SET
SET key value [NX | XX] [GET] [EX seconds | PX milliseconds | EXAT unix-time-seconds | PXAT unix-time-milliseconds | KEEPTTL]
- Available since:
- 1.0.0
- Time complexity:
- O(1)
- ACL categories:
-
@write,@string,@slow,
Set key to hold the string value.
If key already holds a value, it is overwritten, regardless of its type.
Any previous time to live associated with the key is discarded on successful SET operation.
Options
The SET command supports a set of options that modify its behavior:
EXseconds -- Set the specified expire time, in seconds.PXmilliseconds -- Set the specified expire time, in milliseconds.EXATtimestamp-seconds -- Set the specified Unix time at which the key will expire, in seconds.PXATtimestamp-milliseconds -- Set the specified Unix time at which the key will expire, in milliseconds.NX-- Only set the key if it does not already exist.XX-- Only set the key if it already exists.KEEPTTL-- Retain the time to live associated with the key.GET-- Return the old string stored at key, or nil if key did not exist. An error is returned andSETaborted if the value stored at key is not a string.
Note: Since the SET command options can replace SETNX, SETEX, PSETEX, GETSET, it is possible that in future versions of Redis these commands will be deprecated and finally removed.
Examples
Code examples
Patterns
Note: The following pattern is discouraged in favor of the Redlock algorithm which is only a bit more complex to implement, but offers better guarantees and is fault tolerant.
The command SET resource-name anystring NX EX max-lock-time is a simple way to implement a locking system with Redis.
A client can acquire the lock if the above command returns OK (or retry after some time if the command returns Nil), and remove the lock just using DEL.
The lock will be auto-released after the expire time is reached.
It is possible to make this system more robust modifying the unlock schema as follows:
- Instead of setting a fixed string, set a non-guessable large random string, called token.
- Instead of releasing the lock with
DEL, send a script that only removes the key if the value matches.
This avoids that a client will try to release the lock after the expire time deleting the key created by another client that acquired the lock later.
An example of unlock script would be similar to the following:
if redis.call("get",KEYS[1]) == ARGV[1]
then
return redis.call("del",KEYS[1])
else
return 0
end
The script should be called with EVAL ...script... 1 resource-name token-value
RESP2 Reply
Any of the following:
- Nil reply:
GETnot given: Operation was aborted (conflict with one of theXX/NXoptions). - Simple string reply:
OK.GETnot given: The key was set. - Nil reply:
GETgiven: The key didn't exist before theSET. - Bulk string reply:
GETgiven: The previous value of the key.
RESP3 Reply
Any of the following:
- Null reply:
GETnot given: Operation was aborted (conflict with one of theXX/NXoptions). - Simple string reply:
OK.GETnot given: The key was set. - Null reply:
GETgiven: The key didn't exist before theSET. - Bulk string reply:
GETgiven: The previous value of the key.
History
- Starting with Redis version 2.6.12: Added the
EX,PX,NXandXXoptions. - Starting with Redis version 6.0.0: Added the
KEEPTTLoption. - Starting with Redis version 6.2.0: Added the
GET,EXATandPXAToption. - Starting with Redis version 7.0.0: Allowed the
NXandGEToptions to be used together.