Elastic Compute Service:Create a preemptible instance

In the ECS console

1. Go to the ECS instance buy page in the ECS console.

2. Click the Custom Launch tab.

3. Configure the settings as prompted based on your business requirements.

   Take note of the following parameters. For information about other parameters, see Create an instance on the Custom Launch tab.

   • Billing Method: Select Preemptible Instance.

   • Instance Usage Duration:

     • 1 Hour: Specify a 1-hour protection period for the preemptible instance. The instance is not automatically released within 1 hour after the instance is created. After the period ends, the system checks the inventory and market price of the instance type every 5 minutes to determine whether to release the instance.

     • None: Specify no protection period for the preemptible instance. Preemptible instances without a protection period are more cost-effective than preemptible instances with a protection period.

   • Highest Price per Instance:

     • Use Automatic Bid: The market price at the time of purchase is used as the bid price.

     • Set Maximum Price: You must specify the maximum price at which you are willing to pay for the instance type.

4. Before you click Create Order to create the preemptible instance, check the instance configurations such as the instance usage duration to make sure that all configurations meet your requirements.

5. Read and select ECS Terms of Service and Product Terms of Service, and click Create Order.

Call an API operation

Use Terraform

Prerequisites

• The Alibaba Cloud account has all permissions on resources. To prevent the misuse of the permissions due to an AccessKey pair leakage, we recommend that you create a Resource Access Management (RAM) user and grant the required permissions to access the AccessKey pair to the RAM user based on the principle of least privilege. For more information, see Create a RAM user and Create an AccessKey pair.

• The following sample code provide an example on how to create a custom policy attached to the RAM user. The RAM user has the permissions to start ECS instances, view ECS instance details, and check historical prices of preemptive instances. For more information, see Create custom policies.

{
  "Version": "1",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ecs:RunInstances",
        "ecs:DescribeInstances",
        "ecs:DescribeSpotPriceHistory"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

• Use one of the following methods to prepare the Terraform runtime:

  • Use Terraform in Terraform Explorer: An online runtime environment is provided by Alibaba Cloud, without the need for installation. You can log on and user Terraform. This method is suitable for scenarios in which you want to quick use and default Terraform features in a cost-free manner.

  • Cloud Shell: Terraform is pre-installed and has pre-provisioned identity credentials. This allows you to run Terraform commands in Cloud Shell. This method is suitable for scenarios in which you want to quick use and default Terraform features at low cost.

  • Install and configure Terraform: This method is suitable for the scenario with poor network connectivity or the scenario in which a custom development environment is required.

Procedure

1. Open your browser and enter https://shell.aliyun.com in the address bar to access Cloud Shell.

   For more information about how to use Cloud Shell, see Use Cloud Shell.

2. Log on to Cloud Shell.

3. Create a directory named terraform to organize your Terraform resources.

4. Run the following command to access the project directory:

   cd terraform

5. Run the following code snippet to create a configuration file named main.tf.

provider "alicloud" {
  region = var.region
}

# The region ID.
variable "region" {
  type    = string
  default = "cn-beijing"
}

# The VPC name.
variable "vpc_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "tf_test_fofo"
}

# The CIDR block of the VPC.
variable "vpc_cidr_block" {
  type    = string
  default = "172.16.0.0/12"
}

# The CIDR block of the vSwitch.
variable "vswitch_cidr_block" {
  type    = string
  default = "172.16.0.0/21"
}

# The zone ID.
variable "availability_zone" {
  type    = string
  default = "cn-beijing-b"
}

# The security group name.
variable "security_group_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "default"
}

# The instance type.
variable "instance_type" {
  type    = string
  default = "ecs.n2.small"
}

# The type of the system disk.
variable "system_disk_category" {
  type    = string
  default = "cloud_efficiency"
}

# The operating system image.
variable "image_id" {
  type    = string
  default = "ubuntu_140405_64_40G_cloudinit_20161115.vhd"
}

# The instance name.
variable "instance_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "test_fofo"
}

# The Internet bandwidth.
variable "internet_max_bandwidth_out" {
  type    = number
  default = 10
}

# The billing method.
variable "instance_charge_type" {
  type    = string
  default = "PostPaid"
}

# The bidding strategy of the preemptible instance.
variable "spot_strategy" {
  type    = string
  default = "SpotAsPriceGo"
}

# The protection period of the preemptible instance.
variable "spot_duration" {
  type    = number
  default = 0
}

# The port range in the inbound security group rule.
variable "port_range" {
  type    = string
  default = "1/65535"
}

# The priority of the inbound security group rule.
variable "priority" {
  type    = number
  default = 1
}

# The CIDR in the inbound security group rule.
variable "cidr_ip" {
  type    = string
  default = "0.0.0.0/0"
}

resource "alicloud_vpc" "vpc" {
  name       = var.vpc_name
  cidr_block = var.vpc_cidr_block
}

resource "alicloud_vswitch" "vsw" {
  vpc_id            = alicloud_vpc.vpc.id
  cidr_block        = var.vswitch_cidr_block
  availability_zone = var.availability_zone
}

resource "alicloud_security_group" "default" {
  name   = var.security_group_name
  vpc_id = alicloud_vpc.vpc.id
}

resource "alicloud_instance" "instance" {
  availability_zone          = var.availability_zone
  security_groups = [alicloud_security_group.default.id]
  instance_type              = var.instance_type
  system_disk_category       = var.system_disk_category
  image_id                   = var.image_id
  instance_name              = var.instance_name
  vswitch_id                 = alicloud_vswitch.vsw.id
  internet_max_bandwidth_out = var.internet_max_bandwidth_out
  instance_charge_type       = var.instance_charge_type
  spot_strategy              = var.spot_strategy
  spot_duration              = var.spot_duration
}

resource "alicloud_security_group_rule" "allow_all_tcp" {
  type              = "ingress"
  ip_protocol       = "tcp"
  nic_type          = "intranet"
  policy            = "accept"
  port_range        = var.port_range
  priority          = var.priority
  security_group_id = alicloud_security_group.default.id
  cidr_ip           = var.cidr_ip
}

6. Run the terraform init command to initialize the Terraform configuration.

   The following sample command output is returned.

7. Run the terraform apply command. Enter yes as prompted and press the Enter key. Wait for the command to finish. If the following command output appears, the preemptible instance is created as expected.

   The following sample command output is returned.

Verify the result

terraform show

Release resources

When you no longer require the resources created or managed by Terraform, you can release the resources. To release them, run the terraform destroy command. For more information about the terraform destroy command, see Common commands.

terraform destroy

Example

provider "alicloud" {
  region = var.region
}

# Region
variable "region" {
  type    = string
  default = "cn-beijing"
}

# VPC Name
variable "vpc_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "tf_test_fofo"
}

# VPC CIDR Block
variable "vpc_cidr_block" {
  type    = string
  default = "172.16.0.0/12"
}

# VSwitch CIDR Block
variable "vswitch_cidr_block" {
  type    = string
  default = "172.16.0.0/21"
}

# Zone
variable "availability_zone" {
  type    = string
  default = "cn-beijing-b"
}

# Security Group Name
variable "security_group_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "default"
}

# Instance Type
variable "instance_type" {
  type    = string
  default = "ecs.n2.small"
}

# System Disk Type
variable "system_disk_category" {
  type    = string
  default = "cloud_efficiency"
}

# Operating System Image
variable "image_id" {
  type    = string
  default = "ubuntu_140405_64_40G_cloudinit_20161115.vhd"
}

# Instance Name
variable "instance_name" {
  type    = string
  default = "test_fofo"
}

# Public Bandwidth
variable "internet_max_bandwidth_out" {
  type    = number
  default = 10
}

# Billing Type
variable "instance_charge_type" {
  type    = string
  default = "PostPaid"
}

# Preemptible Instance Bidding Strategy
variable "spot_strategy" {
  type    = string
  default = "SpotAsPriceGo"
}

# Preemptible Instance Protection Period
variable "spot_duration" {
  type    = number
  default = 0
}

# Inbound Rule Port Range
variable "port_range" {
  type    = string
  default = "1/65535"
}

# Inbound Rule Priority
variable "priority" {
  type    = number
  default = 1
}

# Inbound Rule CIDR
variable "cidr_ip" {
  type    = string
  default = "0.0.0.0/0"
}

resource "alicloud_vpc" "vpc" {
  name       = var.vpc_name
  cidr_block = var.vpc_cidr_block
}

resource "alicloud_vswitch" "vsw" {
  vpc_id            = alicloud_vpc.vpc.id
  cidr_block        = var.vswitch_cidr_block
  availability_zone = var.availability_zone
}

resource "alicloud_security_group" "default" {
  name   = var.security_group_name
  vpc_id = alicloud_vpc.vpc.id
}
resource "alicloud_instance" "instance" {
  availability_zone          = var.availability_zone
  security_groups = [alicloud_security_group.default.id]
  instance_type              = var.instance_type
  system_disk_category       = var.system_disk_category
  image_id                   = var.image_id
  instance_name              = var.instance_name
  vswitch_id                 = alicloud_vswitch.vsw.id
  internet_max_bandwidth_out = var.internet_max_bandwidth_out
  instance_charge_type       = var.instance_charge_type
  spot_strategy              = var.spot_strategy
  spot_duration              = var.spot_duration
}

resource "alicloud_security_group_rule" "allow_all_tcp" {
  type              = "ingress"
  ip_protocol       = "tcp"
  nic_type          = "intranet"
  policy            = "accept"
  port_range        = var.port_range
  priority          = var.priority
  security_group_id = alicloud_security_group.default.id
  cidr_ip           = var.cidr_ip
}