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Redis

What is Redis?​

Redis is an in-memory data store used as a cache, session store, and queue backend. It's the most common performance upgrade for PHP apps once file-based caching or array sessions stop being enough, and Laravel supports it natively.

Start Redis​

./laradock start redis

Stop Redis​

Stopping just pauses the container; your data is safe:

./laradock stop redis

To delete the container entirely (the data on disk is still untouched, it lives under DATA_PATH_HOST):

./laradock remove redis

Configuration​

redis/defaults.env holds the port, and the password lives in the main .env (uncomment/edit the line under the ### REDIS section). Either can be overridden in your own .env:

VariableDefaultWhat it does
REDIS_PORT6379Host-side port Redis is published on (host:container).
REDIS_PASSWORDsecret_redisPassed to the container as --requirepass; set it empty to disable auth.

Use Redis from Laravel​

  1. In your Laravel .env, set REDIS_HOST=redis. If that variable isn't there, edit config/database.php instead and replace the default 127.0.0.1 with redis: 
    'redis' => [
        'cluster' => false,
        'default' => [
            'host'     => 'redis',
            'port'     => 6379,
            'database' => 0,
        ],
    ],
  2. To use Redis for cache and sessions, set CACHE_DRIVER=redis and SESSION_DRIVER=redis in .env.
  3. Install the client: 
    composer require predis/predis:^1.0
  4. Test it from Laravel: 
    \Cache::store('redis')->put('Laradock', 'Awesome', 10);

Use the redis-cli​

./laradock enter redis

Then start the client, authenticating if REDIS_PASSWORD is set:

redis-cli -a secret_redis

Flush all keys (clear the cache)​

⚠️ This permanently deletes every key in Redis, there's no undo. Useful when stale cached data is causing bugs and you just want a clean slate:

./laradock exec -T redis redis-cli -a secret_redis FLUSHALL

FLUSHALL clears every database inside Redis. To clear only the currently selected database (database => 0 by default in Laravel's config above), use FLUSHDB instead.

Check memory usage and stats​

./laradock exec -T redis redis-cli -a secret_redis INFO memory

INFO memory reports used_memory_human (current usage) and maxmemory_policy (what Redis does when it hits a memory cap, if you've set one). Swap memory for stats (INFO stats) to see hit/miss counters, or run DBSIZE for a quick key count in the current database.

Backup and restore​

Redis periodically snapshots its dataset to disk as dump.rdb under /data in the container, which maps to DATA_PATH_HOST/redis/dump.rdb on your host. To back up, force an immediate snapshot, then copy that file out:

./laradock exec -T redis redis-cli -a secret_redis SAVE
cp "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}/redis/dump.rdb" backup.rdb

Restore a snapshot by putting it back before Redis starts, since Redis only loads dump.rdb from disk on boot:

./laradock stop redis
cp backup.rdb "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}/redis/dump.rdb"
./laradock start redis

Start completely fresh (wipe all data)​

To throw away everything (all keys, all snapshots) and start Redis from a clean, empty state (⚠️ this permanently deletes the data, back up first if you need anything):

./laradock stop redis
./laradock remove redis
rm -rf "${DATA_PATH_HOST:-~/.laradock/data}/redis"
./laradock start redis

DATA_PATH_HOST is whatever you have set in .env (~/.laradock/data by default), so the folder above is where Redis's dump.rdb actually lives on your machine.

Talk to this Redis from another Laradock project​

Each Laradock project is its own isolated Docker network by default, so a second project's containers can't reach this Redis by container name out of the box. Easiest fix: publish the port (already done, REDIS_PORT) and have the other project connect to your host machine's address instead of redis, for example REDIS_HOST=host.docker.internal (Docker Desktop) with REDIS_PORT and REDIS_PASSWORD matching this project's values. Make sure the two projects use different REDIS_PORT values if they're both running at once, and pick different database => indexes (or a key prefix) if you don't want them to see each other's keys.

Connect from your host machine​

Inside Laradock, other containers reach Redis by container name: REDIS_HOST=redis. From your own machine, connect to localhost:6379 (or your custom REDIS_PORT) with a GUI like TablePlus or RedisInsight, using REDIS_PASSWORD if set.

Common issues​

  • NOAUTH Authentication required. REDIS_PASSWORD is set in .env but your client isn't sending it. Pass -a <password> to redis-cli, or set the password on your Laravel Redis connection config.
  • App can't connect but the container is running. Confirm the app's .env uses REDIS_HOST=redis (the container name), not localhost or 127.0.0.1, those only work from your host machine, not from inside another container.
  • Port already in use on your host. Another local Redis (or another Laradock project) is already bound to 6379. Change REDIS_PORT in .env and restart: ./laradock restart redis.
  • Data disappears after docker compose down -v. Redis data lives under DATA_PATH_HOST/redis; -v removes named volumes and, depending on your setup, can wipe it. Use ./laradock stop redis if you just want to pause the container.
  • Cached values from a previous session/database still show up. You're probably sharing the same database => index across two apps or two Laradock projects. See Flush all keys above, or give each app its own database index.

Need a GUI to browse keys? See Redis WebUI. Need a Redis-compatible alternative? See Valkey or Dragonfly, or a multi-node setup, Redis Cluster. New to Laradock? Start at Getting Started.