Deploy and Run Redis in Docker

Why run Redis in Docker

• Isolation. The container does not mix with other software on the host.
• Portability. The same image runs on any system that has Docker.
• Simplicity. You pull an image and do not compile or install anything.
• Scale. More instances are easy to start.

  

Before you start

Check that Docker is installed:

docker --version

Step 1: Pull the image

docker pull redis:latest

Step 2: Run a basic container

docker run --name my-redis -d redis:latest

--name gives the container a name and -d runs it in the background.

Step 3: Open the port

To reach Redis from outside the container, map port 6379:

docker run --name my-redis -p 6379:6379 -d redis:latest

Check that it runs:

docker ps

Step 4: Test it

Open the Redis command line inside the container:

docker exec -it my-redis redis-cli

Try to save and read a value:

SET mykey "Hello World"
GET mykey

Step 5: Keep the data

Without a volume, the data is lost when the container is removed. Use a volume and turn on the append-only file:

docker run --name my-redis -p 6379:6379 -v redis_volume:/data -d redis:latest redis-server --appendonly yes

Look at the volume:

docker volume inspect redis_volume

Step 6: Use your own configuration

Create a redis.conf file:

echo "maxmemory 256mb
maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru
save 60 1000" > redis.conf

Run Redis with that file:

docker run --name my-redis -p 6379:6379 -v $(pwd)/redis.conf:/usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf -v redis_volume:/data -d redis:latest redis-server /usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf

Step 7: Add a password

Add this line to redis.conf:

requirepass mypassword

Restart the container, then connect and sign in:

docker exec -it my-redis redis-cli
AUTH mypassword

Use a long, random password in real use.

Step 8: Use Docker Compose

Save this as docker-compose.yml:

services:
  redis:
    image: redis:latest
    container_name: my-redis
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
      - ./redis.conf:/usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf
    command: redis-server /usr/local/etc/redis/redis.conf
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  redis-data:

Start it:

docker compose up -d

(On older installations, the command is docker-compose up -d.)

Step 9: Logs

docker logs my-redis

Follow the logs live:

docker logs -f my-redis

Step 10: Stop and clean up

docker stop my-redis

docker rm my-redis

The volume stays until you remove it with docker volume rm redis_volume.

Step 11: Update

docker pull redis:latest

Then stop and remove the old container, and start a new one with the same volume. The data is kept.

Quick recap

• docker run -d -p 6379:6379 redis starts Redis.
• Use a volume and --appendonly yes to keep data.
• Set a password and keep the port closed to the internet.