Memcached: 2. The lifecycle script

This documentation is part of the GitHub Actions & GitLab CI guide. You can view the complete guide here: Launch a real Memcached service from your GitHub Actions or GitLab CI pipeline, run your tests against it, and automatically tear it down.

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Here is a complete example script that manages the entire service lifecycle. It shows just how simple the setup is, requiring only a few commands. You can copy the ready-to-use YAML for your platform from the sections below.

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

# STACKHERO_TOKEN is provided by the CI secret, the CLI picks it up automatically.

stackName="ci-memcached-$$"          # Unique stack name for each run
serviceStore="memcached"             # The Memcached service store
instance="1G"        # Change this as needed (see step 3)
region="europe"                         # Region name (see stackhero regions-list)

# 1. Install the CLI on the runner
curl -fsSL https://www.stackhero.io/install.sh | sh

# 2. Install the client required for smoke testing (jq + curl are the baseline)
apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends jq curl libmemcached-tools

# 3. Create a dedicated stack for this run
stackId=$(stackhero --format=script stack-create --name="$stackName")
echo "Stack created: $stackId"

# 4. Add Memcached and capture its service id
serviceId=$(stackhero --format=script service-add \
  --stack="$stackId" \
  --service-store="$serviceStore" \
  --instance="$instance" \
  --region="$region")
echo "Service added: $serviceId"

# 5. Wait until the service is running (this may take a couple of minutes)
stackhero service-wait-for --service="$serviceId"

# 6. Read the configuration (contains the generated credentials)
config=$(stackhero service-configuration-get --service="$serviceId" --format=json)

# 7. Extract the credentials you need
host=$(echo "$config" | jq -r '.configuration.domain')
user=$(echo "$config" | jq -r '.configuration.credentials.login')
password=$(echo "$config" | jq -r '.configuration.credentials.password')

# 8. Smoke test: Authenticate with SASL and read a key (a miss still proves auth works).
memccat --servers="$host:11211" --binary --username="$user" --password="$password" stackhero-ci-probe 2>&1 | grep -vq "AUTHENTICATION"

echo "✅ Memcached is reachable from CI."

The teardown step, which deletes the service, waits for its removal, and then deletes the stack, is detailed in the platform-specific sections below. This approach ensures cleanup always takes place, even if a smoke test fails.

A stack can only be deleted once it is empty. Always delete the service first and wait for its removal, then delete the stack. The service-wait-for command ensures the service is either running or deleted before continuing, making it the right tool for deletion waits as well.