Learn to Configure Magento 2 Varnish in Easy Steps

An essential part of a web server is a cache. When it comes to the performance of applications like Magento, cache is essential since it significantly reduces the burden on the program and speeds up page loading.

As a result, it greatly contributes to improving the user experience.

Magento 2 makes use of the widely used cache Varnish. Varnish and Magento 2 together have been shown to be beneficial and aid in enhancing the functionality of your website. Installing Magneto extensions like “Phoenix Page Cache” or “Turpentine Varnish Cache” is necessary in order to connect Varnish with earlier iterations of Magento. Varnish cache is by defaulkt integrated with Magento 2 and needs minor changes in the configuration to help it work with your store.

What is Varnish Cache & How Does Magento Varnish Work?

The Varnish cache helps to increase the performance of web applications. Varnish is technically referred to as an HTTP accelerator, and true to its name, it speeds up dynamic websites with a lot of material in order to enhance the overall performance of Magento 2 businesses.

Magento Varnish often creates fragment files that are kept in memory. Varnish eliminates the need to use time and network capacity for future requests.

Image Source: Magento DevDoc

When requests are processed, HTTP manages all calls for HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images. Varnish helps to proxy these requests for web server.

While the web server responds to these requests, the cacheable assets are stored by Varnish as well as any following user request is look after by Varnish. So, the web server doesn’t need to process the same requests again and again.

Note: After a configurable interval the assets cached by Varnish can expire and might get replaced by newer version.

The cache can also be cleared manually by accessing the Magneto Admin or by running the Magneto cache with the help of clean command via SSH.

Benefits of Varnish Cache for Magento Stores

When Varnish is integrated, Magento doesn’t need to commit time and resources to serve duplicate requests.

Therefore, the user experience improves essentially as per the user perspective with the requests being processed much faster and the pages being load much faster in their browsers.

Did you ever think that how Varnish Cache can help you gain more traffic and boost conversion rate?

Increase Sales

The page load time gets reduced due to Varnish cache and the content gets delivered 10X faster. The interesting fact is that up to 79% of customers that aren’t satisfied with a website’s performance are doubtful to buy from the same site again. You have a great chance of increasing your online sales with proper Magento Varnish configuration.

SERP Growth

Visitors spend more time as well as shop more often on websites that load faster. This improves the store’s SERP ranking, gaining more traffic and a better brand reputation. So, you can see that it is good to enable Magento Varnish Cache.

Flexibility

With the Magento Varnish Cache, you get an access to Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) that helps in customizing the requests as the Varnish handles the incoming and outgoing requests.

Multi-Layer Server

One or more Varnish servers can be added for enabling the high availability of a cluster processing solution. In this type of configurations, if the server doesn’t respond, the Varnish cache takes over and serves the cached assets which consistently help in maintaining the quality of the user experience.

Prerequisites for Magento 2 Varnish

While configuring Magento 2 Varnish, it is needed to check for the version compatibility factor because Magento 2 supports Varnish versions such as 4.x, 5.2 or 6.2.

Below are the steps to set up Magento 2 Varnish for your store:

• Install Varnish
• Configure Magento Varnish
• Verify operation of Varnish With Magento

Magento 2 Varnish Configuration

It starts with a few changes to be done in the default configuration from the Magento Admin panel so that the Magento application can use Varnish properly.

Navigate to Stores > Configuration > ADVANCED > System > Full Page Cache. For Caching Application select Varnish Cache from the list named as Caching Application.

Alter the value in TTL for public content, in case you want to increase (or decrease) the lifetime value of public content cache.

Then, expand the Varnish Configuration and add the below details to enable advanced options:

1. In the Access list, mention the IP or Host allowed to purge the Varnish Cache. Then add the domain name of your application in this field.
2. Specify the Backend Host (in this example, it’s a local Apache server). If you leave the field empty it will be saved as localhost by deafult.
3. Specify the Backend Port of the Apache server.
4. Finally, specify the Grace period (which detects the time for which Varnish can serve stale content in case the backend is not responding).
5. After filling all the fields, click on the Save Config button.

For activating Magento 2 Varnish via command line interface you can use SSH. Use the below commands:

bin/magento config:set--scope=default--scope-code=0system/full_page_cache/caching_application 2

Process to Verify Varnish With Magento

Varnish is set up for your application now. Just so you know, Varnish is currently linked to the Magento app. If you clear the Magento cache, Varnish will also immediately clear its cache. Magento Cache and purging go hand in hand. Therefore, if you choose to flush the Magento cache, Varnish Cache will also be instantly cleared.

Use the following command if, during Varnish configuration, you limit the IP addresses that are able to clear the Varnish cache and you also want those same IP addresses to be able to clear the Magento cache:

magento setup:config:set ‐‐http‐cache‐hosts="example.com"

Replace the example.com with your application domain.

Now, you can check Varnish headers to check if caching is working properly. Use cURL command or browser development tools and check for X-­Magento-­Cache-­Debug: header. Varnish is working properly, if you see HIT on the value. For seeing the Debug Header, you need to enable the developer mode in Magento 2. Add the below line in the .htaccess line for this:

php bin/magento deploy:mode:set {developer} [-s|--skip-compilation]

Bottom Line

Varnish and Magento integration is a fantastic optimization concept. You may use Magento 2 Varnish by just making a few tweaks. Here’s a short, step-by-step tutorial on configuring Varnish with your shop.

Please let us know in the comments box below if you believe there is something important missing from the discussion or if you have any suggestions on how to make the material better.

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