, hover over Restore Jobs

    Restore a cloud disk (rollback)

    On the Disk Protection

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Restore

    2. In the confirmation dialog box, carefully read the notes, and then click Confirmation

      Important

      You can roll back a cloud disk only if the associated instance is stopped and no backup is being created for the cloud disk. After you choose to roll back the data of an ECS cloud disk to a specified point in time, any data on the protected cloud disk that was generated after that point will be erased. Proceed with caution.

    After confirmation, hover over Restore Jobs

    Clone a cloud disk

    On the Disk Protection

    1. Click an available historical recovery point and select Clone

    2. In the Create Disk from Backup

    3. On the Set Mount Parameters

      Note

      Creating a new ECS cloud disk incurs charges based on ECS cloud disk billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

    After the disk is created, hover over Restore Jobs

    More operations

    After you add an ECS backup, you can perform the following actions from the Actions

    Actions

    Description

    Edit

    Opens the Modify Plan panel, where you can modify the backup plan if it no longer meets your needs, for example, by changing the backup start time.

    Suspend Backup

    Suspends the backup plan for the ECS instance. After the backup plan is suspended, scheduled daily backups are no longer executed.

    Unbind

    Unbinds the ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance from the ECS instance.

    Important

    Unbinding deletes all backups created for this ECS instance during the binding period. Proceed with caution.

    Alert Settings

    Sends alarm notifications when there is an issue with the backup vault client or a backup or restore job.

    • Disabled

    • Notify Alibaba Cloud Account

    • Custom

    Run Now

    Immediately runs a backup job for the ECS instance without waiting for the scheduled start time.

    Convert to backup instance

    Converts an ECS instance designated for For Restoration Only

    Switch to standard backup

    If the data size of the protected ECS instance is approaching the 500 GB quota, or if you need more flexible backup policies, you can switch to the standard backup feature.

    Procedure:

    In the Actions column, select ⋮ > Unbind

    FAQ

    If the Backup Status

    • Error

      The ECS instance is not in a running state. Log on to the Elastic Compute Service

    • Failed

      The ECS list shows "This ECS instance has been released." for the affected instance.

      • If releasing the ECS instance was an intentional action, select ⋮ > Unbind

      • If the ECS instance was released by mistake, Recommended: check whether you can restore the entire ECS machine by using the entire machine backup feature of Cloud Backup

    • Failed

      The purchased ECS Backup Essential Edition subscription instance has expired and can no longer perform backup jobs. Purchase a new subscription instance to continue.

    • Failed

    Related documentation