Ubuntu 26.04: unable to locate package valkey-redis-compat

[josvlaar]

I'm trying to install Valkey on my Ubuntu 26.04 VM. But I cannot install the package valkey-redis-compat. This is my input/output:
itwithme-ictmee@try:~$ sudo apt install valkey-server valkey-redis-compat -y Error: Unable to locate package valkey-redis-compat

Is the valkey-redis-compat package still needed on Ubuntu 26.04, or has its functionality been replaced by the valkey-tools package?
On https://valkey.io/topics/installation/ valkey-redis-compat is still mentioned as necessary and I'm instructed to install it...

[dlanov]

valkey-redis-compat is not yet packaged for Ubuntu 26.04 (Noble+) in the official Valkey apt repository — the package currently exists only for Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy) and 24.04 (Noble). The documentation hasn't caught up with this gap yet.

What valkey-redis-compat actually does

It installs compatibility symlinks (/usr/bin/redis-cli → valkey-cli, etc.) and a redis-server alias so that tooling and scripts that call redis-* binaries continue working after migrating from Redis to Valkey. It is not required for Valkey itself to function — it's purely a migration convenience shim.

Whether you need it on 26.04:

• If you have no existing scripts or tooling that calls redis-cli, redis-server, or redis-benchmark by name → you don't need it, skip it
• If you do have such tooling → create the symlinks manually:

  sudo ln -s /usr/bin/valkey-cli /usr/local/bin/redis-cli
  sudo ln -s /usr/bin/valkey-server /usr/local/bin/redis-server
  sudo ln -s /usr/bin/valkey-benchmark /usr/local/bin/redis-benchmark

Installing Valkey on Ubuntu 26.04 without the compat package:

  sudo apt-get install -y curl gpg
  curl -fsSL https://packages.valkey.io/valkey.gpg | \
    sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/valkey-archive-keyring.gpg

  echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/valkey-archive-keyring.gpg] \
    https://packages.valkey.io/ubuntu noble main" | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/valkey.list

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install -y valkey-server valkey-tools

Note: use noble as the distro codename even on 26.04 until a dedicated plucky (or whatever 26.04's codename is) repo is published — the noble packages are forward-compatible.

Verify it's working

  valkey-server --version
  valkey-cli ping   # should return PONG

The valkey-tools package includes valkey-cli and valkey-benchmark, which covers everything valkey-redis-compat would have symlinked on older distros.