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Quickstart: Use an Azure Redis caches in .NET Framework

  • Article
  • Applies to: ✅ Azure Managed Redis, ✅ Azure Cache for Redis

In this quickstart, you incorporate Azure Cache for Redis into a .NET Framework app to have access to a secure, dedicated cache that is accessible from any application within Azure. You specifically use the StackExchange.Redis client with C# code in a .NET console app.

Skip to the code on GitHub

Clone the repo from Azure-Samples/azure-cache-redis-samples on GitHub.

Prerequisites

Create an Azure Managed Redis (preview) instance

  1. To create an Azure Managed Redis (preview) instance, sign in to the Azure portal and select Create a resource.

  2. On the New page, in the search box type Azure Cache for Redis.

  3. On the New Redis Cache page, configure the settings for your new cache.

    Setting Choose a value Description
    Subscription Drop down and select your subscription. The subscription under which to create this new Azure Managed Redis instance.
    Resource group Drop down and select a resource group, or select Create new and enter a new resource group name. Name for the resource group in which to create your cache and other resources. By putting all your app resources in one resource group, you can easily manage or delete them together.
    DNS name Enter a name that is unique in the region. The cache name must be a string between 1 and 63 characters when combined with the cache's region name that contain only numbers, letters, or hyphens. (If the cache name is fewer than 45 characters long it should work in all currently available regions.) The name must start and end with a number or letter, and can't contain consecutive hyphens. Your cache instance's host name is \<DNS name\>.\<Azure region\>.redis.azure.net.
    Location Drop down and select a location. Azure Managed Redis is available in selected Azure regions.
    Cache type Drop down and select the performance tier and cache size. The tier determines the performance of the Redis instance, while the cache size determines the memory available to store data. For guidance on choosing the right performance tier, see Choosing the right tier

    Screenshot showing the Azure Managed Redis Basics tab.

  4. Select Next: Networking and select either a public or private endpoint.

  5. Select Next: Advanced.

    Configure any Redis modules you want to add to the instance.

    By default, for a new managed cache:

    • Microsoft Entra ID is enabled.
    • Access Keys Authentication is disabled for security reasons.

    Important

    For optimal security, we recommend that you use Microsoft Entra ID with managed identities to authorize requests against your cache if possible. Authorization by using Microsoft Entra ID and managed identities provides superior security and ease of use over shared access key authorization. For more information about using managed identities with your cache, see Use Microsoft Entra ID for cache authentication.

    Set Clustering policy to Enterprise for a nonclustered cache, or to OSS for a clustered cache. For more information on choosing Clustering policy, see Cluster policy.

    Screenshot that shows the Azure Managed Redis Advanced tab.

    If you're using Active geo-replication, it must be configured during creation. For more information, see Configure active geo-replication for Azure Managed Redis instances.

    Important

    You can't change the clustering policy of an Azure Managed Redis (preview) instance after you create it. If you're using RediSearch, the Enterprise cluster policy is required, and NoEviction is the only eviction policy supported.

    Important

    If you're using this cache instance in a geo-replication group, eviction policies cannot be changed after the instance is created. Be sure to know the eviction policies of your primary nodes before you create the cache. For more information on active geo-replication, see Active geo-replication prerequisites.

    Important

    You can't change modules after you create a cache instance. Modules must be enabled at the time you create an Azure Cache for Redis instance. There is no option to enable the configuration of a module after you create a cache.

  6. Select Next: Tags and skip.

  7. Select Next: Review + create.

  8. Review the settings and select Create.

    It takes several minutes for the Redis instance to create. You can monitor progress on the Azure Managed Redis Overview page. When Status shows as Running, the cache is ready to use.

Create an Azure Cache for Redis instance

  1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Azure Cache for Redis.

  2. On the Azure Cache for Redis page, select Create > Azure Cache for Redis.

    Sceenshot showing the Azure Cache for Redis option for Create.

  3. On the Basics tab of the New Redis Cache page, configure the following settings:

    • Subscription: Select the subscription to use.
    • Resource group: Select a resource group, or select Create new and enter a new resource group name. Putting all your app resources in the same resource group lets you easily manage or delete them together.
    • Name: Enter a cache name that's unique in the region. The name must:
      • Be a string of 1 to 63 characters.
      • Contain only numbers, letters, and hyphens.
      • Start and end with a number or letter.
      • Not contain consecutive hyphens.
    • Region: Select an Azure region near other services that use your cache.
    • Cache SKU: Select a SKU to determine the available sizes, performance, and features for your cache.
    • Cache size: Select a cache size. For more information, see Azure Cache for Redis overview.

    Screenshot that shows the Basics tab of the New Redis Cache page.

  4. Select the Networking tab, or select Next: Networking.

  5. On the Networking tab, select a connectivity method to use for the cache. Private Endpoint is recommended for security. If you select Private Endpoint, select Add private endpoint and create the private endpoint.

  6. Select the Advanced tab, or select Next: Advanced.

  7. On the Advanced pane, configure the following options:

    • Select Microsoft Entra Authentication or Access Keys Authentication. Microsoft Entra Authentication is enabled by default.
    • Choose whether to Enable the non-TLS port.
    • For a Premium cache, you can configure or disable Availability zones. You can't disable availability zones after the cache is created. For a Standard cache, availability zones are allocated automatically. Availability zones aren't available for Basic SKU.
    • For a Premium cache, configure the settings for Replica count, Clustering and Shard count, System-assigned managed identity, and Data persistence.

    The following image shows the Advanced tab for the Standard SKU.

    Screenshot showing the Advanced pane for a Standard SKU cache.

    Important

    Use Microsoft Entra ID with managed identities to authorize requests against your cache if possible. Authorization using Microsoft Entra ID and managed identity provides better security and is easier to use than shared access key authorization. For more information about using managed identities with your cache, see Use Microsoft Entra ID for cache authentication.

  8. Optionally, select the Tags tab or select Next: Tags, and enter tag names and values to categorize your cache resources.

  9. Select Review + create, and once validation passes, select Create.

The new cache deployment takes several minutes. You can monitor deployment progress on the portal Azure Cache for Redis page. When the cache Status displays Running, the cache is ready to use.

Use Microsoft Entra ID authentication on your cache

Azure Redis caches, except for Enterprise and Enterprise Flash tiers, have Microsoft Entra Authentication enabled by default. Access keys are disabled by default.

Important

Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Entra ID authentication for the most secure authentication experience instead of using passwords or access keys. The authentication described in this section of the article uses access keys, which require a very high degree of trust in the application and carries risks not present when using Microsoft Entra ID. Use the approach in this document only when Microsoft Entra ID authentication is not viable.

  1. In the Azure portal, select the cache where you'd like to use Microsoft Entra token-based authentication.

  2. Select Authentication from the Resource menu.

  3. Select Select member and enter the name of a valid user. The user you enter is automatically assigned Data Owner Access Policy by default when you select Save. You can also enter a managed identity or service principal to connect to your cache instance.

    Screenshot showing authentication selected in the resource menu and the enable Microsoft Entra authentication checked.

For information on using Microsoft Entra ID with Azure CLI, see the reference pages for identity.

Install the Library for using Microsoft Entra ID Authentication

The Azure.StackExchange.Redis library contains the Microsoft Entra ID authentication method for connecting to Azure Redis services using Microsoft Entra ID. It's applicable to all Azure Cache for Redis, Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise, and Azure Managed Redis (Preview).

  1. Open your project in Visual Studio

  2. Right click on the project, choose Manage NuGet Packages...

  3. Search for Microsoft.Azure.StackExchangeRedis

  4. Click Install button to install

  5. Accept all prompted content to finish installation

Connect to the cache using Microsoft Entra ID

  1. Include the libraries in your code

    using Azure.Identity;
using StackExchange.Redis

  2. Using the default Azure credentials to authenticate the client connection. This enables your code to use the signed-in user credential when running locally, and an Azure managed identity when running in Azure without code change.

var configurationOptions = await ConfigurationOptions.Parse($"{_redisHostName}").ConfigureForAzureWithTokenCredentialAsync(new DefaultAzureCredential());
ConnectionMultiplexer _newConnection = await ConnectionMultiplexer.ConnectAsync(configurationOptions);
IDatabase Database = _newConnection.GetDatabase();

To edit the app.config file

  1. Edit the app.config file by adding the following content:

    <appSettings>
    <add key="RedisHostName" value="<cache-hostname-with-portnumber>"/>
</appSettings>

  2. Replace <cache-hostname> with your cache host name as it appears in the Overview from the Resource menu in Azure portal.

    For example, with Azure Managed Redis or the Enterprise tiers: my-redis.eastus.azure.net:10000

  3. Save the file.

For more information, see StackExchange.Redis and the code in a GitHub repo.

To edit the app.config file

  1. Edit the app.config file by adding the following content:

    <appSettings>
    <add key="RedisHostName" value="<cache-hostname-with-portnumber>"/>
</appSettings>

  2. Replace <cache-hostname> with your cache host name as it appears in the Overview from the Resource menu in Azure portal.

    For example, with Azure Cache for Redis: my-redis.eastus.azure.net:6380

  3. Save the file.

For more information, see StackExchange.Redis and the code in a GitHub repo.

Run the sample

Press Ctrl+F5 to build and run the console app to test serialization of .NET objects.

Console app completed

Clean up resources

If you want to continue to use the resources you created in this article, keep the resource group.

Otherwise, if you're finished with the resources, you can delete the Azure resource group that you created to avoid charges.

Important

Deleting a resource group is irreversible. When you delete a resource group, all the resources in it are permanently deleted. Make sure that you do not accidentally delete the wrong resource group or resources. If you created the resources inside an existing resource group that contains resources you want to keep, you can delete each resource individually instead of deleting the resource group.

To delete a resource group

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal, and then select Resource groups.

  2. Select the resource group you want to delete.

    If there are many resource groups, use the Filter for any field... box, type the name of your resource group you created for this article. Select the resource group in the results list.

    Screenshot showing a list of resource groups to delete in the working pane.

  3. Select Delete resource group.

  4. You're asked to confirm the deletion of the resource group. Type the name of your resource group to confirm, and then select Delete.

    Screenshot showing a form that requires the resource name to confirm deletion.

After a few moments, the resource group and all of its resources are deleted.

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