Start, stop, and restart instances

MySQL   |  PostgreSQL   |  SQL Server

This page describes how to start an instance, stop an instance, and restart an instance that is running.

Activation policy

When you start, stop, or restart an instance, you need to set an activation policy to use. The activation policy indicates if the instance is activated to accept connection requests.

Activation policy options are:

• ALWAYS - The instance is always up and running.
• NEVER- The instance is not restarted.

If you are using a MySQL instance, you generally set your activation policy to ALWAYS to accept connection requests. If you are not using your instance, you can set its activation policy to NEVER to avoid instance charges.

Note: NEVER is not supported for read replica instances.

Start an instance

To start a stopped instance:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

   Go to Cloud SQL Instances

2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
3. Click Start.
4. In the Start database instance? dialog box, click Start.
   The activation policy of the instance is set to Always and the instance is started.

gcloud

Use ALWAYS for the activation policy:

gcloud sql instances patch INSTANCE_NAME \
--activation-policy=ALWAYS

REST v1

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is ALWAYS or NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "UPDATE",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

REST v1beta4

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is ALWAYS or NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "UPDATE",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

To see how the underlying REST API request is constructed for this task, see the APIs Explorer on the instances:patch page.

Stop an instance

You can manually stop an instance when needed. When you stop an instance, it remains stopped, and does not respond to application connections, until you start it again.

Stopping an instance suspends instance charges. The instance data is unaffected, and charges for storage and IP addresses continue to apply.

Note: When an instance is nearly out of storage capacity, it's stopped to prevent the loss of information. A red circle with an exclamation mark indicates this status. When you open the instance, a red banner suggests that you increase the storage capacity and enable automatic storage increases. Click the Edit instance button on the banner to increase storage capacity.

As an alternative, you can restart the service to reduce storage requirements by deleting any data that you don't require (and also perform any other operations on the instance). After 24 hours, if the instance is still nearly out of storage capacity, it's again stopped with the same message.

Note: You cannot stop a read replica instance.

To stop an instance:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

   Go to Cloud SQL Instances

2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
3. Click Stop.
4. In the Stop database instance? dialog box, click Stop.

   The activation policy of the instance is set to Off (Never) and the instance is stopped.

gcloud

gcloud sql instances patch INSTANCE_NAME \
--activation-policy=NEVER

REST v1

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "UPDATE",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

REST v1beta4

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

PATCH https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X PATCH \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method PATCH `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "UPDATE",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

To see how the underlying REST API request is constructed for this task, see the APIs Explorer on the instances:patch page.

Restart an instance

Restarting an instance drains the connections from the instance and stops it. Next, the instance restarts and is ready to accept new connections.

Restarting an instance doesn't change the public or private IP addresses of the instance.

Note: Restarting a running instance can resolve some problems with the instance. However, restarting an instance causes a disruption in service, and empties the instance cache, which results in a temporary reduction in performance. If you have restarted your instance recently, check the instance logs to ensure it has fully recovered before restarting it again.

After you restart the instance, the process and buffer caches are stopped and then refreshed.

To restart an instance:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL Instances page.

   Go to Cloud SQL Instances

2. To open the Overview page of an instance, click the instance name.
3. Click Restart.
4. In the Restart database instance? dialog box, click Restart.

gcloud

Restart the instance:

gcloud sql instances restart INSTANCE_NAME

REST v1

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is ALWAYS or NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "RESTART",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

REST v1beta4

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

• project-id: The project ID
• instance-id: The instance ID
• activation-policy: The activation policy is ALWAYS or NEVER

HTTP method and URL:

POST https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart

Request JSON body:

{
  "settings": {
    "activationPolicy": "activation-policy"
  }
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

curl (Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login , or by using Cloud Shell, which automatically logs you into the gcloud CLI . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

curl -X POST \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
     -d @request.json \
     "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart"

PowerShell (Windows)

Note: The following command assumes that you have logged in to the gcloud CLI with your user account by running gcloud init or gcloud auth login . You can check the currently active account by running gcloud auth list.

Save the request body in a file named request.json, and execute the following command:

$cred = gcloud auth print-access-token
$headers = @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $cred" }

Invoke-WebRequest `
    -Method POST `
    -Headers $headers `
    -ContentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8" `
    -InFile request.json `
    -Uri "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id/restart" | Select-Object -Expand Content

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "kind": "sql#operation",
  "targetLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/instances/instance-id",
  "status": "PENDING",
  "user": "[e-mail]",
  "insertTime": "2020-01-20T21:30:35.667Z",
  "operationType": "RESTART",
  "name": "operation-id",
  "targetId": "instance-id",
  "selfLink": "https://sqladmin.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/project-id/operations/operation-id",
  "targetProject": "project-id"
}

To see how the underlying REST API request is constructed for this task, see the APIs Explorer on the instances:restart page.