# Configuring Redis using a ConfigMap

LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

---

<!-- overview -->

This page provides a real world example of how to configure Redis using a ConfigMap and builds upon the [Configure a Pod to Use a ConfigMap](/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-pod-configmap/) task. 



## Objectives


* Create a ConfigMap with Redis configuration values
* Create a Redis Pod that mounts and uses the created ConfigMap
* Verify that the configuration was correctly applied.



## Before you begin


<p>You need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must
be configured to communicate with your cluster. It is recommended to run this tutorial on a cluster with at least two nodes that are not acting as control plane hosts. If you do not already have a
cluster, you can create one by using
<a href="https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/tutorials/multi_node/">minikube</a>
or you can use one of these Kubernetes playgrounds:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://labs.iximiuz.com/playgrounds?category=kubernetes&filter=all">iximiuz Labs</a></li>
<li><a href="https://killercoda.com/playgrounds/scenario/kubernetes">Killercoda</a></li>
<li><a href="https://kodekloud.com/public-playgrounds">KodeKloud</a></li>
</ul>
 
  <p>To check the version, enter  <code>kubectl version</code>.</p>


* The example shown on this page works with `kubectl` 1.14 and above.
* Understand [Configure a Pod to Use a ConfigMap](/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-pod-configmap/).



<!-- lessoncontent -->


## Real World Example: Configuring Redis using a ConfigMap

Follow the steps below to configure a Redis cache using data stored in a ConfigMap.

First create a ConfigMap with an empty configuration block:

```shell
cat <<EOF >./example-redis-config.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: example-redis-config
data:
  redis-config: ""
EOF
```

Apply the ConfigMap created above, along with a Redis pod manifest:

```shell
kubectl apply -f example-redis-config.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/website/main/content/en/examples/pods/config/redis-pod.yaml
```

Examine the contents of the Redis pod manifest and note the following:

* A volume named `config` is created by `spec.volumes[1]`
* The `key` and `path` under `spec.volumes[1].configMap.items[0]` exposes the `redis-config` key from the 
  `example-redis-config` ConfigMap as a file named `redis.conf` on the `config` volume.
* The `config` volume is then mounted at `/redis-master` by `spec.containers[0].volumeMounts[1]`.

This has the net effect of exposing the data in `data.redis-config` from the `example-redis-config`
ConfigMap above as `/redis-master/redis.conf` inside the Pod.


















<div class="highlight code-sample">
    <div class="copy-code-icon">
    <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/website/main/content/en/examples/pods/config/redis-pod.yaml" download="pods/config/redis-pod.yaml"><code>pods/config/redis-pod.yaml</code>
    </a><img src="/images/copycode.svg" class="icon-copycode" onclick="copyCode('pods-config-redis-pod-yaml')" title="Copy pods/config/redis-pod.yaml to clipboard"></img></div>
    <div class="includecode" id="pods-config-redis-pod-yaml"><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-yaml" data-lang="yaml"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">apiVersion</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">v1</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">kind</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">Pod</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">metadata</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span><span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">redis</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">spec</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span><span class="nt">containers</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span>- <span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">redis</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">image</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">redis:8.0.2</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">command</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span>- <span class="l">redis-server</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span>- <span class="s2">&#34;/redis-master/redis.conf&#34;</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">env</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">MASTER</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">value</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">&#34;true&#34;</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">ports</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">containerPort</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">6379</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">resources</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">limits</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">        </span><span class="nt">cpu</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">&#34;0.1&#34;</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span><span class="nt">volumeMounts</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">mountPath</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">/redis-master-data</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">data</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">mountPath</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">/redis-master</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">config</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span><span class="nt">volumes</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">data</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">emptyDir</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span>{}<span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">    </span>- <span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">config</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">      </span><span class="nt">configMap</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">        </span><span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">example-redis-config</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">        </span><span class="nt">items</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">        </span>- <span class="nt">key</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">redis-config</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">          </span><span class="nt">path</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">redis.conf</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span></code></pre></div></div>
</div>

Examine the created objects:

```shell
kubectl get pod/redis configmap/example-redis-config 
```

You should see the following output:

```
NAME        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/redis   1/1     Running   0          8s

NAME                             DATA   AGE
configmap/example-redis-config   1      14s
```

Recall that we left `redis-config` key in the `example-redis-config` ConfigMap blank:

```shell
kubectl describe configmap/example-redis-config
```

You should see an empty `redis-config` key:

```shell
Name:         example-redis-config
Namespace:    default
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>

Data
====
redis-config:
```

Use `kubectl exec` to enter the pod and run the `redis-cli` tool to check the current configuration:

```shell
kubectl exec -it pod/redis -- redis-cli
```

Check `maxmemory`:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory
```

It should show the default value of 0:

```shell
1) "maxmemory"
2) "0"
```

Similarly, check `maxmemory-policy`:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory-policy
```

Which should also yield its default value of `noeviction`:

```shell
1) "maxmemory-policy"
2) "noeviction"
```

Now let's add some configuration values to the `example-redis-config` ConfigMap:


















<div class="highlight code-sample">
    <div class="copy-code-icon">
    <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/website/main/content/en/examples/pods/config/example-redis-config.yaml" download="pods/config/example-redis-config.yaml"><code>pods/config/example-redis-config.yaml</code>
    </a><img src="/images/copycode.svg" class="icon-copycode" onclick="copyCode('pods-config-example-redis-config-yaml')" title="Copy pods/config/example-redis-config.yaml to clipboard"></img></div>
    <div class="includecode" id="pods-config-example-redis-config-yaml"><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-yaml" data-lang="yaml"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">apiVersion</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">v1</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">kind</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">ConfigMap</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">metadata</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span><span class="nt">name</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="l">example-redis-config</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="nt">data</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="w">  </span><span class="nt">redis-config</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">|</span><span class="sd">
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="sd">    maxmemory 2mb
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="sd">    maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru</span><span class="w">
</span></span></span></code></pre></div></div>
</div>

Apply the updated ConfigMap:

```shell
kubectl apply -f example-redis-config.yaml
```

Confirm that the ConfigMap was updated:

```shell
kubectl describe configmap/example-redis-config
```

You should see the configuration values we just added:

```shell
Name:         example-redis-config
Namespace:    default
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  <none>

Data
====
redis-config:
----
maxmemory 2mb
maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru
```

Check the Redis Pod again using `redis-cli` via `kubectl exec` to see if the configuration was applied:

```shell
kubectl exec -it pod/redis -- redis-cli
```

Check `maxmemory`:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory
```

It remains at the default value of 0:

```shell
1) "maxmemory"
2) "0"
```

Similarly, `maxmemory-policy` remains at the `noeviction` default setting:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory-policy
```

Returns:

```shell
1) "maxmemory-policy"
2) "noeviction"
```

The configuration values have not changed because the Pod needs to be restarted to grab updated
values from associated ConfigMaps. Let's delete and recreate the Pod:

```shell
kubectl delete pod redis
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/website/main/content/en/examples/pods/config/redis-pod.yaml
```

Now re-check the configuration values one last time:

```shell
kubectl exec -it pod/redis -- redis-cli
```

Check `maxmemory`:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory
```

It should now return the updated value of 2097152:

```shell
1) "maxmemory"
2) "2097152"
```

Similarly, `maxmemory-policy` has also been updated:

```shell
127.0.0.1:6379> CONFIG GET maxmemory-policy
```

It now reflects the desired value of `allkeys-lru`:

```shell
1) "maxmemory-policy"
2) "allkeys-lru"
```

Clean up your work by deleting the created resources:

```shell
kubectl delete pod/redis configmap/example-redis-config
```

## What's next


* Learn more about [ConfigMaps](/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-pod-configmap/).
* Follow an example of [Updating configuration via a ConfigMap](/docs/tutorials/configuration/updating-configuration-via-a-configmap/).
