How to Install Redis® on FreeBSD 14.0

Introduction

Redis® is an in-memory NoSQL database used as a key-value store, document database, or vector database. It supports fast read and write operations with common data structures such as Strings, Hash, List, Set, Stream, and Bitmap. Redis® is a versatile data store used with different types of storage applications such as caching, streaming, and messaging.

This article explains how to install Redis® on a FreeBSD 14.0 server.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

Deploy a FreeBSD 14 instance on Vultr.
Access the server using SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges.

Install Redis®

Redis® is available in the default package repositories on FreeBSD 14.0. Follow the steps below to install the latest available package on your server.

Update the server's package index.
console
```
$ pkg update
```

Search for all available Redis® packages.

                            console
                            
$ sudo pkg search ^redis

Output:

redis-7.2.5                    Persistent key-value database with built-in net interface
redis-devel-7.2.5.20240530     Persistent key-value database with built-in net    interface
redis62-6.2.14_1               Persistent key-value database with built-in net interface
redis70-7.0.15_1               Persistent key-value database with built-in net interface
redis_exporter-1.58.0_4        Prometheus exporter for redis stats
redisdesktopmanager-2022.5     Redis DB management tool
redisearch-2.2.10              Full- search over Redis
redisearch20-2.0.15            Full- search over Redis
redisearch22-2.2.10            Full- search over Redis
redisjson-2.0.8_20             JSON data type for Redis

Install the latest available package. For example, Redis® 7.2.5.
console
```
$ sudo pkg install -y redis-7.2.5
```
Enable the Redis® service to automatically start at system boot.
console
```
$ sudo service redis enable
```
Start the Redis® service on your server.
console
```
$ sudo service redis start
```
Output:
```
Starting redis.
```
View the Redis® system service status and verify that it's running.
console
```
$ sudo service redis status
```
Output:
```
redis is running as pid 1373.
```

Configure Redis®

Redis® uses the /usr/local/etc/redis.conf file to run on your server with specific configurations. Follow the steps below to modify the configuration file and enable Redis® to listen for incoming connection requests.

Open the Redis® configuration file /usr/local/etc/redis.conf using a text editor such as vi.
console
```
$ sudo vi /usr/local/etc/redis.conf
```
Set the timeout configuration directive to close the connection when a client is idle.
ini
```
timeout 3600
```
Set the daemonze directive to yes to run Redis® as a daemon.
ini
```
daemonize yes
```
Set the server's verbosity level.
ini
```
loglevel notice
```
Set the maximum number of databases to run on the server. By default 16.
ini
```
databases 16
```
Set the save configuration directive to periodically take a snapshot of available databases to disk.
ini
```
save ""
```
Set the maximum number of clients that can connect at the same time.
ini
```
maxclients 10000
```
Set the maximum memory usage limit.
ini
```
maxmemory 3221225472
```
Enable threading when using a multi-core server.
ini
```
io-threads 1
```
Enable the Append Only File (AOF) option as an alternative persistence mode to avoid database write failures.
ini
```
appendonly yes
```
Enable the Redis® instance as a cluster node.
ini
```
cluster-enabled yes
```
Log queries that exceed the specified execution time (microseconds).
ini
```
slowlog-log-slower-than 1000000
```
Save and close the configuration file.
Restart the Redis® service to apply the configuration changes.
console
```
$ sudo service redis restart
```
Output:
```
Stopping redis.
Waiting for PIDS: 1605.
Starting redis.
```

Secure Redis®

Follow the steps below to secure Redis®.

Open the main configuration file /usr/local/etc/redis.conf.
console
```
$ sudo vi /usr/local/etc/redis.conf
```
Enable protected mode to allow only local connection requests and require password authentication for all users.
ini
```
protected-mode yes
```
Set the default user password.
ini
```
requirepass set-redis-password
```
Bind Redis® to a specific network address on your server such as 127.0.0.1.
ini
```
bind 127.0.0.1 ::1
```
Set the following configuration directive to block insecure commands.
ini
```
enable-protected-configs no
```
Remove sensitive privileges from regular user accounts.
ini
```
user newuser on +@all -CONFIG ~* >newuserpw
```
Save and close the configuration file.
Restart Redis® to apply the configuration changes.
console
```
$ sudo service redis restart
```

Access Redis®

Follow the steps below to test access to the Redis® shell.

Access the Redis® CLI.
console
```
$ redis-cli
```
Authenticate the default user using the password you set earlier.
console
```
$ AUTH set-redis-password
```
Output:
```
OK
```
Send a PING request to the server and verify that it's accepted.
console
```
$ PING
```
Output:
```
PONG
```
Select a database such as 1
console
```
$ SELECT 1
```
Output:
```
OK
```
View all secure database user profiles.
console
```
$ ACL USERS
```
Output:
```
1) "default"
```
Create a new key in the database with the value Greetings from Vultr.
console
```
$ SET hello "Greetings from Vultr"
```
Output:
```
OK
```
View the key value.
console
```
$ GET hello
```
Output:
```
"Greetings from Vultr" 
```
Exit the Redis CLI.
console
```
$ quit
```

Conclusion

You have installed Redis® on FreeBSD 14.0 and secured the server to enable authentication for all database users. You can integrate Redis® databases with dynamic applications to enable caching and improve your server performance. For more information, visit the Redis® documentation.

Tags:

FreeBSD

Redis®