How To Install, Optimize, And Harden memcached With NGINX and Ubuntu 22.04

Memcached is a high-performance, distributed memory caching system that can help improve the performance of your web applications. However, it is important to optimize and secure Memcached to ensure that it is working effectively and is not vulnerable to attacks.

In this blog post, we will discuss how to optimize and harden Memcached with NGINX and Ubuntu 22.04.

Step 1: Install Memcached

The first step is to install Memcached on your Ubuntu 22.04 server with NGINX. You can do this by running the following commands in your terminal:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install memcached

Step 2: Configure Memcached

Next, you need to configure Memcached to optimize its performance. You can do this by editing the configuration file at /etc/memcached.conf. Here are some recommended settings:

  • -m: sets the maximum amount of memory to allocate for Memcached.
  • -c: sets the maximum number of connections Memcached can handle.
  • -l: sets the IP address to bind Memcached to.
  • -p: sets the port number Memcached listens on.

Here is an example of what your configuration file might look like:

-m 512
-c 1024
-l 127.0.0.1
-p 11211

Step 3: Configure NGINX

Now you need to configure NGINX to use Memcached. You can do this by editing the configuration file at /etc/nginx/nginx.conf. Here are the steps:

  1. Add the following code to the http block:
http {
    ...
    # Add Memcached server
    upstream memcached {
        server 127.0.0.1:11211;
    }
    ...
}
  1. Add the following code to the server block:
server {
    ...
    # Enable Memcached caching
    location / {
        # Use Memcached caching
        set $memcached_key $uri;
        memcached_pass memcached;
        default_type text/html;
        # Set cache expiration time
        expires 1h;
    }
    ...
}

Step 4: Secure Memcached

It is important to secure Memcached to prevent unauthorized access and potential attacks. Here are some recommended security measures:

  1. Limit access to Memcached by binding it to the local IP address (127.0.0.1) and disabling remote access.
  2. Use a strong, complex password for the Memcached user.
  3. Configure Memcached to use SASL authentication to further protect against unauthorized access.
  4. Regularly update Memcached and other software on your server to ensure that you are using the latest security patches.

By following these steps, you can optimize and harden Memcached with NGINX and Ubuntu 22.04 to improve the performance and security of your web applications.

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