Question 1

valkey-cli says NOAUTH Authentication required

Accepted Answer

Check: Is VALKEYCLI_AUTH set in this shell?. Fix: export VALKEYCLI_AUTH="$(sudo sed -n 's/^VALKEY_PASSWORD=//p' /root/valkey-credentials.txt)" — the password is enforced by design.

Question 2

WRONGPASS after changing the password

Accepted Answer

Check: requirepass in /etc/valkey/auth.conf vs. /root/valkey-credentials.txt. Fix: /etc/valkey/auth.conf is what the server uses: restart valkey after editing it and update your copy.

Question 3

A client on another VM can't connect

Accepted Answer

Check: bind in /etc/valkey/valkey.conf; ss -tln | grep 6379; the tcp:6379 firewall rule and its source ranges. Fix: Both are closed by default: add the internal IP to bind, restart, and allow your client range.

Question 4

valkey.service fails to start

Accepted Answer

Check: journalctl -u valkey -n 50; systemctl status valkey-firstboot. Fix: valkey.conf includes /etc/valkey/auth.conf, which valkey-firstboot creates on first boot; a typo in either file stops the server.

Question 5

ACL users or CONFIG SET changes vanish after a restart

Accepted Answer

Check: Were they made at runtime (ACL SETUSER, CONFIG SET)?. Fix: Runtime changes are not persisted on this image (no aclfile; /etc/valkey is read-only to the service). Put user lines in /etc/valkey/auth.conf.

Troubleshoot DCA Hardened Key-Value Store — for Valkey™

Logs & useful commands

Symptom	Check	Fix
valkey-cli says NOAUTH Authentication required	Is VALKEYCLI_AUTH set in this shell?	export VALKEYCLI_AUTH="$(sudo sed -n 's/^VALKEY_PASSWORD=//p' /root/valkey-credentials.txt)" — the password is enforced by design.
WRONGPASS after changing the password	requirepass in /etc/valkey/auth.conf vs. /root/valkey-credentials.txt	/etc/valkey/auth.conf is what the server uses: restart valkey after editing it and update your copy.
A client on another VM can't connect	bind in /etc/valkey/valkey.conf; ss -tln \| grep 6379; the tcp:6379 firewall rule and its source ranges	Both are closed by default: add the internal IP to bind, restart, and allow your client range.
valkey.service fails to start	journalctl -u valkey -n 50; systemctl status valkey-firstboot	valkey.conf includes /etc/valkey/auth.conf, which valkey-firstboot creates on first boot; a typo in either file stops the server.
ACL users or CONFIG SET changes vanish after a restart	Were they made at runtime (ACL SETUSER, CONFIG SET)?	Runtime changes are not persisted on this image (no aclfile; /etc/valkey is read-only to the service). Put user lines in /etc/valkey/auth.conf.