Install guide · Debian 12 (bookworm)printed 29 Oct 2026, 02:23 UTC
Install Valkey 9.1 on Debian 12
Debian 12 doesn't ship Valkey. The current release is 9.1.3. freshdeb builds it for bookworm from upstream's release with Debian's packaging, so it updates with apt upgrade like the rest of the system. bookworm-backports has 8.0.1, which apt only installs when asked to.
- Debian 12 ships
- nothing
- v9.1
- 9.1.3stays on 9.1.x, patch releases only. Currently 9.1.3, upstream support until May 2031.
- v9.0
- 9.0.7stays on 9.0.x, patch releases only. Currently 9.0.7, upstream support until Oct 2028.
- v8.1
- 8.1.11stays on 8.1.x, patch releases only. Currently 8.1.11, upstream support until Mar 2030.
- v8.0
- 8.0.12stays on 8.0.x, patch releases only. Currently 8.0.12, upstream support until Sep 2027.
- Built for
- amd64 and arm64, natively
Not published yet. The first valkey release is being built. These commands work once it lands; the version shown is the one it will publish.
1Trust the signing key (once per machine)
sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings curl -fsSL https://deb.freshdeb.com/freshdeb-archive-keyring.gpg \ | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/freshdeb-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null
Fingerprint 3BBD F03A 9C0B F890 F8CA 9510 7595 CC55 468F 3161. How to verify.
2Add the source for bookworm
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/freshdeb-valkey.sources >/dev/null <<EOF Types: deb URIs: https://deb.freshdeb.com/valkey Suites: bookworm Components: v9 Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/freshdeb-archive-keyring.gpg EOF
v9 follows the newest 9.x line, currently 9.1 (9.1.3). Upgrades to newer lines arrive on their own. Other components: v9.1, v9.0, v8, v8.1, v8.0, listed with the versions.
3Install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install valkey-server
apt policy valkey-server # expect 9.1.3-3+freshdeb~deb12The other packages: valkey-sentinel, valkey-tools. What's different from Debian's package.
Before you install
Debian 12 doesn't ship Valkey, so there's nothing to replace.
- Debian 12
- Debian 12 has no Valkey, only Redis 7.0 (
redis-server), and Valkey 8.0.1 in bookworm-backports. Valkey reads thedump.rdbRedis writes, so data can move over. Both listen on port 6379 by default: stop one before starting the other.
Why a package
The official container image is the usual alternative. As a package, valkey-server runs under Debian's systemd unit as the valkey user with /etc/valkey/valkey.conf, and apt upgrade brings each patch release of the line you chose.
