Starting, stopping, and restarting instances

MySQL   |  PostgreSQL

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

Starting an instance

Start an instance that is stopped to allow connections and operations.

Console

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Platform Console.

   Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page

2. Select an instance to start by clicking the instance name.
3. Click Start, in the button bar at the top of the page.
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

Start the instance:

gcloud sql instances patch [INSTANCE_NAME] --activation-policy ALWAYS

cURL

Start the instance, choosing either ALWAYS or ON_DEMAND for the activation policy:

gcloud auth application-default login
ACCESS_TOKEN="$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)"
curl  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --data '{"settings" : {"activationPolicy" : "[ACTIVATION_POLICY]"}}' \
      -X PATCH \
      https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances/[INSTANCE_NAME]

If your First Generation instance is using per-use pricing, you can reduce costs by choosing On Demand. For more information, see Which activation policy should I use? in the FAQ.

Note: Second Generation is replacing First Generation; support for First Generation instances ends January 30, 2020. To upgrade a First Generation instance to Second Generation, see Upgrading a First Generation Instance to Second Generation.

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

Stopping 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 storage charges continue to apply.

Console

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Platform Console.

   Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page

2. Select an instance to stop by clicking the instance name.
3. Click Stop, in the button bar at the top of the page.
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

cURL

gcloud auth application-default login
ACCESS_TOKEN="$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)"
curl  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      --data '{"settings" : {"activationPolicy" : "NEVER"}}' \
      -X PATCH \
      https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances/[INSTANCE_NAME]

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

Restarting 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.

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.

Console

1. Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page in the Google Cloud Platform Console.

   Go to the Cloud SQL Instances page

2. Select an instance to restart by clicking the instance name.
3. Click Restart, in the button bar at the top of the page.
4. In the Restart database instance dialog box, click Restart.

gcloud

Restart the instance:

gcloud sql instances restart [INSTANCE_NAME]

cURL

gcloud auth application-default login
ACCESS_TOKEN="$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)"
curl  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
      --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      -X POST \
      https://www.googleapis.com/sql/v1beta4/projects/[PROJECT-ID]/instances/[INSTANCE_NAME]/restart

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