Kubernetes
Deleting a cluster and stopping charges
Delete a cluster yourself, confirm consumption has stopped, and know what you lose.
What this is
How to delete a cluster when you are finished with it, and how to confirm that it has stopped costing you money.
Deletion is self service. You do not need to raise a ticket or ask ByteDC to do it.
Before you start
Deleting a cluster is not reversible. Work through this list first, because everything on it is easier to do before deletion than after.
Save anything you need. Your workloads and anything stored inside the cluster go with it. Anything you want to keep needs to be somewhere else already.
Capture your logs. Logs belong to the containers and disappear with them. If you need them for a report or a post mortem, take them now. See Reading logs and events to debug your app.
Record your configuration. If you plan to rebuild something similar, write down how it was deployed and how your services were mapped. Rebuilding from memory is slower than rebuilding from notes.
Tell anyone who depends on it. If a public endpoint on this cluster is being used by colleagues or a demo, it stops working the moment you delete.
Steps
Step 1. Open Kubernetes under Compute in the sidebar and find the cluster.
Step 2. Choose the delete option for that cluster.
Screenshot needed: delete option on the cluster.
Step 3. Confirm the deletion. Check the cluster name in the confirmation before you accept it, because deleting the wrong cluster is not something you can undo.
Screenshot needed: delete confirmation dialog.
Step 4. Wait for the cluster to disappear from your list.
What you should see when it works
The cluster is gone from your cluster list. Its workloads are gone with it, and its public endpoints no longer respond.
Consumption for that cluster has ended. Once the cluster is deleted there is no further consumption from it, which is the whole reason for deleting rather than just scaling to zero.
Screenshot needed: cluster list after deletion.
What deletion does and does not do
It does stop future consumption. No cluster, no charges from that cluster.
It does not refund what you have already consumed. Usage up to the moment of deletion is real usage. Deleting stops the meter, it does not rewind it.
It does not close your account or empty your wallet. Your remaining balance stays in your wallet and is available for whatever you order next. See Your wallet explained.
It does not cancel your order paperwork. Your quotations, orders and invoices stay in My Orders as your record of what was purchased.
If you want to reduce cost without deleting
Deletion is the only thing that stops consumption completely, but scaling down reduces it. If you need the cluster to survive but want to spend less while it is idle, scale your pod count down. Consumption tracks pod count, so fewer pods means less consumed. See Scaling pods and understanding your quota.
Be honest with yourself about which situation you are in. A cluster kept alive "just in case" for weeks costs more than rebuilding it would have.
Common problems
I deleted the wrong cluster. Deletion is not reversible. Rebuild from your notes, which is the reason for keeping them. Creating a replacement takes minutes, see Creating your first cluster.
My consumption did not drop to zero. Check whether you have other clusters or other services still running. Deleting one cluster only stops that cluster.
The cluster is still listed after I deleted it. Refresh the page. If it is genuinely still there after a reasonable wait, contact ByteDC support with the cluster name.
I need the data that was in the cluster. If it was not copied out before deletion, it is gone. This is why the checklist at the top of this page comes before the steps.