Embodiments of the present invention disclose a network function instance management method, including: receiving a management request for a target network function instance, where the management request for the target network function instance carries an identifier of a target virtualized network function descriptor and an identifier of a first network function instance, and the identifier of the first network function instance is used to determine a connection between the target network function instance and the first network function instance; managing the target network function instance based on the management request for the target network function instance; and establishing the connection between the target network function instance and the first network function instance based on the identifier of the first network function instance. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention further disclose a network function instance management apparatus and device.