Making Redis ACL Users Persistent (Fix Users Disappearing After Reboot)

If you’ve ever configured users and roles in Redis using ACL and noticed that everything works fine… until you restart the server, you’re not alone.

After a reboot, Redis may silently drop your users, especially if they were not properly persisted.

This guide walks you through the correct, production-safe way to make Redis ACL users permanent.

The Problem

You create users using:

ACL SETUSER ...

Everything works perfectly.

But after restarting Redis:

sudo systemctl restart redis-server

Your users are gone.

Why this happens?

By default, Redis:

• Stores ACL users in memory
• Does NOT persist them automatically
• Requires explicit configuration to save them permanently

The Solution: Use an ACL File

To make users persistent, Redis must be configured to use an external ACL file.

Step-by-Step Fix

1. Add ACL File Directive in Redis Config

Open your Redis configuration:

sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf

Scroll to the bottom and add:

aclfile /etc/redis/users.acl

Important (Very Common Mistake)

If you previously added users directly inside redis.conf, remove those lines.

Redis will ignore them once aclfile is used.

2. Create the ACL File

Redis will fail to start if the file doesn’t exist.

sudo touch /etc/redis/users.acl
sudo chown redis:redis /etc/redis/users.acl

3. Restart Redis

sudo systemctl restart redis-server

Now Redis is ready to persist users.

4. Add Users via Redis CLI

Connect to Redis:

redis-cli

Or if you’re using a different port:

redis-cli -p <port>

5. Create Users (Generalized Template)

Inside the CLI:

ACL SETUSER default off

#This will Create one super User with All the permission
ACL SETUSER <username> on >password ~* &* +@all

#This will Create one read User with Read Permission 
ACL SETUSER <readonly_user> on >password ~* &* -@all +@read +subscribe +psubscribe

Then save:

ACL SAVE

If You Get This Error

ERR This Redis instance is not configured to use an ACL file

👉 Don’t panic.

This means Redis didn’t properly load the ACL file.

Fix:

Run:

CONFIG REWRITE

This forces Redis to persist the configuration correctly.

Final Verification

Restart Redis again:

sudo systemctl restart redis-server

Try logging in with your users (e.g., via Redis CLI or Redis Insight)

If everything is correct, your users will still exist after reboot.

Key Takeaways

• Redis does not persist ACL users by default

Always use:

aclfile /path/to/users.acl

Never mix:

• Users in redis.conf
• AND aclfile

Use:

• ACL SAVE → to write users
• CONFIG REWRITE → if things break

Conclusion

If your Redis users disappear after reboot, the root cause is almost always missing ACL persistence configuration.

By introducing an ACL file and properly saving users, you ensure:

• 🔐 Secure authentication
• 🔁 Persistence across restarts
• ⚙️ Production-ready Redis setup

If you want, you can extend this by adding monitoring, role-based separation, or integrating Redis authentication into your application stack.