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    Cloud Backup:Backup and restoration

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    Cloud Backup:Backup and restoration

    Last Updated:Dec 04, 2025

    After you associate a subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance with an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, you can back up its files, databases, and the entire instance. This topic describes how to add an ECS instance for backup and restoration.

    Supported backup solutions

    When you add an ECS instance to Cloud Backup, you can choose to back up its files, self-managed databases, and the entire instance. You can back up these items individually or in any combination.

    Backup source

    Frequency

    Backup content

    ECS files

    Backups are run once a day and retained for 30 days.

    No backup

    All directories

    Specified directories

    Self-managed database on ECS

    No backup

    MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server database

    ECS instance (including disks)

    No backup

    All disks

    Specified disks

    Purposes of an ECS instance

    • Backup and Restore

      The added ECS instance can be used as a backup source or a restoration destination. You must purchase and attach a subscription instance.

    • For Restoration Only (restore-only mode)

      The added ECS instance can be used only as a restoration destination. You do not need to purchase and attach a subscription instance. Convert this type of instance to a backup and restore instance after it is added.

    Prerequisites

    • An ECS instance that you want to back up is available and in the Running status.

    • ECS backup and Database Backup depend on Cloud Assistant. Therefore, you must install the Cloud Assistant client on the ECS instance that you want to back up. For more information, see Cloud Assistant overview.

    • The ECS files, database, and entire instance are not protected by another Cloud Backup method. Otherwise, a conflict may occur and cause the backup to fail. To use this method, you must first disable other backup protections.

    • A subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance is purchased. After you associate the instance with an ECS instance, you can back up files, the entire ECS instance (including disks), and a self-managed database on the ECS instance. You can back up only one type of database at a time: MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server. For more information, see Purchase a subscription instance of ECS Backup Essential Edition.

    Add an ECS backup

    1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

    2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backup > ECS Backup Essential Edition.

    3. In the upper-left corner of the top menu bar, select a region.

    4. On the ECS Backup Essential Edition page, click Add ECS Instance.

    5. In the Add ECS Instance panel, select the ECS instance to back up and configure backup parameters.

      1. Select the ECS instance to back up, and then click Next.image.png

      2. Configure the backup parameters. Then, click OK.

        Parameter

        Description

        Basic Settings

        • Selected ECS Instance: The ECS instance to be backed up is selected by default.

        • ECS Usage

          • Backup and Restore

            The added ECS instance can be used as a backup source or a restoration destination. You must purchase and bind a subscription instance.

          • For Restoration Only

            The added ECS instance can be used only as a restoration destination. You do not need to purchase and bind a subscription instance. This type of instance can also be converted to a backup and restore instance after it is added.

        • Bind Subscription Instance: Select the subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance that you purchased. If you have not purchased a subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance, click Purchase to buy one. For more information, see Purchase a subscription instance of ECS Backup Essential Edition.

        • Start Time: Set the backup start time. When the daily backup execution time is reached, Cloud Backup starts the backup job.

        Backup Content (This parameter is required only when ECS Usage is set to Backup and Restore.)

        File

        Configure the directory for backing up ECS files.

        • No Backup: Do not back up ECS files.

        • All Folders: Back up all files on the ECS instance. System directories are excluded. Click the question mark icon to view details about the excluded system directories.

        • Specified Folders: Back up files in specified directories on the ECS instance. You must specify Source Paths and Backup Rule. The source path rules are as follows:

          • If you do not use a wildcard character (*), you can enter up to 20 paths.

          • If you use a wildcard character (*), you can enter only one path. Paths in the /*/* format are supported.

          • Each line supports only absolute paths, such as paths that start with /, \\, C:\, or D:\.

          • If you use a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path, Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), wildcard characters, and file exclusion are not supported.

          • Backup Rule: Configure a rule for file backup. The detailed rules are as follows:

            • Include All Files: Back up all files in the source path.

            • For Include Files or Exclude Files, manually enter a file list in the Enter Paths box. The specified files in the source path are backed up based on the rule.

              Enter one path in each line, such as /home/user or C:\Users.

              Note

              You can set a subpath relative to the backup path:

              1. If the filter subpath starts with a / prefix, the filter will match any item whose full path under the source path starts with that subpath.

              2. If a filter subpath does not have a / prefix, it is matched as a relative path within the source path, and any subpath that matches this rule is considered a hit.

        Database

        Configure the type of the self-managed database on ECS to back up and the username and password to manage the database. Only one type of self-managed database on the same ECS instance is supported.

        • No Backup: Select this option if you do not want to back up a self-managed database on an ECS instance.

        • MySQL: Select this option to back up a self-managed MySQL database. Also, configure the Database Account and Password. The username is used to manage the database instance.

          The user must have the following minimum permissions: RELOAD, LOCK TABLES, REPLICATION, and PROCESS. For example, for a user named hbr_backup_admin, you can log on as the root user and run the following commands to grant the permissions.

          grant RELOAD, REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE, LOCK TABLES, PROCESS on *.* to 'hbr_backup_admin'@'%';
grant BACKUP_ADMIN on *.* to'hbr_backup_admin'@'%';
flush privileges;# Refresh the permissions.

          Limits apply to the supported database versions and backup features. For more information, see Supported database versions and backup features.

        • Oracle: Select this option to back up a self-managed Oracle database. Also, configure the Database Account and Password. The username is used to manage the database instance.

        • SQL Server: Select this option to back up a self-managed SQL Server database. Also, configure the Database Account and Password. The username is used to manage the database instance.

        ECS Instance

        • No Backup: Do not back up the entire ECS instance.

        • All Disks: Back up all disks of the ECS instance.

          Note

          The fees for the snapshot capacity used by this feature are charged by ECS. For more information about billing, see Billing methods and billable items.

        • Specified Disks: Select specified disks to back up.

        Restoration Type (This parameter is required only when ECS Usage is set to For Restoration Only.)

        Important

        Cloud Backup automatically installs a client on the ECS instance for subsequent restoration. The client is free of charge.

        File

        Configure whether the ECS instance supports file restoration.

        • Does Not Require Restoration: Configure this parameter if you do not need to restore files to this ECS instance.

        • Requires Restoration: Configure this parameter to restore files to this ECS instance.

        Database

        Configure whether the ECS instance supports database restoration.

        • Does Not Require Restoration: Configure this parameter if you do not need to restore a database to this ECS instance.

        • MySQL: Configure this parameter to restore a database to this ECS instance. Also, configure Database Account and Password.

        • Oracle: Configure this parameter to restore a database to this ECS instance. Also, configure Database Account and Password.

        • SQL Server: Configure this parameter to restore a database to this ECS instance. Also, configure Database Account and Password.

    After the backup is added, the backup status changes from Initializing to Pending.

    image.png

    If the purpose of an ECS instance is For Restoration Only, the For Restoration Only tag appears in the ECS list. This indicates that the ECS instance can be used as a restoration destination without attaching a subscription instance.

    image.png

    Backup succeeded

    When the scheduled daily backup time is reached, Cloud Backup starts the backup job. When the Status changes to Backup Succeeded, the backup for that day is complete. View the backup point in the backup history.

    image.png

    If ECS files are accidentally deleted, a self-managed database on ECS is corrupted, or an entire ECS instance (including disks) needs to be restored, click a historical backup point to create a restore job.

    Create a restore job

    Restore and browse files

    Restore ECS files

    On the File Backup tab, you can select a historical backup point to restore the ECS files to an ECS instance.

    image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Restore.

    2. In the Create Restore Job panel, follow the steps in the configuration wizard.

      1. Configure restore items, and then click Next.

        The restore items include the following three options:

        Parameter

        Description

        Restore Items

        Configure the files or folders to restore.

        • Include All Files: Restore all files from the source client.

        • Include Files: Select the files or folders to restore.

          You can also click Enter Paths to define the files to restore. In the text box, manually enter the file list. The specified files on the selected source client are restored based on the rule.

          Enter one path per line. Each line must start with the last folder of the source backup path. For example, if the backup path is folder/test/data, to restore file.txt and abc.png in the data folder, enter the paths in the following format.

          /data/file.txt
/data/abc.png

        • Exclude Files: Select the files or folders that you do not want to restore. All unselected items are restored.

          You can also click Enter Paths to specify the files that you want to restore. In the text box, enter the paths to the files or folders that you want to restore. Cloud Backup restores files on the client based on the specified restore policy.

          In the text box, enter one path in each line and make sure that the first folder in each path is the lowest-level folder in the directory that is backed up. For example, if the files in folder/test/data are backed up, and you want to restore the file.txt and abc.png files in the data folder, specify the following paths: 

          /data/file.txt
/data/abc.png

      2. Configure the restoration destination, and then click Next.

        Note

        • Restore to the source ECS instance: Restore data to the source ECS instance that is associated with the subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance.

        • Restore to a new ECS instance: Restore data to an ECS instance that is not associated with a subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance and whose purpose is For Restoration Only.

        image.png

      3. Configure the restore path, and then click Start to Restore.

        Parameter

        Description

        Restore Path Type

        • Specify Path: Restore files to a specified path.

        • Origin Path: Restore files to the path where they were located at the time of backup.

        Destination Path

        This parameter is required only when Restore Path Type is set to Specify Path. It specifies the path to which files are restored.

        File Conflict Policy

        • Skip This File

        • Overwrite The File (default)

        • Keep latest version by update time

      After the restore job is created, you can click the backup point to view the job status, which should be Running.image.png

      Hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.

      image.png

    Browse ECS files

    On the File Backup tab, select a historical backup point to browse the backed-up files from that point.

    image.png

    Restore a database

    Restore a database

    On the Database Backup tab, you can select a historical backup point to restore the database files to the source database on the ECS instance.image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Restore.

    2. In the Create Restore Job panel, configure the restore options, and then click Next.

      Parameter

      Description

      Retry Time

      During restoration, this is the time interval to wait before reconnecting after the database is disconnected. Unit: minutes.

      Speed Limit

      The amount of data restored per second. Unit: MB/s.

    3. Configure the destination instance for the restoration, and then click Create.

      Important

      • Restore to the database of the source ECS instance: Restore the database to the source ECS instance that is associated with the subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance.

      • Restore to the database of a new ECS instance: Restore the database to an ECS instance that is not associated with a subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance and whose purpose is For Restoration Only.

    After the restore job is created, the system starts to restore the database. Click the backup point to view the job status, which should be Running.image.png

    Hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.

    image.png

    Restore an ECS instance

    Restore an ECS instance (rollback)

    On the Instance Protection tab, you can select a historical backup point to roll back the system disk of the ECS instance.image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Restore.

    2. In the confirmation dialog box, carefully read the notes, and then click Confirmation.

      Important

      Restore an ECS instance only if the instance is stopped and no backup is being created for it. After you choose to restore the data of an entire ECS instance to a specific point in time, the data on the protected disk that was generated after that point in time is cleared. Proceed with caution.

      Parameter

      Description

      Start the ECS instance after the rollback

      If you select this option, the ECS instance starts automatically after the rollback is complete.

    After the restore job is created, the system starts to restore the entire ECS instance. Click the backup point to view the job status, which should be Running.

    Hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.

    image.png

    Clone an ECS instance (restore to a new ECS instance)

    On the Instance Protection tab, you can select a historical backup point to clone it as a new ECS instance.image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Clone.

    2. In the Create ECS Instance from Backup panel, enter a hostname and an instance name, and select a virtual private cloud (VPC), vSwitch, and instance type.

    3. Click Create.

      Note

      When you create a new ECS instance, you are charged based on the ECS billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

      After the creation is complete, hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.

    Restore a disk (restore to the original disk, which is a rollback)

    On the Disk Protection tab, select a historical backup point to restore the ECS disk to the original disk.image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Restore.

    2. In the confirmation dialog box, carefully read the notes, and then click Confirmation.

      Important

      Roll back a disk only if the instance is stopped and no backup is being created for the disk. After you choose to roll back the ECS disk data to a specific point in time, the data on the protected disk that was generated after that point in time is cleared. Proceed with caution.

    After the creation is complete, hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.image.png

    Restore a disk (restore to a new disk)

    On the Disk Protection tab, you can select a historical backup point to clone it as a new disk.image.png

    1. Click an available historical backup point, and select Clone.

    2. In the Create Disk from Backup panel, select the ECS instance to which the new disk is attached. Click Next.

    3. On the Set Mount Parameters tab, select a disk type, and then click Create.

      Note

      When you create a new ECS disk, you are charged based on the ECS disk billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

    After the creation is complete, hover the pointer over Restore Jobs to view the restoration progress.image.png

    Convert to a backup instance

    The steps to convert a For Restoration Only instance to an ECS Backup Essential Edition instance are the same as the steps in Add an ECS backup. The main operation is to attach a subscription instance when you add the ECS backup. Therefore, you must first purchase a subscription instance. For more information, see Purchase a subscription instance of ECS Backup Essential Edition.

    image.png

    After the conversion, the For Restoration Only instance can be used for backup and restoration. This means it can be used as a backup source and a restoration destination.

    FAQ

    If the Backup Status is abnormal, resolve the issue based on the following suggestions.

    • Error: The ECS instance is not running.

      The ECS instance is not in the running state. Log on to the Elastic Compute Service console to start the ECS instance and then try again.

    • Failed: ECS Released

      • If the ECS instance was released as expected, choose More > Unbind to delete the backup.

        Important

        If you unbind the instance, all backups created during the attachment period are deleted. Proceed with caution.

      • If the ECS instance was released by mistake, we recommend that you use the ECS instance backup feature of Cloud Backup to check whether the entire ECS instance can be restored. For more information, see Restore an ECS instance.

    • Failed: The prepaid instance of ECS Backup Essential Edition has expired.

      The subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance that you purchased has expired and cannot be used for basic ECS backup. We recommend that you purchase a new one. For more information, see Purchase a subscription instance of ECS Backup Essential Edition.

    • Failed: The backup data size exceeds the quota of ECS Backup Essential Edition

      The backup data size exceeds the quota of ECS Backup Essential Edition. We recommend that you perform the following operations:

    More operations

    After you add an ECS backup, you can perform the following operations in the Actions column on the ECS Backup Essential Edition page.

    Operation

    Description

    Edit

    Modify an ECS backup job if it does not meet your requirements. For example, change the backup start time.

    Suspend Backup

    Suspend the ECS backup job. After you suspend the job, it no longer runs at the scheduled time each day.

    Unbind

    Unbind the subscription ECS Backup Essential Edition instance from the ECS instance.

    Important

    If you unbind the instance, all backups created during the binding period are deleted. Proceed with caution.

    Alert Settings

    Specifies the method for sending alert notifications when the backup vault client or a backup or restore job is abnormal.

    • Disabled: The client no longer sends alert notifications.

    • Notify Alibaba Cloud Account: Backup alerts for this client are sent by email to the Alibaba Cloud account.

    • Custom: You must select one or more contacts or contact groups. After the configuration is complete, the client sends backup alerts to the selected contacts or contact groups. For more information, see Manage alert contacts.

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