Troubleshooting

Debug and troubleshoot Redis connectivity and caching issues in BoxLang applications with step-by-step guidance.

When encountering issues with Redis connectivity or caching, follow these debugging steps to identify and resolve problems.

📋 BoxLang Application Logs

Start by checking your BoxLang application logs for Redis-related errors:

Location: Depends on your runtime environment

• CommandBox: Check {server-home}/logs/ directory

• Tomcat/Jetty: Check application server logs directory

• Docker: Use docker logs <container-name>

Look for:

• Connection timeout errors

• Authentication failures

• Pool exhaustion warnings

• Serialization/deserialization errors

• Cache key conflicts

Example error patterns:

redis.clients.jedis.exceptions.JedisConnectionException
Connection timed out
Could not get a resource from the pool
NOAUTH Authentication required

💻 BoxLang Console Output

Enable debug output in your BoxLang runtime to see real-time cache operations by starting the server in debug mode. See the Configuration section for details.

Console logging:

// Log cache operations
println( "Cache GET: #cacheKey#" );
var result = cacheGet( cacheKey );
println( "Cache result: #isNull(result) ? 'MISS' : 'HIT'#" );

🔴 Redis Server Logs

Redis logs provide detailed information about server-side operations and errors.

Log locations by installation method:

• Linux (systemd): /var/log/redis/redis-server.log

• MacOS (Homebrew): /usr/local/var/log/redis.log

• Docker: docker logs <redis-container-name>

• Windows: Check your Redis installation directory

Access logs:

# Linux/Mac - Follow logs in real-time
tail -f /var/log/redis/redis-server.log

# Docker
docker logs -f redis-container

# Search for specific errors
grep "error\|warning\|timeout" /var/log/redis/redis-server.log

Common log indicators:

• # Server started - Successful startup

• # Connection from {ip} - Client connections

• # Client closed connection - Disconnections

• # Warning: memory usage high - Memory issues

• NOAUTH - Authentication failures

• READONLY - Cluster failover states

🛠️ Redis CLI Tools

Use the Redis command-line interface to test connectivity and inspect data:

Connect to Redis:

# Standalone
redis-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 6379 -a yourpassword

# With SSL
redis-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 6379 -a yourpassword --tls

# Cluster
redis-cli -c -h node1.cluster -p 6379 -a yourpassword

Useful diagnostic commands:

# Test connection
PING
# Response: PONG

# Check server info
INFO server
INFO clients
INFO memory
INFO stats

# View all keys with prefix
KEYS boxlang-cache:*

# Check specific key
GET boxlang-cache:mykey
TTL boxlang-cache:mykey

# Monitor all commands in real-time
MONITOR

# Check client connections
CLIENT LIST

# Check cluster status (if using cluster)
CLUSTER INFO
CLUSTER NODES

🖥️ Redis Web Administration Tools

Several web-based tools can help visualize and debug Redis data:

Redis Commander

Open-source web management tool for Redis.

Installation:

# Using npm
npm install -g redis-commander

# Run
redis-commander --redis-host 127.0.0.1 --redis-port 6379 --redis-password yourpassword

Access: http://localhost:8081

Features:

• Browse keys by pattern

• View key values and TTLs

• Delete keys

• Monitor server stats

• Real-time key search

RedisInsight

Official Redis GUI by Redis Ltd (free).

Download: https://redis.com/redis-enterprise/redis-insight/

Features:

• Visual key browser

• Real-time performance monitoring

• Memory analysis

• Cluster topology view

• Command profiler

• Built-in CLI

P3X Redis UI

Electron-based desktop app for Redis management.

Download: https://github.com/patrikx3/redis-ui

Features:

• Cross-platform desktop app

• Multiple connection management

• Tree view of keys

• JSON/String/Binary viewers

🔍 Common Issues & Solutions

Connection Timeouts

Symptoms: Connection timeout errors in logs

Solutions:

• Verify Redis server is running: systemctl status redis (Linux)

• Check network connectivity: telnet redis-host 6379

• Review firewall rules

• Increase timeout setting in BoxLang configuration

• Check Redis maxclients setting

Authentication Failures

Symptoms: NOAUTH Authentication required errors

Solutions:

• Verify password setting matches Redis configuration

• Check Redis ACL permissions: ACL LIST in redis-cli

• Ensure username is correct (if using ACL)

• Test authentication: redis-cli -a yourpassword PING

Pool Exhaustion

Symptoms: Could not get a resource from the pool errors

Solutions:

• Increase maxConnections setting

• Check for connection leaks in application code

• Reduce poolWaittimeout to fail faster

• Monitor active connections: CLIENT LIST in redis-cli

• Review connection usage patterns

Cache Misses

Symptoms: High cache miss ratio, poor performance

Solutions:

• Verify keys are being stored: Use KEYS or SCAN in redis-cli

• Check keyprefix configuration matches

• Review cacheKeyCaseSensitivity setting

• Verify TTL values: TTL keyname in redis-cli

• Check Redis memory limits: INFO memory

Cluster Connection Issues

Symptoms: MOVED or ASK redirection errors

Solutions:

• Verify all cluster nodes are healthy: CLUSTER INFO

• Check cluster topology: CLUSTER NODES

• Ensure hosts includes multiple nodes for failover

• Increase maxAttempts for retries

• Review cluster slot assignments

📝 Debug Logging Configuration

Enable detailed logging in your BoxLang application:

// Application.bx
this.caches["sessions"] = {
    "provider": "Redis",
    "properties": {
        // ... other settings ...
    },
    // Enable debug logging
    "debug": true
};

View cache statistics:

// Get cache metadata
var cacheMetadata = getCacheMetadata( "sessions" );
println( "Hit count: #cacheMetadata.hitCount#" );
println( "Miss count: #cacheMetadata.missCount#" );
println( "Hit ratio: #cacheMetadata.hitRatio#" );

🔧 Testing Connectivity

Create a simple test script to verify Redis connectivity:

// test-redis.bx
try {
    // Test cache put
    cachePut( "test-key", "test-value", createTimeSpan(0,0,5,0), "sessions" );
    println( "✓ Cache PUT successful" );

    // Test cache get
    var result = cacheGet( "test-key", "sessions" );
    println( "✓ Cache GET successful: #result#" );

    // Test cache remove
    cacheRemove( "test-key", "sessions" );
    println( "✓ Cache REMOVE successful" );

    println( "✓ All Redis operations successful!" );

} catch( any e ) {
    println( "✗ Redis error: #e.message#" );
    println( "✗ Detail: #e.detail#" );
    println( "✗ Stack trace: #e.stackTrace#" );
}

📞 Getting Help

If you continue to experience issues:

1. Check BoxLang documentation: https://boxlang.io/docs

2. Redis documentation: https://redis.io/docs

3. Community support: BoxLang Slack/Discord channels

4. Professional support: Contact Ortus Solutions for BoxLang+ support