All Products
Search
Document Center

ApsaraDB RDS:Point-in-time recovery upgrade for RDS for MySQL

Last Updated:Mar 30, 2026

Starting January 11, 2024, ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL upgrades the log backup feature to point-in-time recovery (PITR) in phases. PITR lets you restore an instance to any timestamp within a configurable recovery window — not just to a point after the first full backup inside your log backup retention period. After the upgrade, set the Time Range of Specific Points in Time for Restoration parameter, and the system automatically correlates full and log backup sets to execute the restore.

Effective date and supported regions

The rollout is gradual. Check the ApsaraDB RDS console for the status of your specific instance, as console information takes precedence. For newly created instances, PITR takes effect several hours after you enable it.

Local disk instances

Date Regions
Rollout in phases from January 11, 2024 China (Hohhot), China (Chengdu), China (Zhangjiakou), Singapore, Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Indonesia (Jakarta), Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), India (Mumbai) Closing Down, Germany (Frankfurt), and UK (London)
Rollout in phases from February 15, 2024 China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Shenzhen), China (Ulanqab), China (Heyuan), and China (Guangzhou)

Cloud disk and serverless instances

Date Regions
Rollout in phases from January 30, 2024 China (Hohhot), China (Chengdu), China (Zhangjiakou), Singapore, Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Indonesia (Jakarta), Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), Germany (Frankfurt), and UK (London)
Rollout in phases from February 15, 2024 China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Shenzhen), China (Ulanqab), China (Heyuan), and China (Guangzhou)

Upgrade impacts

After the upgrade, the system retains backup sets based on the Log Backup Retention Period (Days) parameter. Before the upgrade, you can restore only to a point after the first full backup within the log backup retention period. After the upgrade, you can restore to any point within the range set by Time Range of Specific Points in Time for Restoration.
Storage type Scope Impact
Local disk New instances (created on or after January 11, 2024) PITR is enabled by default. Disable the PITR feature at any time based on your requirements. Disabling PITR removes log backup support and makes point-in-time restore unavailable.
Local disk Existing instances (created before January 11, 2024) You can upgrade from log backup to PITR, but cannot roll back the upgrade. After upgrading, you can disable the PITR feature. Disabling PITR removes log backup support and makes point-in-time restore unavailable. For upgrade steps, see Upgrade to PITR.
Cloud disk New instances (created on or after January 30, 2024) PITR is enabled by default. Disable the PITR feature at any time based on your requirements. Disabling PITR removes log backup support and makes point-in-time restore unavailable.
Cloud disk Existing instances (created before January 30, 2024) You can upgrade from log backup to PITR, but cannot roll back the upgrade. After upgrading, you can disable the PITR feature. Disabling PITR removes log backup support and makes point-in-time restore unavailable. For upgrade steps, see Upgrade to PITR.

Billing

Billing rules remain unchanged. To support PITR, the system retains additional backup sets based on the Time Range of Specific Points in Time for Restoration value, and you are charged for the storage used by those additional backup sets.

A free storage quota applies to all backup files. If the total size of your instance's backup files stays within the free quota, no charge applies. Excess storage is billed. For details, see View and manage the size of backup files and Backup fees.

Upgrade to PITR

To upgrade an existing instance from log backup to PITR, review Differences between the PITR and log backup features, then follow these steps.

  1. Go to the Instances page. In the top navigation bar, select the region where the instance resides, then click the instance ID.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration.

  3. On the Backup and Restoration page, click the Backup Strategy tab. In the Basic Backup section, click Edit.

  4. In the dialog box, read the description and click Enable.

  5. In the confirmation dialog box, read the notes, select Known, and click I Understand and Upgrade to PITR.

Next steps