Auto-renewal keeps your subscription Lindorm instances running without manual intervention, preventing service interruptions from missed renewal deadlines.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you have:
A Lindorm instance that uses the subscription billing method
Important
The first payment deduction for the auto-renewal of a subscription Lindorm instance occurs on the third day before the instance expires. If the payment fails, the system retries the payment on the day before the expiration date, on the expiration date, on the 6th day after the expiration date, and on the 14th day after the expiration date, until the payment is successful. If all automatic payment attempts fail after the instance expires, you must renew the instance manually to prevent downtime and data loss. Ensure that your Alibaba Cloud account has a sufficient balance to prevent renewal failures.
If you manually renew an instance, the scheduled auto-renewal for the current billing cycle is canceled. The system will attempt to automatically renew the instance before the next expiration date.
Auto-renewal takes effect the following day. Therefore, if an instance expires tomorrow, you must renew it manually to prevent service interruptions. For more information, see Manually renew a subscription instance.
If you change the resource specifications before the renewal order takes effect, you can only unsubscribe from the resources. In this case, you cannot cancel the resource renewal order.
If an auto-renewal payment fails, the system sends a notification to the mobile phone number and email address that are associated with your Alibaba Cloud account. Check the notification and resolve the issue promptly to prevent service interruptions due to instance expiration.
How auto-renewal works
Review these rules before enabling auto-renewal:
| Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Payment timing | The first automatic charge runs three days before the instance expires. If the charge fails, the system retries on the day before expiration, on the expiration date, on the 6th day after expiration, and on the 14th day after expiration. |
| Renewal cycle | When you enable auto-renewal at purchase time, the renewal cycle is set automatically based on your subscription term: monthly subscriptions renew for one month, yearly subscriptions renew for one year. For example, if you purchase a three-month subscription and enable auto-renewal at purchase, the instance renews for one month when the three-month term ends. When you enable auto-renewal in the Renewal console, you can select a custom auto-renewal period. |
| Effective date | Auto-renewal takes effect the day after you enable it. If your instance expires the next day, renew it manually to avoid a service interruption. |
| Interaction with manual renewal | If you manually renew before the automatic charge date, the system skips auto-renewal for that billing cycle and auto-renews before the next expiration date instead. |
| Payment failure | If all automatic payment attempts fail after the instance expires, renew manually to prevent downtime and data loss. Keep enough balance in your Alibaba Cloud account to avoid renewal failures. On failure, the system sends a notification to the mobile phone number and email address associated with your account. |
| Spec changes | If you change resource specifications before a renewal order takes effect, you can only unsubscribe from the resources — the renewal order cannot be cancelled. |
Enable auto-renewal when purchasing an instance
When you enable auto-renewal at purchase time, the renewal cycle is set automatically based on your subscription term — one month for monthly subscriptions and one year for yearly subscriptions. To set a custom renewal cycle, enable auto-renewal in the Renewal console after purchase.
When creating a Lindorm subscription instance, select a Duration and then select Auto-renewal.
Enable auto-renewal for an existing instance
When you enable auto-renewal in the Renewal console, you can select a custom auto-renewal period.
Log on to the Lindorm console.
In the top menu bar, click Expenses > Renewal Management.
On the Resource Renewal page, enter the target instance ID and click Search.
Click the Manual Renewal tab or the Nonrenewal upon Expiration tab.
Enable auto-renewal for one or more instances:
Single instance: Find the target instance and click Enable Auto-renewal in the Actions column. On the Enable Auto-renewal page, select an auto-renewal period, then click Enable Auto-renewal.
Multiple instances: Select the instances you want to renew, then click Enable Auto-renewal. On the Enable Auto-renewal page, select an auto-renewal period, then click Enable Auto-renewal.
Modify the auto-renewal cycle
In the Lindorm console, click Expenses > Renewal Management.
On the Resource Renewal page, click the Auto-renewal tab.
Find the target instance and click Modify Auto-renewal in the Actions column.
Select a new auto-renewal period and confirm.
Disable auto-renewal
Disabling auto-renewal changes the renewal method to manual renewal. The instance will not be renewed automatically after you disable this feature.
In the Lindorm console, click Expenses > Renewal Management.
On the Resource Renewal page, click the Auto-renewal tab or the Nonrenewal upon Expiration tab.
Find the target instance. In the Actions column, click
> Enable Manual Renewal.
Related tasks
On the Resource Renewal page of the Renewal console, you can also perform these operations:
Manually renew an instance: Click the Manual Renewal, Auto-renewal, or Nonrenewal upon Expiration tab. Find the target instance and click Renew in the Actions column, then select a subscription duration.
Set an instance to not renew: Click the Manual Renewal or Auto-renewal tab. Find the target instance and click Nonrenewal in the Actions column. The instance will not be renewed after it expires.