How to stop varnish from caching sitemap?

@jaycee_rowe 

To stop Varnish from caching your sitemap, you can follow these steps:

1. Identify the URL pattern of your sitemap: Determine the URL pattern of your sitemap. It could be something like "/sitemap.xml" or a different URL structure depending on your website.
2. Configure Varnish VCL: Edit your Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) configuration file, typically located at "/etc/varnish/default.vcl" or a similar location.
3. Add a condition to exclude the sitemap: Within your VCL file, find the "sub vcl_recv" section and add the following lines:

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if (req.url ~ "^/sitemap.xml$") {
  return (pass);
}

This condition checks if the requested URL matches your sitemap URL pattern (e.g., "/sitemap.xml"). If it does, the "pass" statement instructs Varnish to bypass the cache and forward the request to the backend server.

1. Save the VCL file: Save the changes to the VCL file and exit the editor.
2. Restart Varnish: Restart the Varnish service to apply the new configuration. This can be done using the following command (may vary depending on your operating system):

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sudo systemctl restart varnish

1. Test the cache exclusion: Test if Varnish is no longer caching the sitemap by accessing the sitemap URL. Verify that the response headers contain "X-Cache: MISS" or similar indications that the cache was bypassed.

By following these steps, Varnish should stop caching your sitemap and always retrieve it directly from the backend server.