Deleting an Elasticsearch Cluster Snapshot

While snapshots offer an efficient way to back up Elasticsearch clusters, retaining unnecessary snapshots leads to inflated storage costs. To free up space and manage expenses, it is essential to delete them in a timely manner.

Constraints

Deleting a snapshot will permanently delete its data.
The deletion of automatically generated snapshots is subject to the following constraints:
- While automatic snapshot creation is enabled, the system automatically deletes snapshots on the nearest half hour after their retention period expires.
- After automatic snapshot creation is disabled, existing auto-created snapshots will not be deleted automatically, but they can be deleted manually.
- If automatic snapshot creation is re-enabled, the system resumes automatic deletion of all auto-created snapshots upon expiration, including these created before automatic snapshot creation was previously disabled.

Manually Deleting a Snapshot

Log in to the CSS management console.
In the navigation pane on the left, choose Clusters > Elasticsearch.
In the cluster list, click the name of the target cluster. The cluster information page is displayed.
Click the Cluster Snapshots tab.
In the cluster snapshot task list, select the snapshot you want to delete, and click Delete in the Operation column. In the displayed dialog box, enter DELETE and click OK.
A deleted snapshot will not be displayed in the snapshot list.