Nginx Cache Multipurge (lua)

Description

Handle cache purges in a versatile and easy way. This lua module will allow you to request the removal from cache of one or multiple urls using a wild card * at the end.

Requirements

• Nginx Lua Module
• MD5 Lua Library

If you are on Debian/Ubuntu

apt install libnginx-mod-http-lua lua-md5

Installation

• Install the above requirements
• Copy the cache_multipurge.lua file to a path readable by the user that runs nginx. (i.e. /etc/nginx/lua)

Configuration

Available Configuration Variables

• $cmp_run_if: (mandatory) In case it is not empty and not equal to 0 the cache purge will be run. The default is an empty string so you have to add this parameter for the cache purge to work.
• $cmp_cache_key: (mandatory) Value of the key used in your cache. This should be the same than the value provided to proxy_cache_key, fastcgi_cache_key, etc.
• $cmp_cache_path: (mandatory) Path to where your cache files are stored in your filesystem. This value should match the one provided to proxy_cache_path, fastcgi_cache_path, etc.
• $cmp_cache_strip: Path to strip from the beginin of a URL before the URL is cleared from cache. This is useful if you call the nginx_cache_multipurge from a location different than /. For example, if you are using /cache/purge as your location to purge the cache, your $cmp_cache_strip should be /cache/purge, this way, when requesting /cache/purge/my/file.png the URL to purge will be /my/file.png.

Example 1: Mimic the commercial cache_purge

Add this map somewhere (i.e. /etc/nginx/conf.d/method_map.conf)

map $request_method $cmp_run_if {
    default 0;
    PURGE 1;
}

Then, in a location

location / {
  proxy_pass http://backend;
  proxy_cache my-awesome-cache;
  proxy_cache_key $scheme$host$uri$is_args$args;
  
  # NOTE: We already defined $cmp_run_if in the map
  set $cmp_cache_key $scheme$host$uri$is_args$args;
  set $cmp_cache_path "/var/www/cache";
  content_by_lua_file /etc/nginx/lua/cache_multipurge.lua;
}

And done. After this:

• Request PURGE /path/to/images/myimage.png to purge that image.
• Request PURGE /path/to/images/my* to purge all images that start with my in that path.
• Request PURGE /* to purge all the cache.

Example 2: Use a custom location with a authentication token from a cookie

Add a map like this, for example in /etc/nginx/conf.d/cache_purge.conf

map $cookie_purge_token $purge_cache {
  default 0;
  b04f01fc92094bcc43d1cb78adc7836e 1;
}

Then add a location like this

location /cache/purge {
  set $cmp_run_if $purge_cache;
  set $cmp_cache_key $scheme$host$uri$is_args$args;
  set $cmp_cache_path "/var/www/cache/";
  set $cmp_cache_strip "/cache/purge/";
  content_by_lua_file /etc/nginx/lua/cache_multipurge.lua;
}

And done. After this:

• Request GET /cache/purge/path/to/images/myimage.png to purge that image.
• Request GET /cache/purge/images/my* to purge all images that start with my in that path.
• Request GET /cache/purge/* to purge all the cache.

Optional keyfinder helper setup

If your cache consists of a large number of files, scanning it with grep can become quite slow. To gain better performance, you can use the included keyfinder helper. You’ll have to build it yourself, however.

Requirements

You will need gcc, libc headers and make. On Debian/Ubuntu type (libc is included with gcc):

apt install gcc make

Installation

Build the binary with

make

and then install as root with

make install

By default the nginx_cache_keyfinder binary is installed in /usr/local/bin. If you want a different location, you can copy it manually instead.

Configuration

Enable the keyfinder in your purge location config:

set $cmp_cache_keyfinder 1;

If you choose to put the binary in a different location, you can adjust its path with

set $cmp_cache_keyfinder_path <path to binary>;