beanstalkd

Simple and fast work queue server

TLDR

Start beanstalkd on the default port

$ beanstalkd

Start on a specific address and port

$ beanstalkd -l [127.0.0.1] -p [11300]

Run with persistent storage (binlog)

$ beanstalkd -b [/var/lib/beanstalkd]

Run as a specific user (drop privileges)

$ beanstalkd -u [beanstalkd]

Set maximum job size

$ beanstalkd -z [65535]

Start in verbose mode

$ beanstalkd -V

SYNOPSIS

beanstalkd [-l addr] [-p port] [-u user] [-z bytes] [-b path] [-V] [-h]

beanstalkd is a simple, fast work queue server. It provides a generic interface for managing job queues, originally designed for reducing latency in high-volume web applications by running time-consuming tasks asynchronously.
Jobs are pushed to the queue by producers and reserved by workers (consumers) for processing. The protocol supports job priorities, delays, time-to-run limits, and multiple named tubes (queues).

PARAMETERS

-l addr

Listen on address (IP or 0.0.0.0 for all interfaces). Default: 0.0.0.0

-p port

Listen on TCP port. Default: 11300

-u user

Drop privileges and run as specified user after binding to port

-z bytes

Maximum job size in bytes. Default: 65535 (64KB)

-b path

Enable binlog for job persistence in the specified directory

-V

Print version and exit

-h

Print help message with available options

CAVEATS

By default, beanstalkd stores all jobs in memory; a restart loses all queued jobs unless -b binlog is enabled. There is no authentication mechanism built-in; secure access through firewall rules or bind to localhost only. Jobs exceeding the maximum size (-z) are rejected.

HISTORY

Beanstalkd was created by Keith Rarick in 2007 at Causes.com to handle background job processing. It gained popularity as a lightweight alternative to heavier message queue systems, known for its simplicity and sub-millisecond latency.