How to Install Redis on Ubuntu

Redis is an in-memory data store used as a cache, session store, message broker, and lightweight database. On Ubuntu it is a common companion to PostgreSQL, Django, Spring Boot, and Node.js apps that need fast key-value access without hammering disk.

This guide walks through how to install Redis on Ubuntu the way I run it locally: apt install redis-server from universe for a supported 7.x build, the official packages.redis.io repository when you need Redis 8.x, and optional Snap installs. You will start the service with systemd, verify with redis-cli ping, and apply baseline security (bind address, password, firewall) so you do not accidentally ship an open Redis port to the internet.

Tested on: Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin); kernel 6.14.0-37-generic; Redis 7.0.15 (redis-server from universe).

Quick command summary

What is Redis—and when do you need it on Ubuntu?

Redis stores data in memory (with optional persistence to disk) as strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, streams, and more. Typical jobs:

Redis is not a full replacement for PostgreSQL or MongoDB—it excels at fast, ephemeral, or small structured data. For pure in-memory caching without Redis features, Memcached on Ubuntu is simpler but less capable.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, or newer (25.04 tested here) on amd64.
• sudo for package installation and editing /etc/redis/redis.conf.
• universe enabled in apt sources (redis-server lives in universe on Ubuntu).
• cURL and gpg when adding the official Redis apt repository.
• Enough RAM for your dataset—Redis holds working set in memory; plan headroom beyond maxmemory if you enable persistence.

Step 1: Install Redis from Ubuntu apt (recommended for local dev)

Refresh indexes and inspect versions before installing:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy redis-server redis-tools

On Ubuntu 25.04 you should see something like:

redis-server:
 Candidate: 5:7.0.15-3ubuntu0.1
 Version table:
 5:7.0.15-3ubuntu0.1 500
 500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu plucky-security/universe amd64 Packages
redis-tools:
 Candidate: 5:7.0.15-3ubuntu0.1

Install with apt:

sudo apt install -y redis-server

redis-server depends on redis-tools, which provides redis-cli. Ubuntu configures systemd supervision automatically.

Check the service:

sudo systemctl status redis-server

● redis-server.service - Advanced key-value store
 Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/redis-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
 Active: active (running)
 Status: "Ready to accept connections"

If the unit is inactive:

sudo systemctl enable --now redis-server

See systemctl list services when you manage several daemons on one host.

Verify with redis-cli

redis-server --version
redis-cli ping

Redis server v=7.0.15 sha=00000000:0 malloc=jemalloc-5.3.0 bits=64 build=...
PONG

Store and read a test key:

redis-cli SET golinuxcloud:test "hello from ubuntu" EX 60
redis-cli GET golinuxcloud:test

OK
"hello from ubuntu"

EX 60 expires the key after 60 seconds—a simple TTL pattern for caches.

Default network settings on Ubuntu

Ubuntu’s packaged config listens on loopback only:

redis-cli CONFIG GET bind
redis-cli CONFIG GET protected-mode

bind
127.0.0.1 -::1
protected-mode
yes

That matches the default Redis security posture: local clients on the same machine can connect; remote hosts cannot until you change bind and firewall rules deliberately.

Step 2: Install from the official packages.redis.io repository (Redis 8.x)

When you need newer Redis Open Source (8.x as of 2026) or builds straight from Redis install docs, add the vendor apt repository.

Install prerequisites:

sudo apt-get install -y lsb-release curl gpg

Import the signing key and add the list file:

curl -fsSL https://packages.redis.io/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/redis-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo chmod 644 /usr/share/keyrings/redis-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/redis-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.redis.io/deb $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/redis.list

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/redis-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.redis.io/deb noble main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/redis.list

Update and list candidates:

sudo apt-get update
apt policy redis

With the noble vendor repo enabled, the newest candidate was 6:8.8.0-1rl1~noble1 at time of writing—your mirror may show a newer 8.x build.

Install the metapackage (pulls server, tools, and related components per Redis packaging):

sudo apt-get install -y redis

Pin a specific version when you need reproducibility:

sudo apt-get install -y redis=6:7.4.8-1rl1~noble1 redis-server=6:7.4.8-1rl1~noble1 redis-tools=6:7.4.8-1rl1~noble1

Enable and start if the unit is not already active:

sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server
redis-cli ping

Step 3: Install Redis from Snap (optional)

Redis Ltd publishes a Snap (latest/stable tracked 8.8.0 in mid-2026):

sudo snap install redis

Snap manages its own confinement and lifecycle. For production on Ubuntu servers, most teams prefer apt or packages.redis.io because configuration maps cleanly to /etc/redis/redis.conf and standard systemd journals.

Enable boot start on Snap when needed:

sudo snap set redis service.start=true
sudo snap services redis

Use redis.cli from the Snap path or install redis-tools from apt for a familiar redis-cli on $PATH.

Manage Redis with systemd

After editing /etc/redis/redis.conf, restart to apply:

sudo systemctl restart redis-server

Basic configuration after install

Main config file: /etc/redis/redis.conf. Back it up before changes:

sudo cp /etc/redis/redis.conf /etc/redis/redis.conf.bak.$(date +%F)

Set a password (requirepass)

For development you can test a password without editing the file:

redis-cli CONFIG SET requirepass 'your-strong-password'
redis-cli ping

NOAUTH Authentication required.

redis-cli -a 'your-strong-password' ping

PONG

To persist, edit the config (use a secrets manager in production instead of plaintext when possible):

sudo sed -i 's/^# requirepass .*/requirepass your-strong-password/' /etc/redis/redis.conf
sudo systemctl restart redis-server

Prefer Redis ACLs (ACL SETUSER) on Redis 6+ for finer control in multi-tenant setups—see Redis security docs.

Listen on a private LAN (not the public internet)

To accept connections from other hosts on a trusted private network, set bind to the server’s private IP and restrict firewall access to app subnets only:

bind 10.0.0.5 -::1

Always pair LAN binding with requirepass or ACLs and UFW/iptables rules—never bind 0.0.0.0 on a cloud VM without authentication.

Persistence (RDB and AOF)

Ubuntu defaults enable RDB snapshots (save directives in redis.conf). For durability tuning:

Enable AOF in redis.conf when you need stricter durability on a single node—production HA usually adds replication and backups beyond this guide.

Connect from your application (quick smoke tests)

Redis listens on 127.0.0.1:6379 by default.

Python (install redis package separately):

python3 -c "import redis; r=redis.Redis; print(r.ping)"

If ModuleNotFoundError, install with pip install redis in your project venv—not via this server package.

Node.js:

node -e "const redis=require('redis');(async=>{const c=redis.createClient;await c.connect;console.log(await c.ping);await c.quit;})"

Requires npm install redis in your app directory.

For a full database beside Redis, see PostgreSQL on Ubuntu. Redis often sits in front of Postgres or MongoDB as a cache layer—not a substitute for either.

Uninstall Redis

Universe or official-repo apt install:

sudo systemctl stop redis-server
sudo apt purge -y redis-server redis-tools redis
sudo apt autoremove -y

See remove unused packages on Ubuntu for reviewing what autoremove proposes and cleaning leftover apt cache or rc configs.

Remove vendor repo when you added it:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/redis.list
sudo apt update

Snap:

sudo snap remove redis

Data files under /var/lib/redis may survive purge—delete only when you are sure backups exist:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/redis

Troubleshooting

Check listening sockets:

ss -tlnp | grep 6379

LISTEN 0 511 127.0.0.1:6379 0.0.0.0:* users:(("redis-server",pid=1670,fd=6))

References

• Redis — Install on Linux (archive)
• Redis — Install Open Source via APT
• Ask Ubuntu — install Redis (historical)
• Super User — Redis 7 on Ubuntu 22.04
• On-site: apt command, Memcached on Ubuntu, PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, MongoDB on Ubuntu, systemctl services, curl cheat sheet

Summary

The straightforward way to install Redis on Ubuntu for local development is sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y redis-server, then confirm PONG from redis-cli ping. Ubuntu enables systemd on boot, binds 127.0.0.1 by default, and ships Redis 7.0.x on 25.04 from universe.

When you need Redis 8.x, add packages.redis.io per official docs—use the noble suite on 25.04 until a plucky repository exists. Harden with passwords or ACLs, careful bind settings, and firewall rules before exposing port 6379 beyond localhost. Purge one packaging source before switching between universe and vendor repos to avoid broken upgrades.