Manually release a pay-as-you-go PolarDB cluster when you no longer need it. Before releasing, choose a backup retention policy to control what happens to your data after the cluster is gone.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure that:
Your cluster is a pay-as-you-go cluster with Status set to Running, or a serverless cluster with Status set to Stopped
No tasks such as data migration are running on the cluster
Your Alibaba Cloud account has no overdue payments (a Locking status indicates an overdue payment — top up your account first to restore the cluster to Running)
Subscription clusters cannot be manually released.
Releasing a cluster removes the entire cluster, including all nodes. To remove a single read-only node without releasing the cluster, see Add or remove read-only nodes.
Choose a backup retention policy
Before you release a cluster, decide what happens to your backups. The policy you select in step 3 determines whether your data is recoverable after release.
If you select the third policy, all data is permanently deleted and the cluster cannot be recovered. Make sure you have exported any data you need before proceeding.
| Policy | What happens |
|---|---|
| When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and all backup sets of the cluster are retained for a long period of time. | A full backup runs before release. All existing backup sets are retained in the cluster recycle bin. A small storage fee applies. |
| When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and the latest backup set is retained for a long period of time. | A full backup runs before release. Only this latest backup set is retained in the cluster recycle bin. A small storage fee applies. |
| When the cluster is released, all backup sets of the cluster are deleted immediately. | All backups and logs are permanently deleted. The cluster cannot be restored. |
How retained backups are stored after release:
For the first two policies, after release:
Enterprise Edition clusters: level-1 backups are automatically converted to level-2 backups and stored in the cluster recycle bin.
Standard Edition clusters: level-1 backups are retained as-is in the cluster recycle bin.
Storage fees continue to accumulate for retained backups. To stop incurring charges, delete the released cluster from the recycle bin.
Release a cluster
Log on to the PolarDB console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters. Select a region in the upper-left corner and find the cluster.
In the Actions column, choose More > Release.
In the Release Cluster dialog box, select a backup retention policy and click OK.
FAQ
Why am I still charged for backup storage after releasing my cluster?
You selected a backup retention policy that keeps backups after release. Those backups are stored in the cluster recycle bin and incur ongoing storage fees. To stop the charges, delete the backups by removing the released cluster from the cluster recycle bin. For details, see Delete a released cluster.
Why can't I release my cluster right after purchasing it?
What's next
Cluster recycle bin — view and manage retained backups from released clusters
Delete a released cluster — remove backups from the recycle bin to stop storage charges
Expiration or overdue payments — resolve account payment issues that lock a cluster
API reference
| Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| DescribeDBClusters | Queries PolarDB clusters |
| DeleteDBCluster | Releases a pay-as-you-go PolarDB cluster |