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Deleting Components and Your Data

Your data is your responsibility

Deleting a component, or a Live System, permanently deletes the cloud resources it owns and the data they hold. Fractal Cloud does not guarantee a backup of that data and cannot restore it. Do not rely on one.

Before you delete, you must do one of two things:

  • Accept the loss. Confirm that you do not need the data, and that you do not need a backup of it.
  • Take over responsibility for the data. Back it up or export it yourself, or use a retain option where the component offers one, before you delete.

This page explains what a delete removes, what it leaves behind, and how to keep data you still need.

What a delete removes​

When you remove a component from a Live System and update it, or delete the whole Live System, the Cloud Agent deletes the cloud resources that component owns. Their data goes with them. For example:

  • Databases, including the tables and rows in them.
  • Object storage (S3 buckets, Azure storage accounts and containers, GCS buckets), including the objects in them.
  • Disks and volumes of clusters and virtual machines.
  • Resources other Live Systems share. A Live System that owns a resource deletes it even when other Live Systems still use it. See Deleting an owner Live System.
  • Backups kept on the resource. Settings such as backup retention days control backups while the resource exists. Some clouds delete those backups with the resource. Do not count on them to outlive it.

The Web UI asks you to confirm before a component or Live System is deleted. An SDK call such as cloud.liveSystems.destroy(...), or deploying a Live System without a component it used to have, deletes without asking. Once a delete runs, it cannot be undone.

Final snapshots of AWS databases​

Some offers take a final snapshot when they delete a database, and leave it in your cloud account:

  • AWS RDS and Aurora take a final snapshot on delete. Fractal Cloud keeps the three most recent final snapshots for each component and deletes older ones.
  • AWS DocumentDB and ElastiCache take a final snapshot on delete.

These snapshots are a safety net, not a backup Fractal Cloud manages for you. They stay in your account at your cost, and the older RDS and Aurora ones are deleted for you. If you need the data, make your own copy.

What a delete does not remove​

  • Resources the Live System does not own. A resource shared from another Live System, or an existing resource you imported and left under manual control, is never deleted by a Live System that only references it. See Share Components Across Live Systems and Import Existing Resources.
  • Resources running when you delete an environment. Deleting an environment removes the Cloud Agent, not your Live Systems' resources. See Environment Deletion. Deleting a Live System does delete its data.
  • Protected databases. AWS RDS and Aurora offers accept deletionProtection. While it is true, the delete is refused and the component reports why. Set it to false when you mean to delete.

Keeping data you still need​

Fractal Cloud makes the delete; keeping the data is up to you. Before you delete, choose one of these:

  1. Export or back up the data yourself. Use your cloud's own tools: take a database snapshot or dump, copy the bucket or container somewhere the component does not own, or export logs and metrics you must keep. Check that the copy is complete and lives outside every resource the component owns.
  2. Use a retain or protection option where the component offers one. Set it and update the Live System before you delete. Anything a retain option keeps is then yours to manage, secure and pay for.
  3. Accept the loss. If no one needs the data, and you do not need a backup of it, you can delete without either step above.

When a delete fails​

If the Cloud Agent cannot delete a resource, for example because its permissions were revoked or the resource is protected, the component reports the failure and the resource stays in your cloud account with its data. Until the delete succeeds, or if you stop managing the resource, it and its data are your responsibility, and it goes on costing money. If you are unsure what was left, contact us.