README

This library allows using Redis as cache, session, settings storage, and for the queue. You can only enable these services by using a local extender (the extend.php in the root of your Flarum installation). See the "Set up" section below.

This is an advanced utility for webmasters!

Installation

Install manually with composer:

composer require fof/redis:"*"

Set up

In your extend.php:

return [
    new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1
    ])
];

This enables sessions, cache, settings, and queue to run on redis.

phpredis vs Predis

If the PHP redis extension (ext-redis) is installed, it will be used automatically. Otherwise Predis is used as a fallback. No configuration change is required.

Persistent connections (recommended for phpredis)

With phpredis, connections can be reused across requests within the same PHP-FPM worker process. Add persistent and persistent_id to your config to enable this:

return [
    new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host'          => '127.0.0.1',
        'password'      => null,
        'port'          => 6379,
        'database'      => 1,
        'persistent'    => true,
        'persistent_id' => 'flarum',  // groups connections into a named pool per worker
    ])
];

This avoids opening a new TCP connection on every request, which is a significant throughput improvement at scale. persistent_id is a string used to key the connection slot — use the same value across all workers on the same host.

Unix socket

return [
    new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host'          => '/var/run/redis/redis.sock',
        'port'          => 0,
        'database'      => 1,
        'persistent'    => true,
        'persistent_id' => 'flarum',
    ])
];

Other phpredis options

Multi-instance deployments: This extension can handle distributed cache invalidation across multiple Flarum instances (pods/containers) via Redis Pub/Sub. See DISTRIBUTED_CACHE.md for details.

Settings Cache

This extension includes a settings cache that significantly improves performance by caching all Flarum settings in Redis. This eliminates hundreds to thousands of database queries per page load.

How it works:

• All settings are cached in Redis with a dedicated connection (database 4 by default)
• Settings are loaded from cache on first access, then served from memory
• Cache is invalidated on any settings write, ensuring consistency across multiple instances
• Perfect for multi-container/multi-pod deployments where settings changes must propagate immediately

Configuration:

The settings cache uses database 4 by default. To customize:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1,
    ]))
    ->useDatabaseWith('cache', 1)
    ->useDatabaseWith('queue', 2)
    ->useDatabaseWith('session', 3)
    ->useDatabaseWith('settings', 4)  // Settings cache database
];

To use a completely separate Redis instance for settings:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'connections' => [
            'cache' => [
              'host' => 'cache.yoursite.com',
              'database' => 1,
            ],
            'settings' => [
              'host' => 'settings.yoursite.com',
              'database' => 4,
            ],
            // ... other connections
        ],
    ]))
];

Performance impact:

• Reduces settings-related database queries by 97-99%
• Typical Flarum page load: 1,500+ settings queries → ~10 queries
• Cache invalidation ensures consistency in multi-instance environments

See "Use different database for each service" below to split up the database for cache vs sessions, queue because a cache clear action will clear sessions and queue jobs as well if they share the same database.

Advanced configuration

1. Disable specific services:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1,
    ]))->disable(['cache', 'queue', 'settings'])
];

1. Use different database for each service:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1,
    ]))
    ->useDatabaseWith('cache', 1)
    ->useDatabaseWith('queue', 2)
    ->useDatabaseWith('session', 3)
    ->useDatabaseWith('settings', 4)
];

1. Completely separate the config array:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'connections' => [
            'cache' => [
              'host' => 'cache.int.yoursite.com',
              'password' => 'foo-bar',
              'port' => 6379,
              'database' => 1,
            ],
            'queue' => [
              'host' => 'queue.int.yoursite.com',
              'password' => 'foo-bar',
              'port' => 6379,
              'database' => 1,
            ],
            'session' => [
              'host' => 'session.int.yoursite.com',
              'password' => 'foo-bar',
              'port' => 6379,
              'database' => 1,
            ],
            'settings' => [
              'host' => 'settings.int.yoursite.com',
              'password' => 'foo-bar',
              'port' => 6379,
              'database' => 4,
            ],
        ],
    ]))
];

1. Use a cluster:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1,
        'options' => [
          'replication' => 'sentinel',
          'service' => 'mymaster:26379',
        ]
    ]))
    ->useDatabaseWith('cache', 1)
    ->useDatabaseWith('queue', 2)
    ->useDatabaseWith('session', 3)
    ->useDatabaseWith('settings', 4)
];

Queue

Make sure to start your queue workers, see the laravel documentation for specifics. To test the worker can start use php flarum queue:work.

Queue options

The queue allows for several options to be added, retry_after, block_for and after_commit. You can set these by adding a queue array in the configuration:

return [
    (new FoF\Redis\Extend\Redis([
        'host' => '127.0.0.1',
        'password' => null,
        'port' => 6379,
        'database' => 1,
        'queue' => [
            'retry_after' => 120, // seconds
            'block_for' => 5, // seconds
            'after_commit' => true 
        ]       
    ]))
    ->useDatabaseWith('cache', 1)
    ->useDatabaseWith('queue', 2)
    ->useDatabaseWith('session', 3)
];

You can read up on the meaning of these options in the Laravel Documentation.

Migrating from blomstra/flarum-redis

Simply update the namespace used in your extend.php file from Blomstra\Redis... to FoF\Redis...

Updating

composer update fof/redis

FAQ

Why are there still files in storage/cache? Some code still relies on physical files being present. This includes the formatter cache and the view caches.

Links

• Packagist
• GitHub