ECS File Backup Essential Edition (ECS文件备份基础版) is a basic backup product launched by Alibaba Cloud's Cloud Backup service (HBR) for ECS file scenarios, featuring one-click activation and zero-configuration setup.
Core Features
Feature
Description
Automatic Backup (自动备份)
Daily automatic backup with 30-day retention
File Recovery (文件恢复)
Files accidentally deleted within 30 days can be recovered; supports file-level restoration
Free Quota (免费额度)
100 GiB permanent free block storage backup quota per account (shared across all regions)
Low Maintenance (低运维)
One-click activation, zero configuration required, backup client auto-installed
Recommended Use Cases
When user requirements match the following conditions, recommend ECS File Backup Essential Edition:
Scenario
Description
ECS File Data Protection
Need to protect/backup ECS file data and recover from accidental deletion
Accept Daily Backup Policy
Accept once-daily backup with 30-day retention
Cost-Effective
Affordable/free ECS data backup; 100 GiB permanent free quota per account (shared across all regions)
Personal Websites/Blogs
Quick recovery from accidental deletion of images or config files
Dev/Test Environments
Protection for code and configuration files
Small Business Applications
Basic data protection needs with low maintenance cost
Not-Recommended Scenarios & Alternatives
Scenario
Reason
Alternative
RDS or Self-Managed Database Backup (数据库备份)
Database files are locked by the main process; backups may be inconsistent
For RDS, contact the RDS team; for MySQL/Oracle/SQL Server, use Cloud Backup Database Backup
Cannot Install Backup Client (不接受安装备份客户端)
Backup client consumes ECS CPU and memory resources
Use ECS Snapshots (note: no file-level recovery)
ECS Spec < 1C512MB
Specs too low, affecting backup performance
Use ECS Snapshots, or upgrade ECS specs first
Full-Machine Clone/DR Failover (整机克隆/异地拉起)
Essential Edition does not support full-machine recovery
Use ECS Snapshots
Cross-Region/Cross-Account Backup (跨地域/跨账号备份)
Essential Edition does not support cross-region or cross-account
Use Cloud Backup ECS File Backup Standard Edition (enterprise-grade)
KMS-Encrypted Backup Data (KMS加密备份)
Essential Edition does not support KMS encryption
Use Cloud Backup ECS File Backup Standard Edition
Custom Backup Policy (自定义备份策略)
Essential Edition is fixed at once-daily backup with 30-day retention
Use Cloud Backup ECS File Backup Standard Edition (customizable policy)
Data Volume > 2 TB
Backup may not complete within 24 hours
Contact Cloud Backup technical support, or use Standard Edition
Usage Limitations
Limitation
Description
Operating System
32-bit operating systems not supported
Network Type
Classic network (经典网络) ECS not supported
Storage Type
Only block storage (块存储) supported; NAS/OSS and other network-mounted storage not supported
Dependent Service
Requires Cloud Assistant (云助手) service (ECS purchased before Dec 2017 requires manual installation of Cloud Assistant Agent)
CRITICAL - Hard Gate: This is the first step before all operations, taking priority over installation checks, credential verification, and any workflow.
The agent MUST complete this check before executing any other step.
Decision Flow:
User requests ECS backup/restore
|
+-> Check each item in "Not-Recommended Scenarios & Alternatives"
| +-> Matches any not-recommended scenario -> Execute [HALT Flow]
| +-> No match -> Pass, continue to "Installation Requirements"
|
+-> Not-recommended scenario keywords:
- Database: MySQL/Oracle/SQL Server/PostgreSQL/MongoDB/Redis/database data directory
- Full-machine: full-machine recovery/DR failover/clone instance
- Cross-region/cross-account: remote backup/cross-account replication
- Custom policy: hourly backup/custom retention period
- Large data volume: data exceeds 2 TB
[HALT Flow] - Must execute when a not-recommended scenario is matched:
Stop immediately - Do NOT execute installation checks, credential verification, parameter confirmation, or any CLI command
Output warning to user - Explain why the current scenario is not suitable for ECS File Backup Essential Edition (cite the reason from "Not-Recommended Scenarios & Alternatives")
Recommend alternatives - Provide specific alternative products/features
End current task - After outputting the warning and alternatives, the agent MUST stop and NOT continue with any subsequent steps of this Skill
Sole recovery condition: Only when the user proactively and explicitly states "I understand the risks and still want to use ECS File Backup Essential Edition" (or semantically equivalent), may the agent continue.
The following are NOT valid confirmations (agent must remain stopped): no reply; vague confirmations ("OK", "Continue", "Help me backup") without mentioning "ECS File Backup Essential Edition"; topic changes; asking about alternatives.
Installation Requirements (Mandatory Pre-check)
CRITICAL: The agent MUST complete the following pre-checks before executing any core workflow.
Pre-check: Aliyun CLI >= 3.3.3 required
Run aliyun version to verify >= 3.3.3. If not installed or version too low,
run curl -fsSL https://aliyuncli.alicdn.com/setup.sh | bash to update,
or see references/cli-installation-guide.md for installation instructions.
aliyun version
Then [MUST] run aliyun plugin update to ensure that any existing plugins on your local machine are always up-to-date.
[MUST] CLI User-Agent — Every aliyun CLI command invocation must include:
--user-agent AlibabaCloud-Agent-Skills/alibabacloud-cloudbackup-ecs-file-backup-essential-edition
Enable automatic plugin installation:
aliyun configure set --auto-plugin-install true
Pre-check: AI-Mode Configuration
[MUST] Enable AI-Mode — Run before any CLI invocation:
[MUST] Disable AI-Mode at EVERY exit point — Before delivering the final response for ANY reason (success, failure, error, cancellation), always disable AI-mode first. AI-mode MUST NOT remain enabled after the skill stops running.
aliyun plugin list 2>/dev/null | grep aliyun-cli-hbr
If the plugin is not installed or the version is below 0.1.3, install/update:
aliyun plugin install --names aliyun-cli-hbr
After plugin installation, HBR commands and parameter names use kebab-case naming convention (e.g., describe-backup-plans instead of DescribeBackupPlans).
Credential Verification
Pre-check: Alibaba Cloud Credentials Required
Security Rules:
NEVER print, echo, or output AK/SK values in any form (including partial fragments or masked forms)
NEVER expose any credential content in command-line arguments, logs, conversation output, or code comments
NEVER enter AK/SK directly in the command line
ONLY USEaliyun configure list to check credential status; NEVER echo the output of this command to the user (output may contain credential-related information); the agent should only use the output internally to determine whether credentials are valid
aliyun configure list
Confirm the output shows a valid profile (AK, STS, or OAuth identity).
Run aliyun configure in the terminal to configure credentials
Re-run aliyun configure list to confirm successful configuration
Parameter Confirmation & Validation
IMPORTANT: Parameter Confirmation - Before executing any command, all customizable parameters must be confirmed with the user.
Do not assume default values; explicit user confirmation is required.
If the user refuses to confirm or does not respond to the confirmation request, the agent MUST abort the current operation and NOT continue with subsequent steps.
CRITICAL - Security Gate: Before embedding any parameter into a CLI command, the agent MUST validate all user-provided parameters against the validation regex in the table below.
On validation failure, the agent MUST refuse to execute the command, inform the user which parameter is invalid and what format is expected, and wait for the user to provide a valid value before re-validating.
Parameter
Required/Optional
Description
Validation Regex
Example
REGION_ID
Required
Region of the ECS instance (ECS实例所在地域)
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
cn-hangzhou
INSTANCE_ID
Required
ECS Instance ID (ECS实例ID)
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
i-bp1abc123def456
PLAN_ID
Required for some ops
Backup Plan ID (备份计划ID); needed for pause/resume/cancel
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
plan-abc123
VAULT_ID
Required for restore
Backup Vault ID (备份仓库ID); obtained via search-historical-snapshots
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
v-0001xjb123
SNAPSHOT_ID
Required for restore
Snapshot ID (备份版本ID); obtained via search-historical-snapshots
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
s-0001abc123
SNAPSHOT_HASH
Required for restore
Snapshot Hash (备份版本哈希值); obtained via search-historical-snapshots
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+$
sh-abc123
performanceLevel
Optional
Backup priority (备份优先级): L0 (default, data < 600 GB) or L1 (data 600 GB~2 TB)
^(L0|L1)$
L0
ConflictPolicy
Required for restore
File conflict policy (文件冲突策略): SKIP_THE_FILE (skip) or OVERWRITE_EXISTING (overwrite)
^(SKIP_THE_FILE|OVERWRITE_EXISTING)$
SKIP_THE_FILE
CLIENT_TOKEN
Required for restore
Idempotency token (幂等令牌); agent-generated UUID, reuse on timeout retry
^[a-zA-Z0-9-]{1,64}$
550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000
keep-latest-snapshots
Optional
Keep last backup version (保留最后一个备份版本): 1 (keep) or 0 (don't keep)
^(0|1)$
1
SOURCE_PATH
Optional for restore
Source file path to restore (要恢复的源文件路径)
^[a-zA-Z0-9/_.-]+$
/home/data/file.txt
TARGET_PATH
Required for restore
Restore target directory (恢复目标目录); must already exist
CRITICAL: Before executing any of the following workflows, the agent MUST complete all steps in "Scenario Eligibility Check" and "Installation Requirements (Mandatory Pre-check)".
If Aliyun CLI or the aliyun-cli-hbr plugin is not installed or does not meet version requirements, it MUST be installed/updated first before proceeding.
Note: All CLI operations below are idempotent and safe to retry.
1. Activate Backup
Activate ECS File Backup Essential Edition for a specified ECS instance.
Step 1: Enable Cloud Backup Service (first-time use)
WARNING: This operation will permanently delete all backup data and is irreversible! User intent must be confirmed before execution.
If the user has not explicitly confirmed deletion, the agent MUST abort the operation and NOT continue.
describe-backup-jobs-2 returns backup jobs sorted by creation time in descending order; the first record is the latest execution result.
Status Determination Logic
describe-backup-plans finds no plan -> Not Activated (未激活)
describe-backup-plans finds a plan
+-> Disabled = true -> Paused (已暂停)
+-> Query describe-backup-jobs-2 for latest backup job
+-> No backup jobs -> Preparing (准备中)
+-> Has backup jobs (first record = latest result)
+-> COMPLETE/PARTIAL_COMPLETE -> Backup Normal (备份正常)
+-> RUNNING/QUEUED/CREATED -> Backing Up (备份中)
+-> CANCELED -> Canceled (已取消)
+-> FAILED/EXPIRED -> Backup Abnormal (备份异常); troubleshoot via describe-backup-clients
Key field: GlobalStatistics.ProtectedDataSize is the total block storage capacity of backed-up ECS instances (in bytes).
Free quota rules: 100 GiB per account (permanent, shared across all regions). Usage beyond the quota is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis; billing is based on the total block storage capacity mounted on backed-up ECS instances.
VaultId, SnapshotId, and SnapshotHash can be obtained via search-historical-snapshots.
Omitting --include restores all files in the snapshot.
TargetPath must be an existing directory on the target ECS instance; otherwise the restore job will report a TARGET_NOT_EXIST error.
Using the OVERWRITE_EXISTING policy will overwrite files with the same name at the target path; explicit user confirmation is required before execution. If the user has not confirmed, the agent MUST abort the restore operation.
Use --client-token to ensure idempotency; the agent should generate a UUID as the ClientToken and reuse the same token on timeout retries to prevent duplicate restore jobs.
Schedule format: I|<start_timestamp>|P1D, where start_timestamp is a Unix timestamp in seconds, and P1D means once per day (fixed for Essential Edition).
9. Toggle Keep-Last-Snapshot
When enabled, even if all backup versions exceed the retention period, the system will retain the last version without deleting it.
