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AWS Lightsail Won't Cancel

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Revision as of 09:26, 29 January 2025 by Akiva (talk | contribs) (New page on Lightsail service not cancelling added)
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AWS Lightsail is a set of services within Amazon Web Services that provides virtual-servers with popular pre-configured software options - such as a Wordpress server. It is notable for more-or-less instant setup speed and low cost operation.

The Lightsail service also includes external IP addresses, to make your server internet publicly accessible, as well as snapshots and backups. Standard things a server service should have.

So You Are Done With Your Server

No problem, Lightsail offers a not-to-difficult to find removal button. They ask, as such services are wont to do, multiple times if you wish to delete your server - noting you will lose your server and its contents. You confirm.

Server disappears from Lightsail page.

A month later, server does NOT disappear from your bill.

Two months later, server does NOT disappear from your bill.

Multiple chats with AWS Billing Rep later

Billing rep keeps referring to your operating service. You keep referring to the fact you deleted the service.

Eventually it comes out that although the SERVER is deleted, and although the SERVICE is gone from the Lightsail home page,

the SNAPSHOTS & BACKUPS DO NOT GET DELETED when you delete the SERVICE and SERVICE they are from.

Per AWS, if a backup, snapshot, or resource (like an IP address) associated with a server still exists - it is BILLABLE even though the server or service is gone.