This topic describes how to release an elastic IP address (EIP) that you no longer need. After you release an EIP, you are no longer charged for the EIP.
Background information
Take note of the following limits before you release an EIP:
You can release only pay-as-you-go EIPs. You cannot release subscription EIPs.
You cannot release EIPs that are locked due to security issues.
After you release an EIP, you are no longer charged for the EIP. However, you may still receive EIP bills.
Bills for pay-by-data-transfer EIPs are generated on an hourly basis. The bill for data transfer within the current hour is generated at the next hour.
For example, if you release an EIP at 10:30, you will receive a bill at 11:00. The bill contains fees that are charged from 10:00 to 11:00.
Bills for pay-by-bandwidth EIPs are generated on a daily basis. A bill is generated at 00:00 every day and contains fees that are charged during the last day.
For example, if you release an EIP on January 1, 2019, you will receive a bill at 00:00 (UTC+8), January 2, 2019. The bill contains fees that are charged during January 1, 2019.
You can enable deletion protection for pay-as-you-go EIPs to prevent releasing EIPs by mistake. For more information, see Enable deletion protection.
Release an EIP
Before you release an EIP, complete the following operations:
The EIP is not associated with an Internet Shared Bandwidth instance. For more information, see Disassociate an EIP from an Internet Shared Bandwidth instance.
The EIP is not associated with a cloud resource. For more information, see Disassociate an EIP from a cloud resource.
- Log on to the Elastic IP Address console .
- In the top navigation bar, select the region where the EIP is created.
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, find the EIP that you want to release and choose
> Release in the Actions column. In the Release EIP message, click OK.
If the EIP belongs to a contiguous EIP group, all EIPs in the contiguous EIP group are deleted. Select I have read and understand the preceding information, and I want to release the group of contiguous EIPs and all EIPs in the group and click OK.
Forcefully release an EIP
If you forcefully release an EIP, the system disassociates the EIP from associated resources, disassociates the EIP from the associated Internet Shared Bandwidth instance, and then releases the EIP.
If the EIP is specified in a DNAT or SNAT entry on a NAT gateway, disassociate the EIP from the entry first.
- Log on to the Elastic IP Address console .
- In the top navigation bar, select the region where the EIP is created.
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, find the EIP that you want to release and choose
> Forceful Release in the Actions column. In the Forcefully Release EIP message, click OK.
If the EIP belongs to a contiguous EIP group, all EIPs in the contiguous EIP group are deleted. Select I have read and understand the preceding information, and I want to release the group of contiguous EIPs and all EIPs in the group and click OK.
Enable deletion protection
You can enable deletion protection to prevent EIPs from being released due to human errors.
- Log on to the Elastic IP Address console .
- In the top navigation bar, select the region where the EIP is created.
Use one of the following methods to enable deletion protection:
After you enable deletion protection for an EIP, you cannot release the EIP.
Method 1
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, find the EIP that you want to manage and click the EIP ID.
On the Instance Information tab, click Enable Deletion Protection.
Method 2
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, select one or more EIPs and choose in the lower part of the page.
Disable deletion protection
If the EIP that you want to release has deletion protection enabled, you must disable deletion protection before you can release the EIP.
- Log on to the Elastic IP Address console .
- In the top navigation bar, select the region where the EIP is created.
Use one of the following methods to disable deletion protection:
Method 1
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, find the EIP that you want to manage and click the EIP ID.
On the Instance Information tab, click Disable Deletion Protection.
Method 2
On the Elastic IP Addresses page, select one or more EIPs and choose in the lower part of the page.