MDL-72328 cachestore_redis: Add TTL support for Redis cache

A list of times for each cache key in a TTL cache is kept in a Redis
sorted list, which can be queried efficiently to delete expired
cache items later in a scheduled task.

This change makes set and delete 2x slower (only for caches which use
TTL) but there is no impact on get performance.

cache/stores/redis/classes/task/ttl.php

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+namespace cachestore_redis\task;
+
+/**
+ * Task deletes old data from Redis caches with TTL set.
+ *
+ * @package cachestore_redis
+ * @copyright 2021 The Open University
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+class ttl extends \core\task\scheduled_task {
+    /** @var int Only display memory savings of at least 100 KB */
+    const MIN_MEMORY_SIZE = 100 * 1024;
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the name of this task.
+     *
+     * @return string Task name
+     */
+    public function get_name(): string {
+        return get_string('task_ttl', 'cachestore_redis');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Executes the scheduled task.
+     */
+    public function execute(): void {
+        // Find all Redis cache stores.
+        $factory = \cache_factory::instance();
+        $config = $factory->create_config_instance();
+        $stores = $config->get_all_stores();
+        $doneanything = false;
+        foreach ($stores as $storename => $storeconfig) {
+            if ($storeconfig['plugin'] !== 'redis') {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            // For each definition in the cache store, do TTL expiry if needed.
+            $definitions = $config->get_definitions_by_store($storename);
+            foreach ($definitions as $definition) {
+                if (empty($definition['ttl'])) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (!empty($definition['requireidentifiers'])) {
+                    // We can't make cache below if it requires identifiers.
+                    continue;
+                }
+                $doneanything = true;
+                $definitionname = $definition['component'] . '/' . $definition['area'];
+                mtrace($definitionname, ': ');
+                \cache::make($definition['component'], $definition['area']);
+                $definition = $factory->create_definition($definition['component'], $definition['area']);
+                $stores = $factory->get_store_instances_in_use($definition);
+                foreach ($stores as $store) {
+                    // These were all definitions using a Redis store but one definition may
+                    // potentially have multiple stores, we need to process the Redis ones only.
+                    if (!($store instanceof \cachestore_redis)) {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    $info = $store->expire_ttl();
+                    $infotext = 'Deleted ' . $info['keys'] . ' key(s) in ' .
+                            sprintf('%0.2f', $info['time'])  . 's';
+                    // Only report memory information if available, positive, and reasonably large.
+                    // Otherwise the real information is hard to see amongst random variation etc.
+                    if (!empty($info['memory']) && $info['memory'] > self::MIN_MEMORY_SIZE) {
+                        $infotext .= ' - reported saving ' . display_size($info['memory']);
+                    }
+                    mtrace($infotext);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        if (!$doneanything) {
+            mtrace('No TTL caches assigned to a Redis store; nothing to do.');
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Checks if this task is allowed to run - this makes it show the 'Run now' link (or not).
+     *
+     * @return bool True if task can run
+     */
+    public function can_run(): bool {
+        // The default implementation of this function checks the plugin is enabled, which doesn't
+        // seem to work (probably because cachestore plugins can't be enabled).
+        // We could check if there is a Redis store configured, but it would have to do the exact
+        // same logic as already in the first part of 'execute', so it's probably OK to just return
+        // true.
+        return true;
+    }
+}

cache/stores/redis/db/tasks.php

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Scheduled tasks.
+ *
+ * @copyright 2021 The Open University
+ * @package cachestore_redis
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
+
+$tasks = [
+    [
+        'classname' => '\cachestore_redis\task\ttl',
+        'blocking' => 0,
+        'minute' => 'R',
+        'hour' => '*',
+        'day' => '*',
+        'month' => '*',
+        'dayofweek' => '*',
+        'disabled' => 0
+    ]
+];

cache/stores/redis/lang/en/cachestore_redis.php

@@ -41,12 +41,15 @@ $string['server'] = 'Server';
 $string['server_help'] = 'This sets the hostname or IP address of the Redis server to use.';
 $string['password'] = 'Password';
 $string['password_help'] = 'This sets the password of the Redis server.';
+$string['task_ttl'] = 'Free up memory used by expired entries in Redis caches';
 $string['test_server'] = 'Test server';
 $string['test_server_desc'] = 'Redis server to use for testing.';
 $string['test_password'] = 'Test server password';
 $string['test_password_desc'] = 'Redis test server password.';
 $string['test_serializer'] = 'Serializer';
 $string['test_serializer_desc'] = 'Serializer to use for testing.';
+$string['test_ttl'] = 'Testing TTL';
+$string['test_ttl_desc'] = 'Run the performance test using a cache that requires TTL (slower sets).';
 $string['useserializer'] = 'Use serializer';
 $string['useserializer_help'] = 'Specifies the serializer to use for serializing.
 The valid serializers are Redis::SERIALIZER_PHP or Redis::SERIALIZER_IGBINARY.

cache/stores/redis/lib.php

@@ -53,6 +53,16 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      */
     const COMPRESSOR_PHP_ZSTD = 2;
 
+    /**
+     * @var string Suffix used on key name (for hash) to store the TTL sorted list
+     */
+    const TTL_SUFFIX = '_ttl';
+
+    /**
+     * @var int Number of items to delete from cache in one batch when expiring old TTL data.
+     */
+    const TTL_EXPIRE_BATCH = 10000;
+
     /**
      * Name of this store.
      *
@@ -128,6 +138,10 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      * @return int
      */
     public static function get_supported_features(array $configuration = array()) {
+        // Although this plugin now supports TTL I did not add SUPPORTS_NATIVE_TTL here, because
+        // doing so would cause Moodle to stop adding a 'TTL wrapper' to data items which enforces
+        // the precise specified TTL. Unless the scheduled task is set to run rather frequently,
+        // this could cause change in behaviour. Maybe later this should be reconsidered...
         return self::SUPPORTS_DATA_GUARANTEE + self::DEREFERENCES_OBJECTS + self::IS_SEARCHABLE;
     }
 
@@ -311,7 +325,17 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
             $value = $this->compress($value);
         }
 
-        return ($this->redis->hSet($this->hash, $key, $value) !== false);
+        if ($this->redis->hSet($this->hash, $key, $value) === false) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        if ($this->definition->get_ttl()) {
+            // When TTL is enabled, we also store the key name in a list sorted by the current time.
+            $this->redis->zAdd($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX, [], self::get_time(), $key);
+            // The return value to the zAdd function never indicates whether the operation succeeded
+            // (it returns zero when there was no error if the item is already in the list) so we
+            // ignore it.
+        }
+        return true;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -323,6 +347,13 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      */
     public function set_many(array $keyvaluearray) {
         $pairs = [];
+        $usettl = false;
+        if ($this->definition->get_ttl()) {
+            $usettl = true;
+            $ttlparams = [];
+            $now = self::get_time();
+        }
+
         foreach ($keyvaluearray as $pair) {
             $key = $pair['key'];
             if ($this->compressor != self::COMPRESSOR_NONE) {
@@ -330,6 +361,19 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
             } else {
                 $pairs[$key] = $pair['value'];
             }
+            if ($usettl) {
+                // When TTL is enabled, we also store the key names in a list sorted by the current
+                // time.
+                $ttlparams[] = $now;
+                $ttlparams[] = $key;
+            }
+        }
+        if ($usettl) {
+            // Store all the key values with current time.
+            $this->redis->zAdd($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX, [], ...$ttlparams);
+            // The return value to the zAdd function never indicates whether the operation succeeded
+            // (it returns zero when there was no error if the item is already in the list) so we
+            // ignore it.
         }
         if ($this->redis->hMSet($this->hash, $pairs)) {
             return count($pairs);
@@ -344,7 +388,15 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      * @return bool True if the delete operation succeeds, false otherwise.
      */
     public function delete($key) {
-        return ($this->redis->hDel($this->hash, $key) > 0);
+        $ok = true;
+        if (!$this->redis->hDel($this->hash, $key)) {
+            $ok = false;
+        }
+        if ($this->definition->get_ttl()) {
+            // When TTL is enabled, also remove the key from the TTL list.
+            $this->redis->zRem($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX, $key);
+        }
+        return $ok;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -354,9 +406,12 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      * @return int The number of keys successfully deleted.
      */
     public function delete_many(array $keys) {
-        // Redis needs the hash as the first argument, so we have to put it at the start of the array.
-        array_unshift($keys, $this->hash);
-        return call_user_func_array(array($this->redis, 'hDel'), $keys);
+        $count = $this->redis->hDel($this->hash, ...$keys);
+        if ($this->definition->get_ttl()) {
+            // When TTL is enabled, also remove the keys from the TTL list.
+            $this->redis->zRem($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX, ...$keys);
+        }
+        return $count;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -365,6 +420,13 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
      * @return bool
      */
     public function purge() {
+        if ($this->definition->get_ttl()) {
+            // Purge the TTL list as well.
+            $this->redis->del($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX);
+            // According to documentation, there is no error return for the 'del' command (it
+            // only returns the number of keys deleted, which could be 0 or 1 in this case) so we
+            // do not need to check the return value.
+        }
         return ($this->redis->del($this->hash) !== false);
     }
 
@@ -493,6 +555,88 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
         return false;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Runs TTL expiry process for this cache.
+     *
+     * This is not part of the standard cache API and is intended for use by the scheduled task
+     * \cachestore_redis\ttl.
+     *
+     * @return array Various keys with information about how the expiry went
+     */
+    public function expire_ttl(): array {
+        $ttl = $this->definition->get_ttl();
+        if (!$ttl) {
+            throw new \coding_exception('Cache definition ' . $this->definition->get_id() . ' does not use TTL');
+        }
+        $limit = self::get_time() - $ttl;
+        $count = 0;
+        $batches = 0;
+        $timebefore = microtime(true);
+        $memorybefore = $this->get_used_memory();
+        do {
+            $keys = $this->redis->zRangeByScore($this->hash . self::TTL_SUFFIX, 0, $limit,
+                    ['limit' => [0, self::TTL_EXPIRE_BATCH]]);
+            $this->delete_many($keys);
+            $count += count($keys);
+            $batches++;
+        } while (count($keys) === self::TTL_EXPIRE_BATCH);
+        $memoryafter = $this->get_used_memory();
+        $timeafter = microtime(true);
+
+        $result = ['keys' => $count, 'batches' => $batches, 'time' => $timeafter - $timebefore];
+        if ($memorybefore !== null) {
+            $result['memory'] = $memorybefore - $memoryafter;
+        }
+        return $result;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the current time for TTL functionality. This wrapper makes it easier to unit-test
+     * the TTL behaviour.
+     *
+     * @return int Current time
+     */
+    protected static function get_time(): int {
+        global $CFG;
+        if (PHPUNIT_TEST && !empty($CFG->phpunit_cachestore_redis_time)) {
+            return $CFG->phpunit_cachestore_redis_time;
+        }
+        return time();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the current time (within unit test) for TTL functionality.
+     *
+     * This setting is stored in $CFG so will be automatically reset if you use resetAfterTest.
+     *
+     * @param int $time Current time (set 0 to start using real time).
+     */
+    public static function set_phpunit_time(int $time = 0): void {
+        global $CFG;
+        if (!PHPUNIT_TEST) {
+            throw new \coding_exception('Function only available during unit test');
+        }
+        if ($time) {
+            $CFG->phpunit_cachestore_redis_time = $time;
+        } else {
+            unset($CFG->phpunit_cachestore_redis_time);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets Redis reported memory usage.
+     *
+     * @return int|null Memory used by Redis or null if we don't know
+     */
+    protected function get_used_memory(): ?int {
+        $details = $this->redis->info('MEMORY');
+        if (empty($details['used_memory'])) {
+            return null;
+        } else {
+            return (int)$details['used_memory'];
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates a configuration array from given 'add instance' form data.
      *
@@ -553,6 +697,13 @@ class cachestore_redis extends cache_store implements cache_is_key_aware, cache_
         if (!empty($config->test_password)) {
             $configuration['password'] = $config->test_password;
         }
+        // Make it possible to test TTL performance by hacking a copy of the cache definition.
+        if (!empty($config->test_ttl)) {
+            $definition = clone $definition;
+            $property = (new ReflectionClass($definition))->getProperty('ttl');
+            $property->setAccessible(true);
+            $property->setValue($definition, 999);
+        }
         $cache = new cachestore_redis('Redis test', $configuration);
         $cache->initialise($definition);
 

cache/stores/redis/settings.php

@@ -60,3 +60,9 @@ if (class_exists('Redis')) { // Only if Redis is available.
         )
     );
 }
+
+$settings->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox(
+        'cachestore_redis/test_ttl',
+        get_string('test_ttl', 'cachestore_redis'),
+        get_string('test_ttl_desc', 'cachestore_redis'),
+        false));

cache/stores/redis/tests/ttl_test.php

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+namespace cachestore_redis;
+
+/**
+ * TTL support test for Redis cache.
+ *
+ * If you wish to use these unit tests all you need to do is add the following definition to
+ * your config.php file.
+ *
+ * define('TEST_CACHESTORE_REDIS_TESTSERVERS', '127.0.0.1');
+ *
+ * @package cachestore_redis
+ * @copyright 2021 The Open University
+ * @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ * @covers \cachestore_redis
+ */
+class ttl_test extends \advanced_testcase {
+    /** @var \cachestore_redis|null Cache store  */
+    protected $store = null;
+
+    public function setUp(): void {
+        // Make sure cachestore_redis is available.
+        require_once(__DIR__ . '/../lib.php');
+        if (!\cachestore_redis::are_requirements_met() || !defined('TEST_CACHESTORE_REDIS_TESTSERVERS')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('Could not test cachestore_redis. Requirements are not met.');
+        }
+
+        // Set up a Redis store with a fake definition that has TTL set to 10 seconds.
+        $definition = \cache_definition::load('core/wibble', [
+                'mode' => 1,
+                'simplekeys' => true,
+                'simpledata' => true,
+                'ttl' => 10,
+                'component' => 'core',
+                'area' => 'wibble',
+                'selectedsharingoption' => 2,
+                'userinputsharingkey' => '',
+                'sharingoptions' => 15,
+        ]);
+        $this->store = new \cachestore_redis('Test', \cachestore_redis::unit_test_configuration());
+        $this->store->initialise($definition);
+
+        parent::setUp();
+    }
+
+    protected function tearDown(): void {
+        parent::tearDown();
+
+        if ($this->store instanceof \cachestore_redis) {
+            $this->store->purge();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests expiring data.
+     */
+    public function test_expire_ttl(): void {
+        $this->resetAfterTest();
+
+        // Set some data at time 100.
+        \cachestore_redis::set_phpunit_time(100);
+        $this->store->set('a', 1);
+        $this->store->set('b', 2);
+        $this->store->set_many([['key' => 'c', 'value' => 3], ['key' => 'd', 'value' => 4],
+                ['key' => 'e', 'value' => 5], ['key' => 'f', 'value' => 6],
+                ['key' => 'g', 'value' => 7], ['key' => 'h', 'value' => 8]]);
+
+        // Set some other data at time 110, including some of the existing values. Whether the
+        // value changes or not, its TTL should update.
+        \cachestore_redis::set_phpunit_time(110);
+        $this->store->set('b', 2);
+        $this->store->set_many([['key' => 'c', 'value' => 99], ['key' => 'd', 'value' => 4]]);
+
+        // Check all the data is still set.
+        $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h'],
+                $this->store->find_all());
+
+        // Delete some data (to check deletion doesn't confuse expiry).
+        $this->store->delete('f');
+        $this->store->delete_many(['g', 'h']);
+
+        // Set time to 115 and expire data.
+        \cachestore_redis::set_phpunit_time(115);
+        $info = $this->store->expire_ttl();
+
+        // We are expecting keys a and e to be deleted.
+        $this->assertEquals(2, $info['keys']);
+        $this->assertEquals(1, $info['batches']);
+
+        // Check the keys are as expected.
+        $this->assertEqualsCanonicalizing(['b', 'c', 'd'], $this->store->find_all());
+
+        // Might as well check the values of the surviving keys.
+        $this->assertEquals(2, $this->store->get('b'));
+        $this->assertEquals(99, $this->store->get('c'));
+        $this->assertEquals(4, $this->store->get('d'));
+    }
+}

cache/stores/redis/version.php

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
 
-$plugin->version    = 2021052500;
+$plugin->version    = 2021081200;
 $plugin->requires   = 2021052500; // Requires this Moodle version.
 $plugin->maturity   = MATURITY_STABLE;
 $plugin->component  = 'cachestore_redis';