Redis OOM: diagnose with INFO memory and bigkeys before raising maxmemory

TL;DR

Do not restart Redis unless forced: it causes a full cache cold start. Check INFO memory for usedmemoryhuman vs maxmemoryhuman and evictedkeys.

Fix

1. Do not restart Redis unless forced: it causes a full cache cold start. Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.

When to use

• You are setting up or using this Redis OOM feature.
• The symptom matches: diagnose with INFO memory and bigkeys before raising maxmemory.

When NOT to use

• Unrelated Redis OOM issues (different feature, different failure).
• You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

Compatibility

Reported against Redis OOM. Source: https://github.com/docbrain-ai/docbrain/blob/HEAD/examples/sample-docs/redis-runbook.md.

Variant phrasings

diagnose with INFO memory and bigkeys before raising maxmemory

Why it happens

'OOM command not allowed when used memory > maxmemory' means find the memory hog, not just raise the limit.

Edge cases

• If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
• If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.

Source

https://github.com/docbrain-ai/docbrain/blob/HEAD/examples/sample-docs/redis-runbook.md

Source: 'OOM command not allowed when used memory > maxmemory' means find the memory hog, not just raise the limit.

Verified resolution: [Redis OOM runbook]: check INFO memory for usedmemoryhuman vs maxmemoryhuman and evictedkeys. Run --bigkeys to find the culprits: unbounded session caches, job queues with dead consumers, or objects over 1MB. Emergency relief: flush non-critical cache keys that rebuild, or raise maxmemory temporarily. Do not restart Redis unless forced: it causes a full cache cold start. After relief, find the growth inflection: a recent deploy that changed TTLs or added key patterns.

Source URL: https://github.com/docbrain-ai/docbrain/blob/HEAD/examples/sample-docs/redis-runbook.md