When an ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance expires or your account has overdue payments, the instance enters a series of stages before its data is permanently deleted. The exact timeline and available actions depend on the disk type, instance architecture, and billing method.
Renew the instance or add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account as soon as possible to prevent service suspension and data loss.
How expiration works
All instances follow a two-stage lifecycle after expiration or an overdue payment:
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Grace period (days 1–15): The instance is locked and inaccessible. Renew the instance or add funds to restore it to the Running state.
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Retention period (day 16 onward): Computing resources are released. Depending on your backup retention policy and disk type, instance data may be retained temporarily so you can migrate it to a new instance.
If no action is taken within the retention period, the instance is permanently deleted and the data cannot be restored.
ESSD instances
The following table describes behavior for replica set instances and sharded cluster instances that use ESSDs.
| Billing method | Grace period (days 1–15) | Retention period (from day 16) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Instance is Locked and inaccessible. Click Renew to restore it to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately (requires backup policy set to Delete all backup sets when you release the instance). | Computing resources are released. Instance data is retained based on your backup retention policy (see Backup retention policies). Click Rebuild to restore data to a new instance, or click Destroy to release all data. | Instance is permanently deleted. Data cannot be restored. |
| Pay-as-you-go | Instance is shown as Disabled in the instance list and Locked in the Recycle Bin. You cannot read or write data. Add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account to restore the instance to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately (requires backup policy set to Delete all backup sets when you release the instance). | Computing resources are released for instances that were running as expected on day 16, or that were manually released. Instance data is retained based on your backup retention policy (see Backup retention policies). After adding funds, click Rebuild to restore data to a new instance, or click Destroy to release all data. | Instance is permanently deleted. Data cannot be restored. |
Local disk instances
For local disk instances, behavior differs by instance architecture.
Replica set instances
| Billing method | Grace period (days 1–15) | Retention period (days 16–22) | Outcome (day 23) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Instance is Locked and inaccessible. Click Renew to restore it to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately. | Computing resources are released. Instance data is retained for 7 days. The system notifies you by SMS or email. Click Rebuild to restore data to a new instance, or click Destroy to release all data. | Instance data is cleared. Instance is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. |
| Pay-as-you-go | Instance is shown as Disabled in the instance list and Locked in the Recycle Bin. You cannot read or write data. Add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account to restore the instance to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately. | Computing resources are released. Instance data is retained for 7 days. After adding funds, click Rebuild to restore data to a new instance, or click Destroy to release all data. | Instance data is cleared. Instance is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. |
Sharded cluster instances
| Billing method | Grace period (days 1–15) | After day 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Instance is Locked and inaccessible. Click Renew to restore it to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately. | — |
| Pay-as-you-go | Instance is shown as Disabled in the instance list and Locked in the Recycle Bin. You cannot read or write data. Add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account to restore the instance to the Running state. Click Destroy to release all resources immediately. | — |
Pay-as-you-go sharded cluster instances that are manually released are not retained in the Recycle Bin and cannot be rebuilt.
Backup retention policies
For ESSD instances, behavior after computing resources are released on day 16 depends on the backup retention policy configured for the instance.
| Policy | What happens after day 16 |
|---|---|
| Delete all backup sets when you release the instance | The most recent backup set is displayed in the Recycle Bin for 7 days. Migrate the data to a new instance before the backup set is deleted. |
| Automatically back up data when you release the instance and retain the backup set for the instance for a long period of time | The most recent backup set is retained for a long period and displayed in the Recycle Bin. Migrate the data to a new instance at any time. |
| Automatically back up data when you release the instance and retain all backup sets for the instance for a long period of time | All backup sets are retained for a long period and displayed in the Recycle Bin. Migrate the data to a new instance at any time. |
If your policy does not retain data, the instance is permanently deleted with no option to recover.
Limitations
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Released standalone instances cannot be restored from the Recycle Bin.
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Instances with transparent data encryption (TDE) enabled cannot be restored from the Recycle Bin after they are released.