End an instance¶

There are three ways to end an instance. They differ in when the machine goes, and in what you get for the money that you paid.

All three start in the actions menu on the row. See The actions menu.

Cancel the subscription¶

Cancel subscription is the usual way out. It stops the next payment.

Press the actions button on the row.
Press Cancel subscription.
Read the question, and press Cancel it.

What happens then depends on the plan:

On a paid plan the instance runs to the end of the period that you paid for. The row shows Ending, and the date after the word Ends. The Portal destroys the machine on that date.
On a free plan there is nothing paid for, so the Portal destroys the machine at once. Everything on it is lost.

Copy out anything that you want to keep before the date on the row.

Keep it after all¶

An instance in the state Ending still runs, and you can stop the ending.

Press the actions button on the row.
Press Keep it.

The subscription goes on as before. The row shows Ready again, and the date reads Renews.

This works until the date on the row. After that date the machine is gone, and only a new purchase can bring an instance back.

Destroy it today¶

Destroy right now ends the subscription and destroys the machine immediately.

You paid until a date, and that money is not refunded. The machine and its disk go whether or not the paid time is over, so this is the worse of the two ways out. Use Cancel subscription if you can wait.

The Portal asks a question that names the paid date before it does anything.

Give up on a purchase¶

A row in the state Waiting for payment has no machine and no charge behind it. It holds an address, and nothing else.

Press the actions button on the row.
Press Give up on this purchase.
Press Give it up.

The row goes, and the address is free again, for you or for anybody else.

What is lost¶

The Portal destroys the machine and its disk. It keeps no copy. Anything that you did not copy out is gone: the files, the database of the product, and the accounts inside it.

The record of the subscription stays on your account, and the invoices stay at Stripe.