Using Redis Server

Using Redis Server for Session Management on SummitAI on-premise instances, the performance of the Application can be significantly improved.

Prerequisites for Redis Server

Redis is installed on Linux. Ubuntu LTS 18.04 version is the recommended version. The Linux machine can be a physical or a virtual machine. Alternatively, if docker is available on server operating system, Redis can be installed inside docker as well.

You can also install Keydb. Keydb is high performance fork of Redis. Keydb is 100% compatible with Redis. You can switch between Redis or Keydb without altering the code.

Hardware Requirements for Redis Server Installation on Production Systems

Software Requirement for Redis Server Installation

Redis Installation on VM or Physical Machine

1. Update your local apt package cache and install Redis by typing in:
   1. sudo apt update
   2. sudo apt install redis-server
2. This will download and install Redis and its dependencies. Redis configuration can be managed using redis.conf file. Default password for Redis is empty. Open the redis conf by issuing the following command
   1. sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf

To start the Redis Server automatically, it has to register with system. Update the Redis conf with following:

      supervised system 

To check the if Redis service is running fine, issue the following command: 

   sudo systemctl status redis

By default, Redis service runs on 6379 port. You can change this port by editing the redis.conf file. More about Redis configuration can be found in the following links:

                https://redis.io/topics/config

                https://raw.githubusercontent.com/antirez/redis/5.0/redis.conf

Redis Installation in Docker

Make sure that the docker is installed on the server grade operating system. Run the following command:

         docker pull redis

It will pull the latest version of Redis. To install specific version, issue the following command:

Run the container using following command:

                docker run -p 6379:6379 -d redis

The Docker port of 6379 is mapped with 6379 of local machine. Make sure that 6379 port is open for other machines. Port 6379 of Redis machine should be accessible from the Application Server.

Configuring SummitAI Application for Using Redis for Session Management

Redis connection string and web.config changes

• Remove existing session provider from web.config. E.g. remove state server or SQLserver
• Add the following settings in under <system.webserver> section

       <modules>

       <remove name="Session" />

       <add name="Session" type="Microsoft.AspNet.SessionState.SessionStateModuleAsync, Microsoft.AspNet.SessionState.SessionStateModule, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" preCondition="integratedMode" />
                  
     </modules>

• Add the Redis provider by adding following settings:

          Refer to sample web.config For Redis

      <sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="MySessionStateStore">

     <providers>

    <!-- Either use 'connectionString' OR 'settingsClassName' and 'settingsMethodName' OR use 'host','port','accessKey','ssl','connectionTimeoutInMilliseconds' and 'operationTimeoutInMilliseconds'. -->

    <!-- 'throwOnError','retryTimeoutInMilliseconds','databaseId' and 'applicationName' can be used with both options. -->

    <!--

      <add name="MySessionStateStore"

        host = "127.0.0.1" [String]

        port = "" [number]

        accessKey = "" [String]

        ssl = "false" [true|false]

        throwOnError = "true" [true|false]

        retryTimeoutInMilliseconds = "5000" [number]

        databaseId = "0" [number]

        applicationName = "" [String]

        connectionTimeoutInMilliseconds = "5000" [number]

        operationTimeoutInMilliseconds = "1000" [number]

        connectionString = "<Valid StackExchange.Redis connection string>" [String]

        settingsClassName = "<Assembly qualified class name that contains settings method specified below. Which basically return 'connectionString' value>" [String]

        settingsMethodName = "<Settings method should be defined in settingsClass. It should be public, static, does not take any parameters and should have a return type of 'String', which is basically 'connectionString' value.>" [String]

        loggingClassName = "<Assembly qualified class name that contains logging method specified below>" [String]

        loggingMethodName = "<Logging method should be defined in loggingClass. It should be public, static, does not take any parameters and should have a return type of System.IO.TextWriter.>" [String]

        redisSerializerType = "<Assembly qualified class name that implements Microsoft.Web.Redis.ISerializer>" [String]

      />

    -->

    <add name="MySessionStateStore" type="Microsoft.Web.Redis.RedisSessionStateProvider"

         host=""

         accessKey=""

         ssl="true" />

  </providers>

</sessionState>

Redis Clients

Redis Cli

This is a free command line tool and comes with Redis installation. No separate installation is required for this.

Redis Commander

This is a free and open source browser-based GUI tool.

Installation Using npm   

Run the following command for installation:

     npm install -g redis-commander

Launch the Redis commander from command prompt using the following command:

     redis-commander   

Open the browser and browse the following URL: http://127.0.0.1:8081

Add the Redis Server using Add Server menu. Enter the Redis Server details for connecting it.

Please refer following link for more details: Redis-commander installation 

Redis Insights    

This is paid browser-based GUI client. Free version has many limitations. Download the application from the following link: Download Redis Insights                                     

After installation, launch the Redis Insights from the Start menu. Open the browser and enter the following URL: http://localhost:8001/

You can add Redis connection from the UI.

Sample Web.Config

Sample Redis - Web.config