Elastic Compute Service:Delete a snapshot

Manually delete a snapshot

1. Go to the Snapshots page.

   1. Log on to the ECS console.

   2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Storage & Snapshots > Snapshots.

   3. In the top navigation bar, select the region where the ECS instance resides.

2. On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to delete and click Delete Snapshot in the Actions column.

3. In the Delete Snapshot dialog box, follow the on-screen instructions to delete the snapshot.

   Snapshot not associated with resources

   If the snapshot is not associated with resources, such as cloud disks or custom images, perform the following steps to delete the snapshot.

   1. Select I understand that snapshots cannot be restored and the snapshot data cannot be retrieved after the snapshots are deleted.

   2. Click Confirm.

   

   Snapshot from which cloud disks are created

   If you created cloud disks from a snapshot, you can forcefully delete the snapshot.

   Important

   After you forcefully delete the snapshot, you can use the data disks that are created from the snapshot as expected, but you can no longer re-initialize the data disks. For information about how to re-initialize a data disk, see Re-initialize a data disk.

   1. Read the notes. If you accept the risks, select I am aware of the risks and want to delete the snapshots. Then, click Next.

      

   2. Follow the on-screen instructions to delete the snapshot.

   Note

   If you no longer require the cloud disks, you can release the disks on the Block Storage page, and then delete the snapshot on the Disk Snapshots tab. For information about how to release a cloud disk, see Release a disk.

   Snapshot from which custom images are created

   If you created custom images from a snapshot, you must delete the images before you can delete the snapshot.

   Important

   After you delete the custom images, you can use the ECS instances that are created from the images, but you can no longer re-initialize the system disks of the instances. For information about how to re-initialize the system disk of an ECS instance, see Re-initialize a system disk (reset the operating system). For information about how to delete a custom image, see Delete a custom image.

   Click Images to go to the Custom Images tab of the Images page. Delete the custom images. Then, go back to the Disk Snapshots tab to delete the snapshot.

   

Configure a snapshot to be automatically deleted when the snapshot expires

When you create a snapshot or an automatic snapshot policy, you must configure the Retention Period parameter to specify a retention period for the created snapshot. After the retention period of a snapshot ends, the snapshot expires and is automatically deleted. For information about how to create a snapshot and an automatic snapshot policy, see Create a snapshot and Create an automatic snapshot policy.

• If the snapshot is about to be released in three days, Released After {days} Days is displayed in the Retention Period column corresponding to the snapshot on the Disk Snapshots tab.

  

• If you configured a retention period in days for a snapshot, you can extend the retention period before the snapshot expires to retain the snapshot for a longer period of time. For more information, see Extend the retention period of a snapshot.

Configure automatic snapshots to be automatically deleted when the source disks are released

If the Delete Automatic Snapshots While Releasing Disk attribute is enabled for a cloud disk, the automatic snapshots of the disk are automatically deleted when the disk is manually released or when the disk is automatically released together with the ECS instance to which the disk is attached. If the cloud disk is a system disk, the automatic snapshots of the disk are also automatically deleted when the system disk is replaced. For more information, see the Enable the Delete Automatic Snapshots While Releasing Disk attribute section of the "Configure an automatic snapshot policy for a cloud disk" topic.