Downloads

Download Redis and Memcached Integration Samples for ColdFusion

by Aaron Longnion
9 min read

A practical, field-tested set of samples that demonstrates how to integrate Redis and Memcached with ColdFusion (Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee) can save hours of trial and error. This downloadable package gives you ready-to-run CFML examples, Environment setup scripts, and Configuration guides that cover Distributed caching, session/client storage, and high‑throughput use cases. Whether you’re modernizing a legacy CF app or optimizing a new microservice, these samples help you plug in Redis or Memcached quickly and confidently.

Contents show

Overview

These Redis and Memcached Integration samples are designed for developers and DevOps teams building ColdFusion applications that need low-latency caching and scalable Session management. The resource includes Cross-platform Docker setups for local development, step-by-step ColdFusion Administrator instructions, and portable CFML examples that work across Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Configure cache providers for Redis and Memcached.
  • Store and retrieve cached data using cachePut/cacheGet and regions.
  • Cache expensive queries and API responses with cachedWithin and cfcache.
  • Wire sessionStorage and clientStorage to Redis or Memcached in Application.cfc.
  • Validate your Integration with simple Performance checks and diagnostics.

What You’ll Get

  • QuickStart PDF (12–18 pages)

  • Code Examples (CFML)

    • Application.cfc templates for Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee
    • cacheDemo.cfm (object cache, regions, TTLs)
    • sessionDemo.cfm (session/client storage in external caches)
    • cfcacheDemo.cfm (whole-page and fragment caching)
    • queryCacheDemo.cfm (cachedWithin for )

  • Docker Resources

    • docker-compose.yml (Redis 7.x, Memcached 1.6.x)
    • .env.example (ports, passwords, TLS flags)
    • Optional Redis config (appendonly, maxmemory, eviction policy)

  • Admin Guides

    • Adobe ColdFusion Administrator setup (Redis and Memcached providers)
    • Lucee Server/Admin cache setup and extensions installation

  • Utilities

    • Health check scripts (CFML ping tests)
    • A minimal load-test harness (JMeter plan and curl examples)
    • Logging/diagnostic helpers (stats, INFO, STATS, cache hit/miss inspection)

  • Compatibility Notes

    • Supported versions and known differences between ACF and Lucee
    • Redis vs Memcached capabilities and trade-offs
See also  Download ColdFusion File Upload & Validation Module

Supported Environments

  • ColdFusion engines

    • Adobe ColdFusion 2018, 2021, 2023
    • Lucee 5.3+ and 6.x

  • Cache backends

    • Redis 6.x/7.x (single node, Sentinel, or Cluster; also compatible with AWS ElastiCache for Redis and Azure Cache for Redis)
    • Memcached 1.6.x (single or multi-node)

  • Operating systems

    • Windows 10/11, macOS 12+, Linux (x86_64/arm64)

  • Deployment

    • Local Docker, on-prem VMs, containers, or cloud instances

Benefits

  • Faster response times by offloading expensive computations and database queries to a distributed cache.
  • Improved Scalability through stateless web servers with externalized session storage.
  • Resilience and portability with Infrastructure-as-code examples and cross-engine CFML.
  • Reduced integration risk thanks to proven Configuration recipes and verification steps.

How to Use

Step 1: Prerequisites

  • Installed: Adobe ColdFusion or Lucee
  • Optional but recommended: Docker Desktop
  • Network access to Redis and/or Memcached (local via Docker or remote managed service)
  • Admin access to ColdFusion Administrator (ACF) or Lucee Server/Web Admin

Step 2: Download and Unpack

  • Download the zip and extract it into your project workspace.
  • Copy .env.example to .env and adjust ports, passwords, and TLS flags as needed.

Step 3: Start Redis and Memcached with Docker

  • Open a terminal in the extracted folder.
  • Run: Docker Compose up -d
  • Verify containers: docker ps
  • Optional: Enable Redis append-only (AOF) or configure maxmemory/eviction policies by editing the provided redis.conf.

Step 4: Configure Adobe ColdFusion (ACF)

  • Open ColdFusion Administrator.
  • Navigate to Caching > Cache Region or Cache Providers.
  • Add a new cache provider:
    • Type: Redis
    • Name: redis_primary
    • Host/Port: As per .env or remote service
    • Password/TLS: Set if using Authentication and secure transport
    • Test connection and Save
  • Add another cache provider:
    • Type: Memcached
    • Name: memcached_primary
    • Host/Port: Memcached service endpoint
    • Save
  • Optional:
    • Set Default Object Cache to redis_primary (for cachePut/cacheGet without region).
    • Under Server settings > Memory Variables, you can direct session/client storage to named caches.

Step 5: Configure Lucee

  • Open Lucee Server Admin (or Web Admin for per-site configuration).
  • Extensions > Applications: install Redis and Memcached extensions (if not already installed).
  • Services > Caches: Add
    • Cache Type: Redis (name: redis_primary), set host/port/password/TLS
    • Cache Type: Memcached (name: memcached_primary)
  • Save and verify each connection.

Step 6: Wire Up Application.cfc

Example snippet (compatible with ACF and Lucee):

  • this.sessionManagement = true;
  • this.clientManagement = true;
  • this.sessionStorage = “redis_primary”; // sessions in Redis
  • this.clientStorage = “memcached_primary”; // client vars in Memcached
  • this.applicationTimeout = createTimeSpan(1,0,0,0);

Place Application.cfc from the samples into your webroot or map its settings into your existing Application.cfc.

Step 7: Run the Samples

  • cacheDemo.cfm: Demonstrates cachePut, cacheGet, TTL, and region selection.
    • Example:
      • cachePut(id=”user:#userId#”, value=userData, timespan=createTimeSpan(0,0,10,0), region=”redis_primary”);
      • userData = cacheGet(id=”user:#userId#”, region=”redis_primary”);
  • queryCacheDemo.cfm: Shows cachedWithin usage against Redis/Memcached-backed regions.
  • cfcacheDemo.cfm: Shows full-page and fragment caching with cfcache.
  • sessionDemo.cfm: Confirms sessions and client variables are stored externally.
See also  Download the ColdFusion to Lucee Compatibility Matrix (PDF)

Open the URLs in your browser. Use the Health check pages to ensure connections and cache hits/misses are working.

Step 8: Validate and Monitor

  • Redis: docker exec -it redis redis-cli INFO keyspace, INFO stats, MONITOR (dev only)
  • Memcached: echo “stats” | nc localhost 11211
  • ColdFusion Admin/Lucee Admin: Check cache regions, hit ratio, and error logs
  • Use provided curl or JMeter plan to verify Performance improvements under load

Best practices

Cache Design

  • Choose the right TTL: Use short TTLs for rapidly-changing data; longer TTLs for static or reference data.
  • Version your keys: Prefix with app and environment (e.g., app:prod:user:123) to avoid collisions and make purges safer.
  • Serialization: Store CFML structs/arrays as JSON strings for portability; enable compression for large values when supported.
  • Regions: Keep separate regions for different data lifecycles (e.g., redis_primary for hot objects, memcached_primary for ephemeral API responses).

Session and Client Storage

  • For sticky sessions off: Externalize sessions via this.sessionStorage to Redis for High availability.
  • Keep session values compact: Store references/ids instead of large blobs.
  • Consider Memcached for client vars when you do not need persistence across restarts.

Reliability and Security

  • Use TLS and AUTH for Redis (required for cloud-Managed services such as AWS ElastiCache for Redis and Azure Cache for Redis).
  • Do not expose Redis/Memcached ports publicly; place them on private networks or behind firewalls.
  • For Redis HA, consider Sentinel or Cluster. For Memcached, scale horizontally by adding nodes and using consistent hashing in your client/provider.

Operational Tips

  • Eviction policy: For Redis, set volatile-ttl or allkeys-lru depending on needs; for Memcached, default LRU eviction is typical.
  • Circuit breakers: Wrap cache calls with try/catch and degrade gracefully to database or in-process logic.
  • Warmup: Pre-warm critical caches at deploy/startup to avoid cold-start latency spikes.

Code Examples

Application.cfc (template)

component {
this.name = “CFRedisMemcachedDemo”;
this.sessionManagement = true;
this.clientManagement = true;

// Externalize session/client storage (requires matching cache names in Admin)
this.sessionStorage = “redis_primary”;
this.clientStorage = “memcached_primary”;

this.applicationTimeout = createTimeSpan(1,0,0,0);

// Optional: default object cache can be set in Admin; otherwise specify region on calls
}

Object Cache Usage

cachePut(
id = “product:details:#url.id#”,
value = productData,
timespan = createTimeSpan(0,0,5,0), // 5 minutes
region = “redis_primary”
);

productData = cacheGet(
id = “product:details:#url.id#”,
region = “redis_primary”
);

Query Caching


SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE CustomerID =

Note: Point the default object cache to redis_primary if you want these cachedWithin entries to leverage Redis. Otherwise, specify a region using admin/provider mapping Features.

Page and Fragment Caching



Use cfcache for whole-page or fragment caching; direct the page cache to Redis or Memcached via Admin settings.

Redis vs Memcached: Pros and cons

  • Redis

    • Pros: Rich Data structures, persistence (AOF/RDB), pub/sub, scripting, fine-grained TTLs, clustering, ACLs
    • Cons: Slightly heavier footprint; more configuration surface

  • Memcached

    • Pros: Simple, very fast, great for ephemeral caching; easy to scale horizontally
    • Cons: No persistence, fewer data types, no clustering semantics beyond client-side hashing
See also  Download ColdFusion PDF Generation Examples (CFDOCUMENT)

Use Cases

  • Database query result caching to cut load and speed up pages by orders of magnitude.
  • API response caching for third-party calls with rate limits.
  • Session replication across multiple ColdFusion nodes without sticky sessions.
  • Feature flag and configuration caches for low-latency toggles.
  • Job coordination and soft locks (Redis SET NX PX pattern) for safe concurrency.
  • Edge-friendly fragment caching when paired with CDNs.

How the Samples Save Time

  • Prewritten, production-leaning configurations reduce yak-shaving and mistakes.
  • Engine-agnostic CFML patterns simplify portability between Adobe ColdFusion and Lucee.
  • Diagnostics and health checks provide immediate feedback on connectivity and cache effectiveness.
  • Clear examples of regions, TTLs, and storage strategies cut learning curves for Distributed caching.

Key Takeaways

  • Use named cache regions and explicit TTLs for predictable cache behavior.
  • Externalize sessionStorage and clientStorage to achieve stateless web tiers.
  • Prefer Redis for advanced Features and persistence; pick Memcached for lightweight, ephemeral caching.
  • Secure connections with TLS and AUTH, and never expose cache ports to the internet.
  • Validate your setup with the provided health checks, then benchmark to measure real gains.

FAQ

How do I switch from Redis to Memcached (or vice versa) without changing my code?

Use named regions and set the default object cache in your Admin. If your CFML references regions like redis_primary or memcached_primary, you can simply point those names to different providers in the Admin without code changes.

Can I use both Redis and Memcached in the same ColdFusion application?

Yes. Many teams store sessions in Redis for resilience while using Memcached for short-lived object caches. The samples show how to configure both providers and choose them per region or per feature.

Does this work with AWS ElastiCache or Azure-Managed services?

Absolutely. Replace the host, port, and credentials in the Admin with your managed endpoints. For Redis, enable TLS and AUTH; for Memcached, use the cluster endpoint and ensure network access from your CF servers.

How can I enable TLS and Authentication for Redis locally?

Set the TLS and password variables in the .env file and use the provided Redis config that enables TLS. In the ColdFusion/Lucee Admin, supply the same password and turn on “Use SSL/TLS.” The QuickStart PDF includes command examples and verification steps.

I’m seeing timeouts or cache misses under load. What should I check?

  • Network latency and DNS resolution to your cache host
  • Maxconnections and memory limits on Redis/Memcached
  • Eviction policies (keys may be evicted earlier than expected)
  • Serialization size and compression settings
  • Add try/catch around cache calls and implement a fallback path to keep pages responsive

About the author

Aaron Longnion

Aaron Longnion

Hey there! I'm Aaron Longnion — an Internet technologist, web software engineer, and ColdFusion expert with more than 24 years of experience. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with some of the most exciting and fast-growing companies out there, including lynda.com, HomeAway, landsofamerica.com (CoStar Group), and Adobe.com.

I'm a full-stack developer at heart, but what really drives me is designing and building internet architectures that are highly scalable, cost-effective, and fault-tolerant — solutions built to handle rapid growth and stay ahead of the curve.

View all posts

You may also like