Building Redis
--------------
+Redis can be compiled and used on Linux, OSX, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD.
+We support big endian and little endian architectures.
+
+It may compile on Solaris derived systems (for instance SmartOS) but our
+support for this platform is "best effort" and Redis is not guaranteed to
+work as well as in Linux, OSX, and *BSD there.
+
It is as simple as:
% make
-Redis is just a single binary, but if you want to install it you can use
-the "make install" target that will copy the binary in /usr/local/bin
-for default. You can also use "make PREFIX=/some/other/directory install"
-if you wish to use a different destination.
-
You can run a 32 bit Redis binary using:
% make 32bit
Allocator
---------
-By default Redis compiles and links against jemalloc under Linux, since
-glibc malloc() has memory fragmentation problems.
+Selecting a non-default memory allocator when building Redis is done by setting
+the `MALLOC` environment variable. Redis is compiled and linked against libc
+malloc by default, with the exception of jemalloc being the default on Linux
+systems. This default was picked because jemalloc has proven to have fewer
+fragmentation problems than libc malloc.
-To force a libc malloc() build use:
+To force compiling against libc malloc, use:
- make FORCE_LIBC_MALLOC=yes
+ % make MALLOC=libc
-In all the other non Linux systems the libc malloc() is used by default.
+To compile against jemalloc on Mac OS X systems, use:
-On Mac OS X you can force a jemalloc based build using the following:
-
- make USE_JEMALLOC=yes
+ % make MALLOC=jemalloc
Verbose build
-------------
Redis will build with a user friendly colorized output by default.
If you want to see a more verbose output use the following:
- make V=1
+ % make V=1
Running Redis
-------------
% cd src
% ./redis-server /path/to/redis.conf
+It is possible to alter the Redis configuration passing parameters directly
+as options using the command line. Examples:
+
+ % ./redis-server --port 9999 --slaveof 127.0.0.1 6379
+ % ./redis-server /etc/redis/6379.conf --loglevel debug
+
+All the options in redis.conf are also supported as options using the command
+line, with exactly the same name.
+
Playing with Redis
------------------
http://redis.io/commands
+Installing Redis
+-----------------
+
+In order to install Redis binaries into /usr/local/bin just use:
+
+ % make install
+
+You can use "make PREFIX=/some/other/directory install" if you wish to use a
+different destination.
+
+Make install will just install binaries in your system, but will not configure
+init scripts and configuration files in the appropriate place. This is not
+needed if you want just to play a bit with Redis, but if you are installing
+it the proper way for a production system, we have a script doing this
+for Ubuntu and Debian systems:
+
+ % cd utils
+ % ./install_server
+
+The script will ask you a few questions and will setup everything you need
+to run Redis properly as a background daemon that will start again on
+system reboots.
+
+You'll be able to stop and start Redis using the script named
+/etc/init.d/redis_<portnumber>, for instance /etc/init.d/redis_6379.
+
+Code contributions
+---
+
+Note: by contributing code to the Redis project in any form, including sending
+a pull request via Github, a code fragment or patch via private email or
+public discussion groups, you agree to release your code under the terms
+of the BSD license that you can find in the COPYING file included in the Redis
+source distribution.
+
+Please see the CONTRIBUTING file in this source distribution for more
+information.
+
Enjoy!