Elastic Compute Service:Upgrade or downgrade the instance type of a subscription ECS instance

Prerequisites

• The instance family of the subscription ECS instance that you want to manage supports instance type changes. For more information, see Instance type changes.

• The instance is in the Running (Running) or Stopped (Stopped) state.

• The target instance type has sufficient stock in the current zone. To check the instance type's stock status, go to the Instance Types Available for Each Region page.

  Note

  • You can change the instance type across zones.

  • Important

    If you want to migrate your ECS instance to another region, we recommend the following solutions:

    • Utilize the server migration feature to migrate your ECS instance from one region to another. For more information, see Migrate data between ECS instances that belong to the same Alibaba Cloud account or different Alibaba Cloud accounts.

    • Create a custom image of your current instance, copy the custom image to the destination region, and use this custom image to create an instance there. For more information, see Create a custom image from an instance, Copy a custom image, and Create an instance by using a custom image.

Limits

The following limits apply when you change the instance type of a subscription ECS instance:

• You must specify a target instance type, including vCPU and memory specifications. Changing only one specification is not allowed.

• You can change the instance type only within the current billing cycle. Temporary instance type changes are not supported.

• You cannot change the instance type when a configuration change operation, such as changing the instance type or bandwidth configurations or temporarily upgrading the bandwidth, is in progress on the instance.

• If you have performed a renewal and configuration downgrade operation on the instance within the current billing cycle, you can upgrade the instance type only within the new billing cycle.

• If a renewal and configuration downgrade operation is in progress, you must wait for it to complete before you can downgrade the instance type.

• Instance type downgrades count against a monthly quota, which is determined based on your historical consumption and displayed in the Change Instance Type dialog box. If the monthly quota is exhausted, you cannot downgrade the instance type. The monthly quota is automatically updated on the first day of the next month.

Billing

• When you upgrade the instance type of a subscription ECS instance, you are charged an upgrade fee.

  Upgrade fee = (List price of the new instance type for the remaining billing cycle - List price of the original instance type for the remaining billing cycle) × Discount for the remaining billing cycle

• When you upgrade the instance type, you may receive a refund. The refund amount is the price difference between the original and new instance types. For more information, see Rules for unsubscribing from resources.

Procedure

1. Go to ECS console - Instance.

2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group of the resource that you want to manage.

3. Click the ID of the subscription ECS instance you want to manage to go to the instance details page. In the upper-right corner of the page, choose All Actions > Upgrade/Downgrade > Change Instance Type.

   Note

   You can perform batch operations on the Instance page to change the instance types of multiple instances at a time. On the Instance page, select multiple instances and choose More > Upgrade/Downgrade > Change Instance Type in the lower-left corner. Then, change the instance types of the instances as prompted.

4. Select a target instance type.

   Note

   The available instance types are displayed in the Change Instance Type dialog box.

5. Change the instance type.

   Upgrade the instance type

   Perform operations based on the instance status.

   • If the instance is in the Stopped state, perform the following steps:

     1. Confirm the estimated cost, select Read and agree to ECS Terms of Service, and then click Confirm Change and Pay.

        

     2. Complete the payment as prompted.

     3. Start the instance for the change to take effect.

        After you complete the payment, the ECS console displays the new instance type, but the change does not take effect until you start the instance.

   • If the instance is in the Running state, perform the following steps:

     1. Specify a restart time.

        If you select Scheduled Instance Restart Time for Instance Restart Mode and specify a restart time, you can view or change the specified time in Events > Configuration Change Restart Events in the ECS console.

        Warning

        The restart operation stops the instance for a short period of time and may interrupt services that are running on the instance. We recommend that you restart the instance during off-peak hours.

     2. Confirm the change information, select Read and agree to ECS Terms of Service, and then click Confirm Change and Pay or Confirm Change and Restart Instances.

        

     3. Restart the instance.

        After you click Confirm Change and Pay and complete the payment, the ECS console displays the new instance type, but the change does not take effect until you restart the instance.

   Downgrade the instance type

   1. Perform operations based on the instance status.

      • If the instance is in the Stopped state, confirm the change information, select Read and agree to ECS Terms of Service, and then click Confirm Change.

        

      • If the instance is in the Running state, perform the following steps:

        1. Confirm the change information, select Read and agree to ECS Terms of Service, and then click Stop Instances and Proceed.

           

        2. In the Stop Instance dialog box, select a value for Stopped By and click Confirm.

           

   2. Start the instance for the change to take effect.

      For more information, see Start an instance.

References

• DescribeResourcesModification: queries available resources within a specific zone when you upgrade or downgrade instance types or replace system disks.

• ModifyInstanceSpec: changes the instance type and public bandwidth of a pay-as-you-go ECS instance.

• DescribeInstanceModificationPrice: queries the pricing information of new subscription data disks or new instance types when you upgrade the configurations of unexpired subscription ECS instances.