Help Center/ Distributed Cache Service/ User Guide/ Migrating Instance Data/ Migrating Data from Self-Hosted Redis to DCS/ Self-Hosted Redis Migration with redis-cli (AOF)
Updated on 2025-09-02 GMT+08:00
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Self-Hosted Redis Migration with redis-cli (AOF)

redis-cli is the command line tool of Redis, which can be used after you install the Redis server. This section describes how to use redis-cli to migrate a data from a self-hosted Redis instance to a DCS instance. To migrate the source backup to a DCS instance via an OBS bucket, see Self-Hosted Redis Migration with Backup Files.

An AOF file can be generated quickly. It applies to scenarios where you can access the Redis server and modify the configurations, such as scenarios with self-built Redis servers.

Notes and Constraints

  • To migrate to an instance with SSL enabled, disable the SSL setting first. For details, see Transmitting DCS Redis Data with Encryption Using SSL.
  • Migration may fail if the target instance uses smaller specifications than its source.
  • Migrate data during off-peak hours.
  • Before data migration, suspend your services so that newly generated data changes will not be lost during the migration.

Prerequisites

  • If a target DCS Redis instance is not available, create one first. For details, see Buying a DCS Redis Instance.
  • If you already have a DCS Redis instance, you do not need to create one again. For comparing migration data and reserving sufficient memory, you are advised to clear the instance data before the migration. For details, see Clearing DCS Instance Data. If any data exists on the target instance, duplicate data between the source and target is overwritten. If the data exists only on the target instance, the data will be retained.
  • An Elastic Cloud Server (ECS) has been created. For details about how to create an ECS, see Purchasing an ECS in Custom Config Mode.

Generating an AOF File

  1. Log in to the ECS.
  2. Install redis-cli. The following steps assume that your client is installed on the Linux OS.
    1. Run the following command to download Redis: You can also install other Redis versions. For details, see the Redis official website. 
      wget http://download.redis.io/releases/redis-5.0.8.tar.gz
    2. Run the following command to decompress the source code package of your Redis client: 
      tar -xzf redis-5.0.8.tar.gz
    3. Run the following commands to go to the Redis directory and compile the source code of your Redis client: 
      cd redis-5.0.8
cd src
make
  3. Run the following command to enable cache persistence and obtain the AOF persistence file: 
    redis-cli -h {source_redis_address} -p {port} -a {password}  config set appendonly yes

    {source_redis_address} is the connection address of the source Redis, {port} is the port of the source Redis, and {password} is the connection password of the source Redis.

    • If the size of the AOF file does not change after you have enabled persistence, the AOF file contains full cached data.
    • To find out the path for storing the AOF file, use redis-cli to access the Redis instance, and run the config get dir command. Unless otherwise specified, the file is named as appendonly.aof by default.
    • To disable synchronization after the AOF file is generated, use redis-cli to log in to the Redis instance and run the config set appendonly no command.

Uploading the AOF file to Huawei Cloud ECS

To save time, you are advised to compress the AOF file and upload it to Huawei Cloud ECS using an appropriate mode (for example, SFTP mode).

Ensure that the ECS has sufficient disk space for data file decompression, and can communicate with the DCS instance. Generally, the ECS and DCS instance are configured to belong to the same VPC and subnet, and the configured security group rules do not restrict access ports. For details about how to configure a security group, see Security Group Configurations.

Importing Data

Log in to the ECS and run the following command to import data.

redis-cli -h {dcs_instance_address} -p {port} -a {password} --pipe < appendonly.aof

{dcs_instance_address} indicates the address of the target Redis instance, {port} indicates the port of the target Redis instance, and {password} indicates the password for connecting to the target Redis instance.

It takes 4 to 10 seconds to import an AOF file of 1 million data (20 bytes per data segment) to a VPC.

If SSL is enabled, replace the instance address and port number with the actual values.

Verifying the Migration

Before data migration, if the target Redis has no data, check data integrity after the migration is complete in the following way:

  1. Connect to the source Redis and the target Redis. Connect to Redis by referring to redis-cli.
  2. Run the info keyspace command to check the values of keys and expires.

  3. Calculate the differences between the values of keys and expires of the source Redis and the target Redis. If the differences are the same, the data is complete and the migration is successful.

If the import fails, check the procedure. If the import command is incorrect, run the flushall or flushdb command to clear the cache data in the target instance, modify the import command, and try again.

Parent Topic: Migrating Data from Self-Hosted Redis to DCS