Using a Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster as a PHP session storage

You can use Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ clusters for storing PHP session data.

To configure a Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster as a PHP session storage:

1. Configure PHP to use the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster a session storage.
2. Check whether PHP session data is saved to the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Required paid resourcesRequired paid resources

The support cost for this solution includes:

• Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ target cluster fee, which covers the use of computing resources allocated to hosts, and disk space (see Valkey™ pricing).
• Fee for using public IP addresses if public access is enabled for cluster hosts (see Virtual Private Cloud pricing).
• VM fee, which covers the use of computing resources, storage, and public IP address (see Compute Cloud pricing).

Getting startedGetting started

Set up your infrastructureSet up your infrastructure

Configure additional settingsConfigure additional settings

1. Connect to the VM with the web server over SSH and configure it:

   • Install certificates:

     sudo mkdir --parents /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/Yandex/ && \
     sudo wget "https://storage.yandexcloud.net/cloud-certs/CA.pem" \
         --output-document /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/Yandex/YandexInternalRootCA.crt
     

   • Set up the environment and install the phpredis library using pecl:

     sudo apt update && \
     sudo apt install php-dev pkg-php-tools redis-tools --yes && \
     sudo pecl channel-update pecl.php.net && \
     sudo pecl install redis
     

   • Set yourself as the owner of the /var/www/html/ directory and delete all its contents:

     sudo chown <username> /var/www/html/ --recursive && \
     rm /var/www/html/*
     

Configure PHP to use the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster as a session storageConfigure PHP to use the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster as a session storage

1. Edit the php.ini configuration file for your web server.

   php.ini is usually located in the following directory:

   • /etc/php/7.2/apache2/ for Apache
   • /etc/php/7.2/fpm/ for NGINX

   To find out the location of php.ini, run the sudo find /etc/ -name php.ini command.

   Note

   There is no need to make any changes to php.ini for the PHP CLI.

   Non-sharded cluster

   Sharded cluster

   [PHP]
   ...
   extension = redis
   ...
   [Session]
   session.save_handler = redis
   session.save_path = "tcp://<Valkey™_master_host_FQDN>:6379?auth=<password>"
   

   [PHP]
   ...
   extension = redis
   ...
   [Session]
   session.save_handler = rediscluster
   session.save_path = "seed[]=<FQDN1>:6379&seed[]=<FQDN2>:6379&seed[]=<FQDN3>:6379&auth=<password>"
   

   Where <FQDN1>, <FQDN2>, and <FQDN3> are fully qualified domain names of the cluster’s master hosts. For example, for a cluster with three shards and password set to password, the session.save_path parameter value will look like this:

   session.save_path = "seed[]=rc1a-t9h8gxqo********.mdb.yandexcloud.net:6379&seed[]=rc1b-7qxk0h3b********.mdb.yandexcloud.net:6379&seed[]=rc1c-spy1c1i4********.mdb.yandexcloud.net:6379&auth=password"
   

   For more information about how to connect to clusters, see Setting up a connection.

2. Restart the web server:

   • sudo systemctl restart apache2 for Apache
   • sudo systemctl restart php7.2-fpm for NGINX

Check whether PHP session data is saved to the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ clusterCheck whether PHP session data is saved to the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster

1. In the /var/www/html/ directory, create a file named index.php to output powers of 2:

   <?php
   session_start();
   
   $count = isset($_SESSION['count']) ? $_SESSION['count'] : 1;
   
   echo $count;
   
   $_SESSION['count'] = $count * 2;
   

   Each time you refresh the page, the output value will increase. The $count variable value will be saved in the session data. Valkey™ will generate a unique key per session.

2. Connect to the Valkey™ cluster from your VM via redis-cli:

   redis-cli -c -h <master_host_FQDN> -a <password>
   

   Enter the following command to view the keys stored in Valkey™:

   KEYS *
   

   (empty list or set)
   

   The returned result shows that no data is currently stored in Valkey™.

3. Check whether user sessions are saved when connecting to the web server:

   1. Enter the public IP of the VM hosting the web server in your browser’s address bar. The first time you open the page, 1 will be output.
   2. Refresh the page several times: the output value will increase.
   3. Open the page in a different browser: the count will start from 1.
   4. Refresh the page several times: the output value will also increase.

   The fact that the $count variable value continues to increment correctly between browser page refreshes shows that the configured PHP session storage setup in the Yandex Managed Service for Valkey™ cluster works properly.

4. Repeat the command to list all keys stored in Valkey™:

   KEYS *
   

   1) "PHPREDIS_SESSION:keb02haicgi0ijeju3********"
   2) "PHPREDIS_SESSION:c5r0mbe1v84pn2b5kj********"
   

   The returned result shows that each session in Valkey™ has its own unique key.

Delete the resources you createdDelete the resources you created

Delete the resources you no longer need to avoid paying for them: