You can manually renew a subscription Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance to extend its service duration. You can do this at any time before the instance is automatically released due to expiration. This topic describes how to renew a subscription instance.
The method used to renew a subscription instance varies with phase of the instance lifecycle. These phases include creation, expiration, and release.
The following figure details the phases for different methods.
Expiration day (T): The last day when the instance can be used. If the instance is renewed, the expiration day will be extended.
Release day: After the expiration day, Alibaba Cloud provides additional days (maximum: 30) for you to renew the instance. For information about resource status after instance expiration, see Expiration and renewal.
Manual renewal
(Recommended) Manually renew instances in the ECS console
Renew a single instance
Go to ECS console - Instance. Select the region in the top navigation bar.
On the Instance page, find the one you want to renew and click its ID. On the instance details page, in the Basic Information section, click Renew under Expire At. Follow the on-screen instructions to select a renewal duration and complete the payment.
ECS supports batch renewal.
To batch renew multiple instances within the same region, select the instances on the Instance page, and choose More > Renew at the bottom of the instance list.
To batch renew multiple instances across regions, go to Expenses and Costs - Renewal. On the Manual tab, select the ECS instances and batch renew them. Note that ECS instances cannot be batch renewed with other cloud products.
Renew a single instance by calling an API operation
You can call the RenewInstance operation to renew an instance and configure the ID of the instance that you want to renew and the renewal duration based on the renewal scenario. Specify one of the Period, PeriodUnit, or ExpectedRenewDay parameters as the renewal duration. To renew multiple ECS instances, call the RenewInstance operation multiple times.
You can call the following API operations related to subscription instance renewal:
To enable auto-renewal for an instance, call the ModifyInstanceAutoRenewAttribute operation and configure the InstanceId, Duration, and AutoRenew parameters in a request.
To query the renewal price of an instance, call the DescribeRenewalPrice operation and configure parameters, such as the region, instance type, and renewal duration, in a request.
To query ECS instances that expire within a specific time range, call the DescribeInstances operation and configure the ExpiredStartTime and ExpiredEndTime parameters in a request to query the ECS instances that expire within the specified time range.
To query the auto-renewal status of an ECS instance or the instances that are in specific auto-renewal states, call the DescribeInstanceAutoRenewAttribute operation and configure the InstanceId or RenewalStatus parameter in a request.
Adaptive renewal strategies for instance lifecycle management
Aside from manual renewal, Alibaba Cloud offers other flexible renewal methods to suit different needs during your instance's lifecycle.
Auto-renewal
When to use: Ensure uninterrupted service for critical workloads.
Timing: Enabled any time between instance creation and 14 days after expiration (T+14).
How it works:
Automatically renews before expiration.
Billing continues seamlessly from the original expiration date.
No configuration changes unless manually adjusted.
Reference: Auto-renewal.
Renew and downgrade
When to Use: Reduce costs by scaling down resources (such as lower CPU/memory, or public bandwidth).
Timing: Available 15 days before expiration until release day.
How it works:
Adjust instance configurations during renewal.
New configurations take effect immediately after the current cycle ends.
Renew and downgrade before expiration: applies the new configuration pricing from the original expiration date.
Renew and downgrade after expiration: starts billing with downgraded configurations from the renewal date.
Reference: Renew an instance and downgrade its configurations.
Synchronize expiration date
When to Use: Simplify management and renewal by aligning your subscription instance expiration dates.
Timing: Before instances expire.
How it works:
Renew multiple subscription instances in a region to synchronize their expiration dates to the same day of each month.
The new billing cycle starts from the renewal date.
Reference: Synchronize the expiration dates of subscription instances.
Enable non-renewal
If you no longer require an expired instance, enable non-renewal for the instance. This reduces the number of expiration reminders that you receive.
After you enable non-renewal for the instance, you can still renew it before it expires.
Go to the Renewal page and specify search conditions.
Set the Instances parameter to ECS (Subscription) - International Site and click the Manual or Auto tab.
Select one or more ECS instances and click Set as Nonrenewal in the lower part of the page. In the dialog box that appears, confirm the information and click OK.
After you enable non-renewal for the instances, you can view the instances on the Nonrenewal tab.
You can still renew an instance for which non-renewal is enabled before the instance expires and is released. On the Nonrenewal tab of the page, find the ECS instance that you want to renew and select a renewal method in the Actions column.