VARNISH CONTROLLER

One Interface to Control Every Varnish Node

Varnish Controller lets you manage hundreds of Varnish nodes like one.

Varnish Controller is the central control plane for Varnish Enterprise. It gives engineering teams a safe, scalable, and automated way to operate distributed caching infrastructure.

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Why Use Varnish Controller?

Eliminate Manual Work. Operate at Scale.

Varnish Controller is the central operations layer for Varnish Enterprise. It gives you the tools to manage configuration, routing, scaling, and visibility across distributed Varnish deployments, from a single interface or API.

Controller gives DevOps and platform teams everything they need to:

  • Configure and deploy caching rules across all Varnish nodes at once

  • Observe real-time system health, traffic, and cache behavior

  • Automate scaling, purging, and routing workflows

  • Integrate with CI/CD pipelines, Git, and Prometheus

Outcome: Safer config changes, fewer outages, faster delivery.

Try Controller Today - Self-Serve Demo Environment

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How it Works

Varnish Controller comprises four key components:

  • Agent: Installed per Varnish server. Handles VCL deployment and integrates directly with varnishadm.

  • Brainz: Central decision-making engine. Coordinates the system and writes to the database.

  • API Gateway: Exposes the REST API interface. Used by UI, CLI, and external integrations.

  • Traffic Router (optional): Routes incoming requests via DNS or HTTP302 based on defined rules.

These components communicate via NATS, a high-performance message bus. Each component is stateless and horizontally scalable.

Controllerdiagram

From Code to Cache

Deployment Pipeline

  1. Define VCL via Git or UI/CLI

  2. Push to API (CLI or REST API)

  3. Brainz validates and coordinates the rollout

  4. Agents deploy VCL and enforce version control on Varnish nodes

  5. Traffic Router (if used) dynamically routes clients to the best cache

  6. Monitor metrics and logs through Prometheus, Grafana, or the built-in UI

Built for DevOps Pipelines

  • REST API for automation and CI/CD triggers

  • GitOps integration with auto-deploy on commit

  • Multi-tenancy support with organizational isolation

  • TLS cert management with ACME (Let's Encrypt) support

Outcome: Unified control, better observability, automated scale.

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Key Capabilities

VCL Lifecycle Management

Push configuration updates across your setup with built-in validation, staging, rollback, and grouping. Ship config like code, with confidence and control.

 

Automated Node Discovery

Detect and onboard new cache nodes automatically, assign configs, enable routing, and begin monitoring instantly. Scale faster, with zero manual config.

 

Real-Time Monitoring

View traffic, performance, and health stats for every node. Export metrics to Prometheus or view in Grafana. Spot issues fast. Improve performance continuously.

 

Advanced Routing (Traffic Router Add-On)

Route traffic based on DNS, headers, location, or failover rules. Ensure content is always served from the optimal cache.

 

GitOps & CI/CD Integration

Deploy VCL as part of your development pipeline. Use Git versioning, triggers, and automated testing. Treat caching rules like application code.

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When to Use Controller

Varnish Controller is ideal for simplifying large-scale, high-volume deployments:

Benefit Vcl

Multi-Node Config Management

Update hundreds of nodes in minutes, not hours.

Benefit Satisfy Audiences

Safer Deployments at Scale

Validate and deploy changes with rollback and audit trail.

Benefit Insights

Global Monitoring & Incident Response

Detect issues across clusters and regions, before users notice.

Benefit Running Quickly

Hybrid, Multi-Region Environments

Standardize workflows across clouds, containers, and data centers.

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CDN Routing and Traffic Control

Resilient, Rule-based Delivery

Take full control over request routing with Varnish Traffic Router, an optional add-on to Varnish Controller. Integrated with Controller but deployable independently, Traffic Router lets you:

  • Set routing logic based on HTTP headers, geolocation, or DNS
  • Route requests to the nearest healthy cache for optimal response times
  • Rebalance or isolate traffic during partial outages
  • Apply business logic to prioritize or shape traffic flows

Traffic Router extends Controller's orchestration capabilities with high-performance traffic management across distributed Varnish clusters.

Varnish Traffic Router

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Full GitOps and CI/CD Compatibility

Configuration-as-code

Bring configuration management into your delivery pipelines. Varnish Controller supports GitOps and CI/CD integration by:

  • Syncing VCL definitions from Git repositories with full version history

  • Allowing deployment triggers from CI tools such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab

  • Exposing a complete REST API for automation and scripting

  • Supporting staging environments for testing and validating changes before production rollout

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Developer Experience

Choose Your Workflow, Stay in Control

UI, CLI, and API - Choose Your Interface

  • Web UI: Full control in a visual dashboard

  • CLI: Headless automation for power users

  • API: RESTful interface to connect any tool

Instant Purging and Tag-Based Invalidation

  • Invalidate objects via ban, purge, or tags

  • Target specific nodes or apply globally

  • Execute in milliseconds with audit trail

Authentication, Audit, and Access Control

  • Keycloak/OIDC or basic auth integration

  • Role-based access by user/team

  • Full audit logging of changes and actions

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Security and Stability

Resiliency and Access Control

Varnish Controller provides a resilient and secure foundation for running Varnish Enterprise in production.

  • Highly Available Architecture. Controller's modular components can be deployed redundantly for fault tolerance and regional isolation.
  • Access Control and Audit. Role-based access and integration with Keycloak or basic auth allow teams to manage user permissions and review activity logs.
  • Safe Config Management. Changes to VCL are validated and logged, with staging and rollback options for safety in production environments.
  • Disaster Recovery Ready. System state is version-controlled, enabling quick restoration of service across environments.
  • Tenant Isolation. Organizations with multiple teams or business units can isolate operations through VCL Groups and per-user access controls.
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Explore the Live Demo Environment

Want to see how Varnish Controller works in practice? Try our fully functional, cloud-hosted demo setup, no installation required.

 

Everything Preconfigured and Ready to Use

Explore a real, pre-populated environment featuring:

  • 1x Varnish Controller with full UI and API access

  • 1x Varnish Traffic Router

  • 4x Varnish Enterprise cache nodes

  • 1x Origin Server (origin-1)

  • Experience all roles and access levels

  • Multiple test domains with DNS and HTTP302-based routing

Get Access

You can explore the dashboard, test VCL deployment, play with Traffic Router settings, inspect logs, trigger purges, and more, all in a safe, shared sandbox.

The shared environment resets twice daily. Need a clean slate? Contact us for a dedicated instance.

Connect with Our Team

We’re happy to help with any questions you may have about our software, support, pricing or anything else Varnish related. We can assist you in finding the solution that best fits your needs and set up trials too.

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