Terminating an Instance

You can permanently delete (terminate) instances that you no longer need. Any attached VNICs and volumes are automatically detached when the instance terminates. Eventually, the instance's public and private IP addresses are released and become available for other instances.

By default, the instance's boot volume is preserved when you terminate the instance. You can attach the boot volume to a different instance as a data volume, or use it to launch a new instance. If you no longer need the boot volume, you can permanently delete it at the same time that you terminate the instance.

Caution

If your instance has NVMe storage, terminating the instance securely erases the NVMe drives. Any data that was on the NVMe drives becomes unrecoverable. Ensure that you back up any important data before you terminate an instance. For more information, see Protecting Data on NVMe Devices.

For permissions, see Required IAM Policy for Working with Instances.

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