Back up an entire ECS instance - Cloud Backup - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

Cloud Backup integrates with the Alibaba Cloud snapshot service and provides an agentless way to back up ECS instances and disks. You can create crash-consistent backups for all disks of an ECS instance, including the system disk and data disks. You can use these backups to restore an entire ECS instance, a single ECS disk, or clone the entire instance to create a new ECS instance.

Prerequisites

You have activated the Alibaba Cloud Cloud Backup service. Although activating Cloud Backup is free of charge, Cloud Backup charges software usage fees for ECS instance backups. For more information, see Cloud Backup pricing.
You have activated the Elastic Computing Service (ECS) snapshot service.
To create a crash-consistent backup of an entire instance, all disks of the ECS instance must be Enhanced SSDs (ESSDs). Otherwise, Cloud Backup creates crash-consistent backups for individual disks.

Background information

The ECS instance backup feature uses periodic disk backup policies to protect entire ECS instances or specific disks, providing a low-cost protection solution.
From an ECS instance backup, you can restore the original ECS instance, clone a new ECS instance, or clone a new disk. For more information about the differences, see What are the differences between an ECS instance backup and a snapshot?.

Notes

If the snapshot service is not enabled, Cloud Backup automatically enables it the first time you use the ECS instance backup feature. You are charged for using ECS snapshots. Cloud Backup also charges a software usage fee for ECS instance backups. For more information, see Cloud Backup pricing.
ECS instance backup is a backup orchestration service provided by Cloud Backup that is based on the ECS snapshot feature. ECS charges for the snapshot size used by this feature, the snapshot size in the destination region that is generated when you enable Replication to Other Region, and the cross-region traffic. For more information, see Snapshot billing.
When you create a backup plan or attach a backup policy for the first time, Cloud Backup automatically creates a service-linked role to obtain permissions to access the required resources.
ECS instance backup does not support backing up and restoring local disks.
Storing data on local disks can result in data loss. You can use ECS File Backup to protect files on your local disks, or use Database Backup to protect databases deployed on your local disks.

When you edit a previously created backup plan, if your region supports backup policies, Cloud Backup converts your backup plan into a backup policy by default. This operation does not affect your backup parameters.
You can attach only one backup policy to an ECS instance. You do not need to create a backup vault for ECS instance backups. You can set the backup interval, retention period, and other parameters in the backup policy. For more information about the parameters in a backup policy, see Manage backup policies.
To avoid conflicts in snapshot execution times, do not use both the Cloud Backup instance backup service and the disk snapshot service for the same disk. You should choose one backup method as needed.

Back up an ECS instance

Note

Backup policies are not available in all regions. To view the list of supported regions, click Policy Center in the navigation pane on the left.

Log on to the Cloud Backup console.
In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backup > ECS Instance Backup.
In the top navigation bar, select a region.
In the upper-left corner, click Add ECS Backup.

In the Add ECS Backup panel, you can configure the following parameters.

Select the backup objects and click Next.
Important
- Select the ECS instances that you want to back up. By default, all disks are backed up. You can click All Disks and specify the disks to back up in the Backup Object dialog box.
  By default, the Protect All Disks switch is enabled to protect all disks attached to the ECS instance, including any disks that are attached later. You can disable the Protect All Disks switch to select only specific disks to protect.
- You can create ECS instance backups in batches. You can create up to 99 backups at a time.
- Cloud Backup automatically checks whether the selected ECS instances support consistent snapshot groups. If they do, a consistent snapshot group is created by default. If the check fails, crash-consistent backups are created for individual disks. For more information about snapshot consistency limitations, see Notes on creating a consistent snapshot group.

Configure the backup options and click OK.

You can set the backup method by selecting Manual Backup or Associate Backup Policy. The following table describes the parameters.

Manual Backup

This option creates a single, point-in-time backup of the ECS instance.

You can set the retention period and enable application-consistent backup or cross-region replication as needed.

Parameter	Description
Retention Period	Select the duration for which to retain the backup. You can set the unit to Day, Week, Month, or Year.
Replication to Other Region	Turn on the Replication to Other Region switch to enable the feature and configure the parameters as needed. Destination Region: The region to which the backup is automatically replicated. Cross-region Retention Period: The duration for which to retain the cross-region backup. You can set the unit to Day, Week, Month, or Year. Replication Encryption Configuration: The following encryption methods are available: Auto Config: Cloud Backup automatically selects an encryption method based on whether the source disk is encrypted. If the source disk is not encrypted, Cloud Backup directly replicates the backup to the destination region. If the source disk is encrypted, Cloud Backup uses the default key (service key, which is Default Service CMK) created by the cloud service to encrypt the backup before replicating it to the destination region. Note Key Management Service (KMS) provides default encryption for Alibaba Cloud services. You can view the service key in the KMS console. For more information, see Overview of KMS integration for cloud service encryption. Assign KMS Key: Regardless of whether the source disk is encrypted, the specified KMS key in the destination region is used for encryption. If you are using a specified KMS key for the first time, grant Cloud Backup the permissions to access KMS as prompted. Important After you use a specified KMS key for encryption, you cannot change the KMS key. Before you use a specified KMS key for encryption, create a KMS key in Alibaba Cloud KMS. For more information, see Create a key. After the backup is replicated to the destination region, if the source ECS instance is infected by a virus or its data is accidentally deleted, you can use the backup in the destination region to create a new instance and recover the data.
Application Consistent Backup	If you select a single ECS instance and the instance contains only ESSD disks, you can turn on the Application Consistent Backup switch to enable the application-consistent backup feature.

Associate Backup Policy

Important

If the selected region supports backup policies, you can associate a backup policy to have Cloud Backup periodically back up the ECS instance.

In the navigation pane on the left, click Policy Center to view the regions that support backup policies. To create a new policy, see Create a backup policy.

If the selected region does not support backup policies, you can configure a backup plan using the parameters on the interface.

Parameter	Description
Backup Policy	Select a backup policy from the drop-down list. Cloud Backup automatically backs up the data source based on the backup policy you set. A backup policy mainly includes the backup vault encryption method, backup interval, retention period, cross-region replication policy, and automatic data archiving. This helps you flexibly manage your data source assets. If the default backup policy does not meet your backup requirements, you can click Manage Policy to go to the Policy Center and create or modify a backup policy. For more information about the parameters in a backup policy, see Manage backup policies.
Replication Encryption Configuration	This parameter is required only when the Replication to Other Region switch is turned on in the Backup Policy. It enables the cross-region replication encryption feature. Turn on the Replication Encryption Configuration switch and select an encryption method as needed. Auto Config: Cloud Backup automatically selects an encryption method based on whether the source disk is encrypted. If the source disk is not encrypted, Cloud Backup directly replicates the backup to the destination region. If the source disk is encrypted, Cloud Backup uses the default key (service key, which is Default Service CMK) created by the cloud service to encrypt the backup before replicating it to the destination region. Note Key Management Service (KMS) provides default encryption for Alibaba Cloud services. You can view the service key in the KMS console. For more information, see Overview of KMS integration for cloud service encryption. Assign KMS Key: Regardless of whether the source disk is encrypted, the specified KMS key in the destination region is used for encryption. If you are using a specified KMS key for the first time, grant Cloud Backup the permissions to access KMS as prompted. Important After you use a specified KMS key for encryption, you cannot change the KMS key. Before you use a specified KMS key for encryption, create a KMS key in Alibaba Cloud KMS. For more information, see Create a key.
Application Consistent Backup	If you select a single ECS instance and the instance contains only ESSD disks, you can turn on the Application Consistent Backup switch to enable the application-consistent backup feature.

After the backup plan is created, Cloud Backup starts the backup job at the specified time and interval.

Backup successful

At the scheduled time, Cloud Backup starts the backup job. The backup is complete when the Backup Status is Successful. You can view and manage backup points in the backup history. Backup points can be used for recovery and cloning. If a backup point is created by a backup policy with backup lock enabled, the backup point cannot be deleted before it expires.

View backup size details

The ECS Instance Backup console displays the backup size, which is the total snapshot size of all disks managed by Cloud Backup. The displayed size may be delayed by up to 24 hours.
The backup size is calculated based on the total size of the snapshot chain generated by the protected ECS instance. To view the snapshot size of a specific ECS instance or disk, go to the Snapshot console. For more information, see How do I view the size of a snapshot?.

Snapshot retention period

Snapshots created using the ECS instance backup feature are displayed in the Snapshot list in the ECS console. They are identified as "Cloud Backup Service" in the Snapshot Source column. The Retention Time of the snapshot is the same as the Retention Period configured in the ECS instance backup policy. Due to a technical limitation, when you use the DescribeSnapshots API operation to view the snapshot's retention time, the time is displayed as permanent. You can disregard this information. For more information about how to extend the retention period of an ECS instance backup point, see Extend the retention period of a backup point.
Snapshots created by Cloud Backup can be managed only through the Cloud Backup service before their retention period expires.
- Before the retention period of an ECS instance backup point expires, if the backup policy associated with the target ECS instance does not have the Backup Lock feature enabled and is not configured to retain at least one backup, you can delete the corresponding snapshot. For more information, see How do I delete a disk snapshot created by an ECS instance backup? or call the DeleteSnapshot - Delete a backup snapshot API operation. This also applies to scenarios that involve only snapshots of individual disks.
- When the retention period of an ECS instance backup point expires, the Cloud Backup service automatically removes the backup point and deletes all its associated snapshots.
  If the snapshot has been used to create a disk or an image, Cloud Backup no longer manages the lifecycle of that snapshot. You can go to the ECS console - Snapshot page or call the DeleteSnapshot - Delete a snapshot API operation to manually delete the snapshot.
Snapshots generated from ECS instance backups can be used for snapshot sharing. You should check the retention period of the shared snapshot in the ECS console or the Cloud Backup console. This is to prevent the shared snapshot from becoming invalid due to automatic deletion after the retention period expires.

Extend the retention period of a backup point

To retain historical data from an ECS instance backup for a longer period, you can extend the retention period of the backup point. The snapshots corresponding to the backup point with an extended retention period cannot be deleted before they expire. When the retention period of the ECS instance backup point expires, the system automatically deletes the backup point and its associated snapshots.

Note

The retention period of a backup point can only be extended, not shortened.
ECS instance backup supports three scopes: consistent group backup, instance backup, and disk backup. You can extend the retention period only for the historical data of instance backups.
You can only extend the retention period by an integer number of days. The maximum allowed extension is 65,536 days. The new retention period is synchronized to the snapshot's retention time.

On the Backed-up ECS Instances tab, click the icon next to the target ECS instance.
On the Instance Protection tab, click the backup point whose retention period you want to extend, and then set a new retention period.
Click Save.

After the configuration is complete, the new expiration time appears in the Expiration Time column. This retention period is then synchronized to the snapshot.

View all associated policies

If an ECS instance is associated with multiple backup policies, you can select the target instance from the Backed-up ECS list and click View All Associated Policies. In the View All Associated Policies panel, you can perform the following operations for each backup policy:

In the Actions column, click Execute Plan Immediately to manually trigger the backup job.
Edit Plan: In the Actions column, choose More > Edit Plan to modify the policy's backup plan.
Delete a backup plan: In the Actions column, click More > Delete Plan.
Pause Plan: In the Actions column, choose More > Pause Plan to prevent the backup plan from running automatically.

Restore an ECS instance

For more information, see ECS instance recovery.

Restore an ECS disk

For more information, see Disk recovery.

Cross-region replication and recovery

Enable cross-region replication

After you enable the cross-region replication feature in a backup plan, backups are automatically replicated to the specified Destination Region. You can click the link for the backup plan to Modify the destination region.

After the backup is replicated to the destination region, if the source ECS instance is infected by a virus or its data is accidentally deleted, you can use the backup in the destination region to create a new instance and recover the data.

Cross-region replication completed

On the Jobs tab, a Remote Replication Status of Completed indicates that your backup data has been replicated to another region.

Restore an ECS instance (disaster recovery failover)

For example, if the destination region for cross-region replication is Shanghai and the source ECS instance is infected by a virus or its data is accidentally deleted, you can perform a disaster recovery failover in Shanghai to create a new ECS instance and recover the data.

Log on to the Cloud Backup console.
In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backup > ECS Instance Backup.
In the upper-left corner of the top menu bar, select a region. For example, China (Shanghai).
On the Backed-up ECS Instances tab, you can find the cross-region replicated ECS instance.
Select a backup point from the appropriate time range and click Disaster Recovery.
In the Disaster Recovery panel, configure the network, security group, and instance type. Then, click OK to create a pay-as-you-go ECS instance.
Important
Creating a new ECS instance incurs fees based on ECS billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go for ECS.
After the job is created, you can view the recovery progress in the Job List. When the recovery is complete, you can click the ECS instance link to access the instance.

Troubleshooting

The following sections describe common errors that may occur when you create or run an ECS instance backup plan and how to resolve them.

How to resolve the Retention Period cannot be set to Permanent for ECS instance backup. error

Cause: A disk can retain only a limited number of manual snapshots. If the associated backup policy is set to retain backups permanently, an error may occur that prevents future snapshot creation.

Solution: Modify the backup policy to specify a retention period.

What to do if the error No destination region is specified. is reported?

Cause: A destination region for cross-region replication is not specified in the backup policy.

Solution: Perform one of the following operations:

If you do not need to replicate the backup to another region, click Edit Policy and turn off the Replication to Other Region switch.
To replicate the backup to another region, click Edit Policy, specify a Destination Region, and save the policy.
If the current backup policy is not suitable, click Create Backup Policy to create a new one and then select it.

How to handle the This ECS instance has been released. error

Cause: The ECS instance has been released. Cloud Backup no longer executes the backup plan.

Solution: Perform one of the following operations:

If the ECS instance was intentionally released, choose More > Stop Backup.
Important
After you cancel the backup, the ECS instance is removed from the backed-up ECS list, and all its backup plans are deleted. The generated ECS backups are still retained.
If the ECS instance was released by mistake, you can try to restore the entire ECS instance using the ECS instance backup recovery feature of Cloud Backup. For more information, see ECS instance recovery.

Error: The backup plan has been suspended.. What should I do?

Cause: The backup plan has been paused. Cloud Backup no longer executes the backup plan.

Solution: Perform one of the following operations:

If the plan was paused intentionally, no action is required.
If a backup plan is accidentally suspended, you can resume it by choosing More > Resume Plan. After the plan is resumed, backup jobs are executed as scheduled.

An error is reported: Failed-Failed to synchronize metadata.. How do I resolve it?

Cause: The operation fails to replicate a backup to another region because the metadata of the destination region cannot be synchronized. This may be caused by network jitter.

Solution: Retry the operation or change the destination region and then run the backup plan again.

Related operations

ECS instance backup provides the following features to help you manage related tasks:

Tab	Description	Related operations
Backed-up ECS Instances	Displays the tasks for your protected ECS instances.	Manual Backup: Perform a manual backup. You need to set parameters such as the backup plan. Auto Backup: Perform an automatic backup. You need to set parameters such as the backup plan. Clone Now: Instant clone is supported only when the system disk of the ECS instance is an ESSD. A new pay-as-you-go ECS instance is created based on the configuration and data of the ECS instance at the current point in time. An instant snapshot (retained for one day) is also created for all disks on the ECS instance. For information about snapshot fees, see Snapshot billing. Add to Consistency Group: Back up, restore, or clone multiple ECS instances whose system disks are ESSDs as a group. You can create a new consistency group or join an existing one. Run Now: Immediately execute the backup plan. Edit Plan: If the configured backup plan does not meet your requirements, edit the backup plan. Important When you edit a previously created backup plan in a region that supports backup policies, you must associate a backup policy. Create a backup policy in advance. The disk configuration in the historical backup plan is retained, and existing backups are not affected. Delete Plan: Stop backing up according to the backup plan and delete the association between the ECS instance and the backup plan. Resume Plan: Resume a suspended backup plan. Suspend Plan: After you pause a backup plan, no more backups are performed. Stop Backup: Cancel protection for this ECS instance. Important After you cancel protection, the ECS instance is removed from the backed-up ECS list, and all its backup plans are deleted. The generated ECS backups are still retained. If you want to delete ECS backups, delete them from the corresponding backup points in the instance backup history. Delete Backup Point: Delete backup points within a specified time range in batches. After deletion, you cannot restore from these points. Important If the disk snapshot corresponding to a backup point has been used to create a new disk or a custom image, the snapshot is not deleted. Only the instance backup point is deleted. After you manually delete an ECS instance backup point, its corresponding snapshot is automatically removed within 10 minutes. If the backup policy that generates the backup point has backup lock enabled, the backup point cannot be deleted before it automatically expires.
Jobs	Displays the status of executed tasks.	For a task that is in progress, you can cancel its execution.

What to do next

References

Cloud Backup provides resource plans for various backup scenarios. These plans offer discounts to help you save costs. For more information, see Purchase a resource plan.
Cloud Backup supports backing up one or more disks. From a backup, you can restore the original disk or create a new disk at any time. For more information, see Create a disk backup.
Cloud Backup supports backing up directories and files on ECS instances. You can view and restore data at any time. For more information, see Back up ECS files.
Cloud Backup supports backing up directories and files from local servers to the cloud. You can view and restore data at any time. For more information, see Back up local files.
To learn more about the product, see What is Cloud Backup?.