with varnish ?

[pulsarinformatique]

Hi

I read on https://gist.github.com/fevangelou/84d2ce05896cab5f730a that this plugin allows joomla to use varnish if installed on the server but:

1- does it provide a way to clean the varnish cache when we update some page / content on the site ?
2- should we also activate the joomla page cache plugin ?
3-should we also activate the system (administrator/index.php?option=com_config) cache ?

thanks for your answers

cyril

[fevangelou]

Replying...

1. This is what cache-control headers are for - they instruct Varnish (and the user's browser) how long to cache content. So after a page is updated and given that you use sane cache times like 1-5 minutes, the page will be refreshed (updated) in the frontend after that time has passed (the few minutes you've configured in the plugin for internal pages). So don't go setting these values to hours, it's pointless.

2. Absolutely, but disable its browse cache option as that is controlled by our plugin. And make sure URL Normalizer is sorted RIGHT BEFORE the Joomla Page Cache plugin.

3. You have to, otherwise the System "Page Cache" plugin has no effect.

Again, set your cache values to how often you want your cache to be refreshed. Don't fall below 1 min as that is overkill, but also don't go too high (e.g. more than 30 mins - unless the content is rarely updated).

This plugin was created to assist caching with Varnish and Nginx on really large (=high traffic) Joomla sites. If you need special consulting, we're always available to assist: https://www.joomlaworks.net/support/get-help/contact

[pulsarinformatique]

Hi
thanks for your answer

As for the cache control headers, do you refer to the "ExpiresByType" directives in the .htaccess file ?

thanks

[fevangelou]

You don't need that because it is defined by the plugin. That's what makes the plugin compatible with multiple server software (e.g. Nginx, beyond Apache)...