Connecting with Go

This guide explains how to establish a connection between a Go application and a Valkey database using the go-redis package. It walks through the necessary setup, configuration, and execution of a simple Valkey command.

Variables

Certain parameters must be provided to establish a successful connection to a Valkey database. Below is a breakdown of each required variable, its purpose, and where to find it. Here’s what each variable represents:

These values can usually be found in the Elestio service overview details as shown in the image below, make sure to take a copy of these details and add it to the code moving ahead.

Prerequisites

Install Go

Check if Go is installed by running:

go version

If not installed, download it from golang.org and install.

Install the go-redis Package

The go-redis package enables Go applications to interact with Valkey. Install it using:

go get github.com/redis/go-redis/v9

Code

Once all prerequisites are set up, create a new file named valkey.go and add the following code:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"time"

	"github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
)

func main() {
	opt := &redis.Options{
		Addr:     "HOST:PORT",     
		Password: "PASSWORD",      
		DB:       0,           
	}

	valkey := redis.NewClient(opt)
	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	err := valkey.Set(ctx, "testKey", "Hello Valkey", 0).Err()
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Valkey operation failed:", err)
		return
	}

	val, err := valkey.Get(ctx, "testKey").Result()
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Valkey operation failed:", err)
		return
	}

	fmt.Println("Connected to Valkey")
	fmt.Println("Retrieved value:", val)

	if err := valkey.Close(); err != nil {
		fmt.Println("Error closing connection:", err)
	}
}

To execute the script, open the terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory where valkey.go is located. Once in the correct directory, run the script with the command:

go run valkey.go

If the connection is successful, the terminal will display output similar to:

Connected to Valkey  
Retrieved value: Hello Valkey