ApsaraDB RDS:Use the cross-region backup feature

Prerequisites

• Your RDS instance meets the following requirements:

  • The RDS instance runs MySQL 5.7 or MySQL 8.0.

  • The RDS instance runs RDS Basic Edition, RDS High-availability Edition, or RDS Cluster Edition.

  • The RDS instance uses cloud disks. Serverless RDS instances are not supported.

  Note

  You can go to the Basic Information page of the RDS instance to obtain the preceding information.

• The AliyunServiceRoleForDBS service-linked role is created by using your Alibaba Cloud account when you use the backup feature of ApsaraDB RDS for the first time.

• The cross-region backup feature is not supported for RDS instances for which the cloud disk encryption feature is enabled.

Billing rules

Usage notes

Procedure

• Enable the cross-region backup feature

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Backup Strategy tab. Then, click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

     Note

     If the Cross-region Backup Settings section is not displayed, you must check whether the RDS instance meets all prerequisites.

  3. Configure the following parameters.

     Parameter	Description
     Cross-region Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region backup feature. Select Enable.
     Backup Region	The destination region to which the backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated.
     Cross-region Backup Retention Period (Days)	The retention period of cross-region backup files. Valid values: 7 to 1825. Unit: days. The longest cross-region backup retention period spans five years. Note After the RDS instance expires or is released, its cross-region backup files are still retained based on the specified retention period. You can log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console and go to the Cross-region Backups tab on the Backup and Restoration page of your RDS instance to view the cross-region backup files that do not expire.
     Cross-region Log Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region log backup feature. After you enable the feature, the log backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated to an OSS bucket in the destination region.
     Compliance Warranty Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers	The relevant agreement. Read and select the relevant agreement.

  4. Click OK.

• Modify the cross-region backup settings

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Backup Strategy tab. Then, click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

     Note

     If the RDS instance is released, you can change only the cross-region backup retention period.

  3. Click OK.

• Disable the cross-region backup feature

  If you no longer require the cross-region backup feature, you can disable the feature.

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Backup Strategy tab. Then, click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

  3. Change the value of the Cross-region Backup parameter to Disabled and the value of the Cross-region Backup Retention Period (Days) parameter to 7.

     Note

     After you disable the cross-region backup feature, no new cross-region backup files or traffic fees are generated. However, the existing cross-region backup files are retained within their retention period that is specified before the cross-region backup feature is disabeld. These backup files are not cleared until all backup sets expire.

  4. Click OK.

• View the cross-region backup sets

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Cross-region Backups tab and set the Region of Backup Set parameter to the region in which the cross-region backup sets are stored to view the cross-region backup sets.

Prerequisites

• Your RDS instance meets the following requirements:

  • The RDS instance runs MySQL 8.0, MySQL 5.7, or MySQL 5.6.

  • The RDS instance runs RDS High-availability Edition or MySQL 5.7 on RDS Enterprise Edition.

  • The RDS instance uses Premium Local SSDs.

  Note

  You can go to the Basic Information page of your RDS instance to obtain the preceding information.

• The AliyunServiceRoleForDBS service-linked role is created by using your Alibaba Cloud account when you use the backup feature of ApsaraDB RDS for the first time.

Billing rules

Usage notes

If you want to enable the cross-region backup feature for an RDS instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console, take note of the following information:

• You can restore data from cross-region backup files to the source region or the destination region. However, if Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) is enabled for the original RDS instance, you can restore data from cross-region backup files only to the source region. For more information, see Configure TDE.

• Cross-region backups do not affect automatic backups. These types of backups can exist at the same time.

• After a default backup is complete, a cross-region backup is triggered. During the cross-region backup process, the system dumps the generated default backup files of the RDS instance to the destination region.

• After you enable the cross-region log backup feature, the system checks whether valid backup sets are generated for the RDS instance over the most recent 24 hours. If no valid backup sets are generated over the most recent 24 hours, a full backup is triggered for the RDS instance.

• After you enable the cross-region log backup feature, the system checks the valid backup sets that are generated for the RDS instance over the most recent 24 hours.

  • If continuous log files are archived following the valid backup sets, the system dumps the archived log files to the destination region.

  • If no continuous log files are archived following the valid backup sets, a backup is triggered on the secondary RDS instance.

Supported backup links and regions

The cross-region backup feature is supported in specific Alibaba Cloud regions due to network reasons. The following table describes the Alibaba Cloud regions in which the feature is supported.

Procedure

• Enable the cross-region backup feature for a single RDS instance

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.

  2. Find the RDS instance for which you want to enable the cross-region backup feature. In the Actions column, choose More > Cross-region Backup Settings.

     Note

     • You can also go to the Backup and Restoration page, click the Backup Strategy tab, and then click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

     • If the Cross-region Backup Settings section is not displayed, you must check whether the RDS instance meets all prerequisites.

  3. Configure the following parameters.

     Parameter	Description
     Cross-region Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region backup feature. Select Enable.
     Backup Region	The destination region to which the backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated.
     Cross-region Backup Retention Period (Days)	The retention period of cross-region backup files. Valid values: 7 to 1825. Unit: days. The longest cross-region backup retention period spans five years. Note After the RDS instance expires or is released, its cross-region backup files are still retained based on the cross-region backup retention period that you specify. You can perform the following operations to view the cross-region backup files that do not expire: Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backups. On the page that appears, click the Cross-region Backup tab.
     Cross-region Log Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region log backup feature. After you enable the feature, the log backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated to an OSS bucket in the destination region.
     Compliance Warranty Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers	The relevant agreement. Read and select the relevant agreement.

  4. Click OK.

• Enable the cross-region backup feature for multiple RDS instances at a time

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backups. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.

  2. Click the Cross-region Backup tab. On the tab that appears, click the Pending Instances tab.

  3. Select the RDS instances for which you want to enable the cross-region backup feature. Then, click Backup Settings.

     

     Note

     You can also click Settings in the Cross-region Backup Settings column of a single RDS instance to enable the cross-region backup feature only for that RDS instance.

  4. Configure the following parameters.

     Parameter	Description
     Cross-region Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region backup feature. Select Enable.
     Backup Region	The destination region to which the backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated.
     Cross-region Backup Retention Period (Days)	The retention period of cross-region backup files. Valid values: 7 to 1825. Unit: days. The longest cross-region backup retention period spans five years. Note After the RDS instance expires or is released, its cross-region backup files are still retained based on the cross-region backup retention period that you specify. You can perform the following operations to view the cross-region backup files that do not expire: Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backups. On the page that appears, click the Cross-region Backup tab.
     Cross-region Log Backup	Specifies whether to enable the cross-region log backup feature. After you enable the feature, the log backup files of the RDS instance are automatically replicated to an OSS bucket in the destination region.
     Compliance Warranty Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers	The relevant agreement. Read and select the relevant agreement.

  5. Click OK.

• Modify the cross-region backup settings

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Backup Strategy tab. Then, click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

     Note

     If the RDS instance is released, you can change only the cross-region backup retention period.

  3. Click OK.

• Disable the cross-region backup feature

  If you no longer require the cross-region backup feature, you can disable the feature.

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the instance details page. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup and Restoration. On the page that appears, click the Backup Strategy tab. Then, click Edit in the Cross-region Backup Settings section.

  3. Change the value of the Cross-region Backup parameter to Disabled and the value of the Cross-region Backup Retention Period (Days) parameter to 7.

     Note

     After you disable the cross-region backup feature, no new cross-region backup files or traffic fees are generated. However, the existing cross-region backup files are retained within their retention period that is specified before the cross-region backup feature is disabeld. These backup files are not cleared until all backup sets expire.

  4. Click OK.

• Download the cross-region backup sets

  After a cross-region backup is complete, you can download the generated cross-region backup sets in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backups. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.

  2. On the Backups page, click the Cross-region Backup tab. Click the Backup Instances tab and click the ID of the RDS instance for which you want to download cross-region backup sets.

  3. On the Data Backup or Log Backup tab, find the backup set that you want to download and click Download in the Actions column.

  4. Click Download.

     Important

     If you download backup files over an internal network, no fees are generated. If you download backup files over the Internet, you are charged for the Internet traffic that you use. For more information, see Network traffic fees.

• View the cross-region backup sets

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which your RDS instance resides.

  2. Go to the Backup and Restoration page of the instance. On the Cross-region Backups tab, view the cross-region backup sets.