Provided by: varnish_6.6.1-1ubuntu0.2_amd64 
NAME
VCL-Variables - The complete album
DESCRIPTION
This is a list of all variables in the VCL language.
Variable names take the form scope.variable[.index], for instance:
req.url
beresp.http.date
client.ip
Which operations are possible on each variable is described below, often with the shorthand "backend"
which covers the vcl_backend_* {} subroutines and "client" which covers the rest, except vcl_init {} and
vcl_fini {}.
local, server, remote and client
These variables describe the network connection between the client and varnishd.
Without PROXY protocol:
client server
remote local
v v
CLIENT ------------ VARNISHD
With PROXY protocol:
client server remote local
v v v v
CLIENT ------------ PROXY ------------ VARNISHD
local.ip
Type: IP
Readable from: client, backend
The IP address (and port number) of the local end of the TCP connection, for instance 192.168.1.1:81
If the connection is a UNIX domain socket, the value will be 0.0.0.0:0
local.endpoint VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: client, backend
The address of the '-a' socket the session was accepted on.
If the argument was -a foo=:81 this would be ":81"
local.socket VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: client, backend
The name of the '-a' socket the session was accepted on.
If the argument was -a foo=:81 this would be "foo".
Note that all '-a' gets a default name on the form a%d if no name is provided.
remote.ip
Type: IP
Readable from: client, backend
The IP address of the other end of the TCP connection. This can either be the clients IP, or the
outgoing IP of a proxy server.
If the connection is a UNIX domain socket, the value will be 0.0.0.0:0
client.ip
Type: IP
Readable from: client, backend
The client's IP address, either the same as remote.ip or what the PROXY protocol told us.
client.identity
Type: STRING
Readable from: client, backend
Writable from: client
Identification of the client, used to load balance in the client director. Defaults to client.ip
This variable can be overwritten with more precise information, for instance extracted from a Cookie:
header.
server.ip
Type: IP
Readable from: client, backend
The IP address of the socket on which the client connection was received, either the same as server.ip
or what the PROXY protocol told us.
server.hostname
Type: STRING
Readable from: all
The host name of the server, as returned by the gethostname(3) system function.
server.identity
Type: STRING
Readable from: all
The identity of the server, as set by the -i parameter.
If an -i parameter is not passed to varnishd, the return value from gethostname(3) system function
will be used.
req and req_top
These variables describe the present request, and when ESI:include requests are being processed, req_top
points to the request received from the client.
req
Type: HTTP
Readable from: client
The entire request HTTP data structure. Mostly useful for passing to VMODs.
req.method
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
The request method (e.g. "GET", "HEAD", ...)
req.hash
Type: BLOB
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_miss, vcl_pass, vcl_purge, vcl_deliver
The hash key of this request. Mostly useful for passing to VMODs, but can also be useful for
debugging hit/miss status.
req.url
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
The requested URL, for instance "/robots.txt".
req.proto VCL <= 4.0
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
The HTTP protocol version used by the client, usually "HTTP/1.1" or "HTTP/2.0".
req.proto VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
The HTTP protocol version used by the client, usually "HTTP/1.1" or "HTTP/2.0".
req.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Unsetable from: client
The headers of request, things like req.http.date.
The RFCs allow multiple headers with the same name, and both set and unset will remove all headers
with the name given.
The header name * is a VCL symbol and as such cannot, for example, start with a numeral. Custom VMODs
exist for handling of such header names.
req.restarts
Type: INT
Readable from: client
A count of how many times this request has been restarted.
req.storage
Type: STEVEDORE
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
The storage backend to use to save this request body.
req.esi_level
Type: INT
Readable from: client
A count of how many levels of ESI requests we're currently at.
req.ttl
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Upper limit on the object age for cache lookups to return hit.
req.grace
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Upper limit on the object grace.
During lookup the minimum of req.grace and the object's stored grace value will be used as the
object's grace.
req.xid
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
Unique ID of this request.
req.esi VCL <= 4.0
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Set to false to disable ESI processing regardless of any value in beresp.do_esi. Defaults to true.
This variable is replaced by resp.do_esi in VCL 4.1.
req.can_gzip
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
True if the client provided gzip or x-gzip in the Accept-Encoding header.
req.backend_hint
Type: BACKEND
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Set bereq.backend to this if we attempt to fetch. When set to a director, reading this variable
returns an actual backend if the director has resolved immediately, or the director otherwise. When
used in string context, returns the name of the director or backend, respectively.
req.hash_ignore_busy
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Default: false.
Ignore any busy object during cache lookup.
You only want to do this when you have two server looking up content sideways from each other to avoid
deadlocks.
req.hash_always_miss
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Default: false.
Force a cache miss for this request, even if perfectly good matching objects are in the cache.
This is useful to force-update the cache without invalidating existing entries in case the fetch
fails.
req.is_hitmiss
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
If this request resulted in a hitmiss
req.is_hitpass
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client
If this request resulted in a hitpass
req_top.method
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
The request method of the top-level request in a tree of ESI requests. (e.g. "GET", "HEAD").
Identical to req.method in non-ESI requests.
req_top.url
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
The requested URL of the top-level request in a tree of ESI requests. Identical to req.url in non-ESI
requests.
req_top.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: client
HTTP headers of the top-level request in a tree of ESI requests. Identical to req.http. in non-ESI
requests.
See req.http.* for general notes.
req_top.proto
Type: STRING
Readable from: client
HTTP protocol version of the top-level request in a tree of ESI requests. Identical to req.proto in
non-ESI requests.
bereq
This is the request we send to the backend, it is built from the clients req.* fields by filtering out
"per-hop" fields which should not be passed along (Connection:, Range: and similar).
Slightly more fields are allowed through for pass` fetches than for `miss` fetches, for instance ``Range.
bereq
Type: HTTP
Readable from: backend
The entire backend request HTTP data structure. Mostly useful as argument to VMODs.
bereq.xid
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Unique ID of this request.
bereq.retries
Type: INT
Readable from: backend
A count of how many times this request has been retried.
bereq.backend
Type: BACKEND
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
This is the backend or director we attempt to fetch from. When set to a director, reading this
variable returns an actual backend if the director has resolved immediately, or the director
otherwise. When used in string context, returns the name of the director or backend, respectively.
bereq.body
Type: BODY
Unsetable from: vcl_backend_fetch
The request body.
Unset will also remove bereq.http.Content-Length.
bereq.hash
Type: BLOB
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The hash key of this request, a copy of req.hash.
bereq.method
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The request type (e.g. "GET", "HEAD").
Regular (non-pipe, non-pass) fetches are always "GET"
bereq.url
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The requested URL, copied from req.url
bereq.proto VCL <= 4.0
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The HTTP protocol version, "HTTP/1.1" unless a pass or pipe request has "HTTP/1.0" in req.proto
bereq.proto VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The HTTP protocol version, "HTTP/1.1" unless a pass or pipe request has "HTTP/1.0" in req.proto
bereq.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Unsetable from: vcl_pipe, backend
The headers to be sent to the backend.
See req.http.* for general notes.
bereq.uncacheable
Type: BOOL
Readable from: backend
Indicates whether this request is uncacheable due to a pass in the client side or a hit on an
hit-for-pass object.
bereq.connect_timeout
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Writable from: vcl_pipe, backend
Default: .connect_timeout attribute from the backend_definition, which defaults to the connect_timeout
parameter, see varnishd(1).
The time in seconds to wait for a backend connection to be established.
bereq.first_byte_timeout
Type: DURATION
Readable from: backend
Writable from: backend
Default: .first_byte_timeout attribute from the backend_definition, which defaults to the
first_byte_timeout parameter, see varnishd(1).
The time in seconds to wait getting the first byte back from the backend. Not available in pipe mode.
bereq.between_bytes_timeout
Type: DURATION
Readable from: backend
Writable from: backend
Default: .between_bytes_timeout attribute from the backend_definition, which defaults to the
between_bytes_timeout parameter, see varnishd(1).
The time in seconds to wait between each received byte from the backend. Not available in pipe mode.
bereq.is_bgfetch
Type: BOOL
Readable from: backend
True for fetches where the client got a hit on an object in grace, and this fetch was kicked of in the
background to get a fresh copy.
bereq.is_hitmiss
Type: BOOL
Readable from: backend
If this backend request was caused by a hitmiss.
bereq.is_hitpass
Type: BOOL
Readable from: backend
If this backend request was caused by a hitpass.
beresp
The response received from the backend, one cache misses, the store object is built from beresp.
beresp
Type: HTTP
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The entire backend response HTTP data structure, useful as argument to VMOD functions.
beresp.body
Type: BODY
Writable from: vcl_backend_error
For producing a synthetic body.
beresp.proto VCL <= 4.0
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The HTTP protocol version the backend replied with.
beresp.proto VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The HTTP protocol version the backend replied with.
beresp.status
Type: INT
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The HTTP status code returned by the server.
More information in the HTTP response status section.
beresp.reason
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The HTTP status message returned by the server.
beresp.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Unsetable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The HTTP headers returned from the server.
See req.http.* for general notes.
beresp.do_esi
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: false.
Set it to true to parse the object for ESI directives. Will only be honored if req.esi is true.
It is a VCL error to use beresp.do_esi after setting beresp.filters.
beresp.do_stream
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: true.
Deliver the object to the client while fetching the whole object into varnish.
For uncacheable objects, storage for parts of the body which have been sent to the client may get
freed early, depending on the storage engine used.
This variable has no effect if do_esi is true or when the response body is empty.
beresp.do_gzip
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: false.
Set to true to gzip the object while storing it.
If http_gzip_support is disabled, setting this variable has no effect.
It is a VCL error to use beresp.do_gzip after setting beresp.filters.
beresp.do_gunzip
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: false.
Set to true to gunzip the object while storing it in the cache.
If http_gzip_support is disabled, setting this variable has no effect.
It is a VCL error to use beresp.do_gunzip after setting beresp.filters.
beresp.was_304
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
When true this indicates that we got a 304 response to our conditional fetch from the backend and
turned that into beresp.status = 200
beresp.uncacheable
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Inherited from bereq.uncacheable, see there.
Setting this variable makes the object uncacheable.
This may may produce a hit-for-miss object in the cache.
Clearing the variable has no effect and will log the warning "Ignoring attempt to reset
beresp.uncacheable".
beresp.ttl
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: Cache-Control s-maxage or max-age directives, or a value computed from the Expires header's
deadline, or the default_ttl parameter.
The object's remaining time to live, in seconds.
beresp.age
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: Age header, or zero.
The age of the object.
beresp.grace
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: Cache-Control stale-while-revalidate directive, or default_grace parameter.
Set to a period to enable grace.
beresp.keep
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Default: default_keep parameter.
Set to a period to enable conditional backend requests.
The keep time is cache lifetime in addition to the ttl.
Objects with ttl expired but with keep time left may be used to issue conditional (If-Modified-Since /
If-None-Match) requests to the backend to refresh them.
beresp.backend
Type: BACKEND
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
This is the backend we fetched from. If bereq.backend was set to a director, this will be the backend
selected by the director. When used in string context, returns its name.
beresp.backend.name
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Name of the backend this response was fetched from. Same as beresp.backend.
beresp.backend.ip VCL <= 4.0
Type: IP
Readable from: vcl_backend_response
IP of the backend this response was fetched from.
beresp.storage
Type: STEVEDORE
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
The storage backend to use to save this object.
beresp.storage_hint VCL <= 4.0
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Writable from: vcl_backend_response, vcl_backend_error
Deprecated since varnish 5.1 and discontinued since VCL 4.1 (varnish 6.0). Use beresp.storage instead.
Hint to Varnish that you want to save this object to a particular storage backend.
beresp.filters
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_backend_response
Writable from: vcl_backend_response
List of Varnish Fetch Processor (VFP) filters the beresp.body will be pulled through. The order left
to right signifies processing from backend to cache, iow the leftmost filter is run first on the body
as received from the backend after decoding of any transfer encodings.
VFP Filters change the body before going into the cache and/or being handed to the client side, where
it may get processed again by resp.filters.
The following VFP filters exist in varnish-cache:
• gzip: compress a body using gzip
• testgunzip: Test if a body is valid gzip and refuse it otherwise
• gunzip: Uncompress gzip content
• esi: ESI-process plain text content
• esi_gzip: Save gzipped snippets for efficient ESI-processing
This filter enables stitching together ESI from individually gzipped fragments, saving processing
power for re-compression on the client side at the expense of some compression efficiency.
Additional VFP filters are available from VMODs.
By default, beresp.filters is constructed as follows:
• gunzip gets added for gzipped content if beresp.do_gunzip or beresp.do_esi are true.
• esi_gzip gets added if beresp.do_esi is true together with beresp.do_gzip or content is already
compressed.
• esi gets added if beresp.do_esi is true
• gzip gets added for uncompressed content if beresp.do_gzip is true
• testgunzip gets added for compressed content if beresp.do_gunzip is false.
After beresp.filters is set, using any of the beforementioned beresp.do_* switches is a VCL error.
obj
This is the object we found in cache. It cannot be modified.
obj.proto
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_hit
The HTTP protocol version stored in the object.
obj.status
Type: INT
Readable from: vcl_hit
The HTTP status code stored in the object.
More information in the HTTP response status section.
obj.reason
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_hit
The HTTP reason phrase stored in the object.
obj.hits
Type: INT
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The count of cache-hits on this object.
In vcl_deliver a value of 0 indicates a cache miss.
obj.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: vcl_hit
The HTTP headers stored in the object.
See req.http.* for general notes.
obj.ttl
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The object's remaining time to live, in seconds.
obj.age
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The age of the object.
obj.grace
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The object's grace period in seconds.
obj.keep
Type: DURATION
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The object's keep period in seconds.
obj.uncacheable
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_deliver
Whether the object is uncacheable (pass, hit-for-pass or hit-for-miss).
obj.storage
Type: STEVEDORE
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
The storage backend where this object is stored.
obj.can_esi
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_hit, vcl_deliver
If the object can be ESI processed, that is if setting resp.do_esi or adding esi to resp.filters in
vcl_deliver {} would cause the response body to be ESI processed.
resp
This is the response we send to the client, it is built from either beresp (pass/miss), obj (hits) or
created from whole cloth (synth).
With the exception of resp.body all resp.* variables available in both vcl_deliver{} and vcl_synth{} as a
matter of symmetry.
resp
Type: HTTP
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The entire response HTTP data structure, useful as argument to VMODs.
resp.body
Type: BODY
Writable from: vcl_synth
To produce a synthetic response body, for instance for errors.
resp.proto VCL <= 4.0
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The HTTP protocol version to use for the response.
resp.proto VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The HTTP protocol version to use for the response.
resp.status
Type: INT
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The HTTP status code that will be returned.
More information in the HTTP response status section.
resp.status 200 will get changed into 304 by core code after a return(deliver) from vcl_deliver for
conditional requests to cached content if validation succeeds.
For the validation, first req.http.If-None-Match is compared against resp.http.Etag. If they compare
equal according to the rules for weak validation (see RFC7232), a 304 is sent.
Secondly, req.http.If-Modified-Since is compared against resp.http.Last-Modified or, if it is unset,
against the point in time when the object was last modified based on the Date and Age headers received
with the backend response which created the object. If the object has not been modified based on that
comparison, a 304 is sent.
resp.reason
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The HTTP status message that will be returned.
resp.http.*
Type: HEADER
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Unsetable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
The HTTP headers that will be returned.
See req.http.* for general notes.
resp.do_esi VCL >= 4.1
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Default: obj.can_esi
This can be used to selectively disable ESI processing, even though ESI parsing happened during fetch.
This is useful when Varnish caches peer with each other.
It is a VCL error to use resp.do_esi after setting resp.filters.
resp.is_streaming
Type: BOOL
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Returns true when the response will be streamed while being fetched from the backend.
resp.filters
Type: STRING
Readable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
Writable from: vcl_deliver, vcl_synth
List of VDP filters the resp.body will be pushed through.
Before resp.filters is set, the value read will be the default filter list as determined by varnish
based on resp.do_esi and request headers.
After resp.filters is set, changing any of the conditions which otherwise determine the filter
selection will have no effiect. Using resp.do_esi is an error once resp.filters is set.
Special variables
now
Type: TIME
Readable from: all
The current time, in seconds since the UNIX epoch.
When converted to STRING in expressions it returns a formatted timestamp like Tue, 20 Feb 2018
09:30:31 GMT
sess
A session corresponds to the "conversation" that Varnish has with a single client connection, over which
one or more request/response transactions may take place. It may comprise the traffic over an HTTP/1
keep-alive connection, or the multiplexed traffic over an HTTP/2 connection.
sess.xid VCL >= 4.1
Type: STRING
Readable from: client, backend
Unique ID of this session.
sess.timeout_idle
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Idle timeout for this session, defaults to the timeout_idle parameter, see varnishd(1)
sess.timeout_linger
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Linger timeout for this session, defaults to the timeout_linger parameter, see varnishd(1)
sess.send_timeout
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Total timeout for ordinary HTTP1 responses, defaults to the send_timeout parameter, see varnishd(1)
sess.idle_send_timeout
Type: DURATION
Readable from: client
Writable from: client
Send timeout for individual pieces of data on client connections, defaults to the idle_send_timeout
parameter, see varnishd(1)
storage
storage.<name>.free_space
Type: BYTES
Readable from: client, backend
Free space available in the named stevedore. Only available for the malloc stevedore.
storage.<name>.used_space
Type: BYTES
Readable from: client, backend
Used space in the named stevedore. Only available for the malloc stevedore.
storage.<name>.happy
Type: BOOL
Readable from: client, backend
Health status for the named stevedore. Not available in any of the current stevedores.
HTTP response status
A HTTP status code has 3 digits XYZ where X must be between 1 and 5 included. Since it is not uncommon
to see HTTP clients or servers relying on non-standard or even invalid status codes, Varnish can work
with any status between 100 and 999.
Within VCL code it is even possible to use status codes in the form VWXYZ as long as the overall value is
lower than 65536, but only the XYZ part will be sent to the client, by which time the X must also have
become non-zero.
The VWXYZ form of status codes can be communicate extra information in resp.status and beresp.status to
return(synth(...)) and return(error(...)), to indicate which synthetic content to produce:
sub vcl_recv {
if ([...]) {
return synth(12404);
}
}
sub vcl_synth {
if (resp.status == 12404) {
[...] // this specific 404
} else if (resp.status % 1000 == 404) {
[...] // all other 404's
}
}
The obj.status variable will inherit the VWXYZ form, but in a ban expresion only the XYZ part will be
available. The VWXYZ form is strictly limited to VCL execution.
Assigning an HTTP standardized code to resp.status or beresp.status will also set resp.reason or
beresp.reason to the corresponding status message.
SEE ALSO
• varnishd(1)
• vcl(7)
HISTORY
VCL was developed by Poul-Henning Kamp in cooperation with Verdens Gang AS, Redpill Linpro and Varnish
Software. This manual page is written by Per Buer, Poul-Henning Kamp, Martin Blix Grydeland, Kristian
Lyngstøl, Lasse Karstensen and others.
COPYRIGHT
This document is licensed under the same license as Varnish itself. See LICENSE for details.
• Copyright (c) 2006 Verdens Gang AS
• Copyright (c) 2006-2021 Varnish Software AS
VCL-VARIABLES(7)