tigersmile/memcached repository overview

⁠🐳 memcached-docker

A deep-optimized Memcached (1.6.38) Docker suite focused on stripping the server down to its absolute essentials—producing some of the smallest and most secure Memcached images available. Each variant is engineered to remove unnecessary features, binaries, and files, creating ultra-compact, scratch-based containers ready for production.

Built for:

• ✅ Maximum minimalism: Images as small as ~124 KB (amd64).
• ✅ No clutter: Zero shell, zero OS—just Memcached.
• ✅ Container-native configuration: Full environment variable support (no CLI args required).
• ✅ Variants: micro, slim, tls, full—scale up or down to match your needs.

Multi-arch support:

⁠📌 Purpose

Purpose: This project’s core mission is to shrink Memcached as much as possible while keeping it fast, secure, and flexible—ideal for cloud, edge, and microservice environments.

• ✅ Zero-config: Fully operational out of the box with environment variable support.
• ✅ Optimized builds: From minimal (micro) to fully-featured (full).
• ✅ Platform-agnostic: Multi-architecture support (x86, ARM, etc.).

⁠🚀 Why Tiny & Scratch-Based?

⁠🔹 Ultra-Small Image Size

✅ ~124 KB for amd64? That’s next-level lightweight.

Benefits:

• 🚀 Faster pulls & deploys: Minimal size means near-instant startup—critical for CI/CD and edge.
• 🔒 Smaller attack surface: Fewer bits = fewer vulnerabilities.
• 🌍 Low bandwidth/storage: Ideal for constrained environments (IoT, microVMs, etc.).

⁠🔹 Scratch Base Advantages

• 🧼 Nothing extra: scratch = no shell, no libc, no package manager—only Memcached itself.
• 🔐 Locked down: No way to exec or misuse the image—great for high-security setups.
• 🛠 Predictable: No hidden base layers; what you ship is exactly what runs.
• ✅ Audit-friendly: Minimal image = simpler compliance and auditing.

⁠🚀 Image Variants

🛑 Note: All variants exclusively support TCP traffic—no UNIX socket or UDP support.

⁠🛠 Features

• ✅ Environment-driven configuration (no CLI args needed)
• ✅ TLS support (tls/full)
• ✅ SASL support (full)
• ✅ Extstore support (full)
• ✅ Alpine-based minimal size
• ✅ Scratch containers (no shell, no extras)

⁠📥 Usage Example

docker run -d \
  --name my-memcached \
  -e MEMCACHED_MEMORY_LIMIT=512 \
  -e MEMCACHED_CONNECTIONS=1024 \
  tigersmile/memcached:micro

CLI arguments are optional:

docker run -d \
  --name my-memcached \
  tigersmile/memcached:micro -m 512 -c 1024

⁠🔐 TLS Setup

1️⃣ Generate certs:

mkdir certs
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -sha256 -days 365 \
  -nodes -keyout certs/server.key -out certs/server.crt \
  -subj "/CN=localhost"

2️⃣ Launch TLS container:

docker run -d \
  --name memcached-tls \
  -e MEMCACHED_TLS=1 \
  -e MEMCACHED_TLS_CERT=/certs/server.crt \
  -e MEMCACHED_TLS_KEY=/certs/server.key \
  -v $(pwd)/certs:/certs:ro \
  tigersmile/memcached:tls

⁠🗄️ Extstore Setup

docker run -d \
  --name memcached-full \
  -e MEMCACHED_EXTSTORE_PATH=/extstore:1G \
  -v /path/to/extstore:/extstore \
  tigersmile/memcached:full

Customizable with:

• MEMCACHED_EXTSTORE_PAGE_SIZE
• MEMCACHED_EXTSTORE_WBUF_SIZE

⁠📊 Environment Variables Overview

This table lists all supported environment variables, with checkmarks showing which variants implement each. Memcached maps them automatically if the feature is available.

⁠⚠️ Notes

• TCP-only: All builds exclusively support TCP (no UNIX/UDP).
• Scratch containers: No shell or package manager.
• Flexible config: Env vars auto-map to CLI options; CLI args still work.
• Ulimits: High concurrency may require raising limits:

ulimits:
  nofile:
    soft: 65535
    hard: 65535

⁠🔗 Links

• 🐙 GitHub: https://github.com/johnnyjoy/memcached-docker⁠
• 🐋 Docker Hub: tigersmile/memcached⁠

⁠✅ Status

• ✅ Multi-arch builds: x86, ARM (32 & 64-bit), PPC, s390x.
• ✅ Fully environment-configurable.
• ✅ TLS & extstore tested.
• 🚧 SASL: implemented but pending full test suite.

Enjoy lightning-fast, container-optimized Memcached 🚀