How to Set Up and Configure Redis in Laravel

Introduction

Laravel, a robust MVC framework for PHP, provides an elegant way of using Redis, an advanced key-value store. Redis is known for its flexibility, performance, and wide language support. In this tutorial, we will dive into setting up and configuring Redis as a cache and session driver for a Laravel application.

Prerequisites

• A Laravel application ready for configuration
• Composer installed on your system
• PHP installed on your server
• Redis Server installed
• Basic understanding of Laravel and Redis

Step-by-Step Instruction

Step 1: Install Laravel Redis Package

composer require predis/predis

This command will install the necessary package to communicate with Redis through PHP.

Step 2: Configure .env

Next, you’ll need to provide the connection details for Redis in your application’s `.env` file:

REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
REDIS_PASSWORD=null
REDIS_PORT=6379

These settings define the host, password, and port for the Redis server.

Step 3: Configure Redis in config/database.php

Edit the `config/database.php` file and find the Redis configurations. You might see something like this:

'redis' => [

    'client' => env('REDIS_CLIENT', 'predis'),

    'options' => [
        'cluster' => env('REDIS_CLUSTER', 'redis'),
        'prefix' => env('REDIS_PREFIX', Str::slug(env('APP_NAME', 'laravel'), '_').'_database_'),
    ],

    'default' => [
        'url' => env('REDIS_URL'),
        'host' => env('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'password' => env('REDIS_PASSWORD', null),
        'port' => env('REDIS_PORT', '6379'),
        'database' => env('REDIS_DB', '0'),
    ],

    'cache' => [
        'url' => env('REDIS_URL'),
        'host' => env('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'password' => env('REDIS_PASSWORD', null),
        'port' => env('REDIS_PORT', '6379'),
        'database' => env('REDIS_CACHE_DB', '1'),
    ],

],

Make sure the configurations match the details specified in your .env file.

Step 4: Set Cache and Session Drivers

Adjust the `.env` file to use Redis for caching and sessions:

CACHE_DRIVER=redis
SESSION_DRIVER=redis

This alteration tells Laravel to use Redis as the driver for both cache and session data. Don’t forget to clear the cache after making changes:

php artisan config:cache

Step 5: Testing Redis Connection

To ensure that everything is set up properly, you can use Tinker to test the connection:

php artisan tinker
> cache()->store('redis')->put('Laravel', 'Awesome', 10);
> cache()->store('redis')->get('Laravel');

If you see ‘Awesome’ returned, then your application is successfully connected to Redis.

Step 6: Using Redis for Queues

If you want to use Redis for queue management, update the `.env` file once more:

QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis

Then, you can dispatch jobs to the Redis queue like any other queue in Laravel:

dispatch(new ProcessPodcast($podcast));

Don’t forget to run the queue worker:

php artisan queue:work --queue=default

Conclusion

Throughout this tutorial, you’ve learned how to set up and configure Redis in your Laravel application. With Redis acting as your session, caching, and queue management driver, you can expect improved application performance and efficient data handling.