This page describes the Cloud SQL increase backup retention recommender which helps you detect instances which are critical and have a risk of data loss.
The Cloud SQL increase backup retention recommender analyzes instance metadata. If the instance is a production instance, has automated backups enabled, and has less than 21 retained backups, it is recommended to increase its backup retention.
GET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT-ID/locations/LOCATION/recommenders/google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityRecommender/recommendations
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID: Your project ID.
LOCATION: A region where your instances are located, such as us-central1.
If the recommender detects instances for the increase backup retention recommendation, it lists them in a table. Each row shows the instance name, a brief recommendation, the current machine type, the recommended machine type, the location, and the last refresh date.
View insights and detailed recommendations
You can view insights and detailed recommendations about instances
that require increasing their backup retention using the Google Cloud console,
gcloud CLI, or the Recommender API.
Console
To view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, click the recommendation link in the list of instances.
gcloud CLI
To view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, run the
gcloud recommender insights list
command as follows:
LOCATION: A region where your instances are located, such as us-central1.
API
To view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, use the
Recommendations API, call the
insights.list
method as follows:
GET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT-ID/locations/LOCATION/insightTypes/google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityInsight/insights
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID: Your project ID.
LOCATION: A region where your instances are located, such as us-central1.
Apply recommendation
To implement this recommendation, do the following:
To increase backup retention:
Click Increase backup retention in the Issues column.
An Increase backup retention window displays providing a recommendation.
Click Edit instance > Data protection > Number of backups.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Prevent data loss for your instance by increasing backup retention\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nMySQL \\| [PostgreSQL](/sql/docs/postgres/recommender-increase-backup-retention \"View this page for the PostgreSQL database engine\") \\| [SQL Server](/sql/docs/sqlserver/recommender-increase-backup-retention \"View this page for the SQL Server database engine\")\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n|\n| **Preview**\n|\n|\n| This feature is subject to the \"Pre-GA Offerings Terms\" in the General Service Terms section\n| of the [Service Specific Terms](/terms/service-terms#1).\n|\n| Pre-GA features are available \"as is\" and might have limited support.\n|\n| For more information, see the\n| [launch stage descriptions](/products#product-launch-stages).\n\nThis page describes the Cloud SQL increase backup retention [recommender](/recommender/docs/overview) which helps you detect instances which are critical and have a risk of data loss.\n\nThe Cloud SQL increase backup retention recommender analyzes instance metadata. If the instance is a production instance, has automated backups enabled, and has less than 21 retained backups, it is recommended to increase its backup retention.\n\nRecommendations are generated daily.\n\nPricing\n-------\n\nThe Cloud SQL increase backup retention recommender is in the *Standard* [Recommender pricing tier](/recommender/pricing).\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\nBefore you can view recommendations and insights, do the following:\n\n- To get the permissions to view and work with insights and recommendations, ensure that you have the required [Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles](/sql/docs/mysql/project-access-control#roles).\n\n For more information about IAM roles, see [IAM basic and predefined roles reference](/iam/docs/understanding-roles) and [Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations](/iam/docs/granting-changing-revoking-access).\n-\n\n\n Enable the Recommender API.\n\n\n [Enable the API](https://console.cloud.google.com/flows/enableapi?apiid=recommender.googleapis.com)\n\nList reliability recommendations for increasing backup retention\n----------------------------------------------------------------\n\nYou can list the increase backup retention recommendations by\nusing the Google Cloud console, [gcloud CLI](/sdk/gcloud), or the Recommender API. \n\n### Console\n\nTo list increase backup retention recommendations using the\nGoogle Cloud console, follow these steps:\n\n1. Go to the **Recommendation Hub**.\n\n [Go to the Recommendation Hub](https://console.cloud.google.com/home/recommendations/)\n\n For more information, see\n [Getting started with Recommendation Hub](/recommender/docs/recommendation-hub/identify-configuration-problems).\n2. In the **Increase Cloud SQL instance reliability** card, click **View all**.\n\n3. Select instances with the **Increase backup retention** recommendation.\n\n### gcloud CLI\n\nTo list increase backup retention recommendations using gcloud CLI, run the\n[`gcloud recommender recommendations list`](/sdk/gcloud/reference/recommender/recommendations/list)\ncommand as follows: \n\n```\ngcloud recommender recommendations list \\\n--project=PROJECT_ID \\\n--location=LOCATION \\\n--recommender=google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityRecommender \\\n--filter=recommenderSubtype=INCREASE_BACKUP_RETENTION\n\n```\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT_ID\u003c/var\u003e: Your project ID.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eLOCATION\u003c/var\u003e: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.\n\n### API\n\nTo list increase backup retention recommendations using the\n[Recommendations API](/recommender/docs/using-api), call the\n[`recommendations.list`](/recommender/docs/reference/rest/v1/projects.locations.recommenders.recommendations/list)\nmethod as follows: \n\n```\nGET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT-ID/locations/LOCATION/recommenders/google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityRecommender/recommendations\n```\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT_ID\u003c/var\u003e: Your project ID.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eLOCATION\u003c/var\u003e: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.\n\nIf the recommender detects instances for the increase backup retention recommendation, it lists them in a table. Each row shows the instance name, a brief recommendation, the current machine type, the recommended machine type, the location, and the last refresh date.\n\nView insights and detailed recommendations\n------------------------------------------\n\nYou can view insights and detailed recommendations about instances\nthat require increasing their backup retention using the Google Cloud console,\n[gcloud CLI](/sdk/gcloud), or the Recommender API. \n\n### Console\n\nTo view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, click the recommendation link in the list of instances.\n\n### gcloud CLI\n\nTo view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, run the\n[`gcloud recommender insights list`](/sdk/gcloud/reference/recommender/insights/list)\ncommand as follows: \n\n```\ngcloud recommender insights list \\\n--project=PROJECT-ID \\\n--location=LOCATION \\\n--insight-type=google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityInsight \\\n--filter=insightSubtype=CRITICAL_INSTANCE_INSUFFICIENT_BACKUP_RETENTION\n```\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT_ID\u003c/var\u003e: Your project ID.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eLOCATION\u003c/var\u003e: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.\n\n### API\n\nTo view insights and detailed recommendations about instances that require increasing their backup retention, use the\n[Recommendations API](/recommender/docs/using-api), call the\n[`insights.list`](/recommender/docs/reference/rest/v1/projects.locations.insightTypes.insights/list)\nmethod as follows: \n\n```\nGET https://recommender.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT-ID/locations/LOCATION/insightTypes/google.cloudsql.instance.ReliabilityInsight/insights\n```\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003ePROJECT_ID\u003c/var\u003e: Your project ID.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eLOCATION\u003c/var\u003e: A region where your instances are located, such as `us-central1`.\n\nApply recommendation\n--------------------\n\nTo implement this recommendation, do the following:\n\n- To increase backup retention:\n\n 1. Click **Increase backup retention** in the **Issues** column. An **Increase backup retention** window displays providing a recommendation.\n 2. Click **Edit instance** \\\u003e **Data protection** \\\u003e **Number of backups**.\n\n For more information, see [Automated backup and transaction log retention](/sql/docs/mysql/backup-recovery/backups#retention).\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- [Google Cloud recommenders](/recommender/docs/recommenders)\n- [About database observability](/sql/docs/mysql/observability)"]]
