Set up OpenLiteSpeed web server with SSL certificates, PHP LSAPI, and built-in caching for superior performance compared to Apache and Nginx. Includes security hardening and monitoring configuration.

Prerequisites

Root or sudo access to the server
Domain name pointing to server IP
At least 2GB RAM and 20GB disk space
Internet connection for package downloads

What this solves

OpenLiteSpeed is a high-performance, lightweight web server that serves as a powerful alternative to Apache and Nginx. It provides built-in caching, event-driven architecture, and native PHP LSAPI support for significantly faster PHP processing than traditional FastCGI. This tutorial shows you how to install OpenLiteSpeed, configure virtual hosts with SSL certificates, optimize performance with caching, and implement security hardening for production environments.

Step-by-step installation

Update system packages

Start by updating your package manager to ensure you get the latest security patches and dependencies.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y wget curl gnupg2 software-properties-common

sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y wget curl gnupg2 epel-release

Add OpenLiteSpeed repository

Add the official OpenLiteSpeed repository to get the latest stable version with security updates.

wget -O - https://repo.litespeed.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt update

sudo rpm -Uvh http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/releases/centos/release-el$(rpm -E %{rhel})-1.noarch.rpm
sudo dnf update -y

Install OpenLiteSpeed and PHP

Install OpenLiteSpeed web server along with PHP LSAPI for optimal performance and compatibility.

sudo apt install -y openlitespeed lsphp82 lsphp82-common lsphp82-mysql lsphp82-curl lsphp82-json lsphp82-opcache

sudo dnf install -y openlitespeed lsphp82 lsphp82-common lsphp82-mysql lsphp82-curl lsphp82-json lsphp82-opcache

Set OpenLiteSpeed admin password

Configure the WebAdmin console password for managing OpenLiteSpeed through the web interface.

sudo /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh
sudo systemctl enable lsws
sudo systemctl start lsws

Note: The WebAdmin console will be accessible at https://your-server-ip:7080 using the credentials you just set.

Configure firewall rules

Open the necessary ports for HTTP, HTTPS, and OpenLiteSpeed WebAdmin access. For comprehensive firewall configuration, see our Linux firewall hardening guide.

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw allow 7080/tcp
sudo ufw --force enable

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7080/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Create directory structure for virtual hosts

Set up the standard directory structure for hosting multiple websites with proper permissions.

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/html
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/logs
sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

Never use chmod 777. It gives every user on the system full access to your files. The nobody:nogroup ownership with 755 permissions provides secure access for the web server.

Create a test PHP file

Create a simple PHP file to verify that PHP LSAPI is working correctly with OpenLiteSpeed.

Server API: " . php_sapi_name() . "";
?>

sudo chown nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com/html/info.php
sudo chmod 644 /var/www/example.com/html/info.php

Configure virtual hosts and SSL

Access WebAdmin console

Open your browser and navigate to the OpenLiteSpeed WebAdmin console to configure virtual hosts.

https://your-server-ip:7080

Log in with the admin credentials you created earlier. The WebAdmin interface provides a user-friendly way to configure virtual hosts, SSL certificates, and performance settings.

Configure virtual host via WebAdmin

Create a virtual host through the web interface for better configuration management and validation.

Navigate to Virtual Hosts tab
Click Add to create a new virtual host
Set Virtual Host Name: example.com
Set Document Root: /var/www/example.com/html
Set Enable Scripts: Yes
Click Save

Configure PHP for virtual host

Set up PHP LSAPI processing for optimal performance compared to traditional FastCGI implementations.

Go to Virtual Hosts → example.com → PHP
Set PHP Version: lsphp82
Set Initial Request Timeout: 60
Set Retry Timeout: 0
Click Save

Install SSL certificate with Certbot

Install Let's Encrypt SSL certificates for secure HTTPS connections using Certbot.

sudo apt install -y certbot
sudo certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/example.com/html -d example.com -d www.example.com

sudo dnf install -y certbot
sudo certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/example.com/html -d example.com -d www.example.com

Configure SSL listener

Set up HTTPS listener in OpenLiteSpeed WebAdmin console for secure connections.

Navigate to Listeners tab
Click Add to create HTTPS listener
Set Port: 443
Set Secure: Yes
Set Certificate File: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
Set Private Key File: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem
Click Save

Map virtual host to listeners

Connect your virtual host to both HTTP and HTTPS listeners for complete web server functionality.

Go to Listeners → Default (Port 80) → Virtual Host Mappings
Click Add and set:
Virtual Host: example.com
Domains: example.com, www.example.com
Repeat for HTTPS listener (Port 443)
Click Graceful Restart

Enable caching and performance optimization

Enable built-in caching

Configure OpenLiteSpeed's high-performance built-in cache to dramatically improve page load times.

Navigate to Virtual Hosts → example.com → Cache
Set Enable Cache: Yes
Set Cache Root: /tmp/lshttpd/cache/example.com
Set Cache Policy:

checkPrivateCache    1
checkPublicCache     1
maxCacheObjSize      10000000
maxStaleAge          200
qsCache              1
reqCookieCache       1
respCookieCache      1

Configure PHP OPcache

Optimize PHP performance with OPcache configuration for faster script execution.

opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=256
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.revalidate_freq=2
opcache.fast_shutdown=1
opcache.enable_cli=0
opcache.save_comments=0

sudo systemctl restart lsws

Configure compression

Enable GZIP compression to reduce bandwidth usage and improve page load speeds.

Go to Actions → Server Configuration → Tuning
Set Enable GZIP Compression: Yes
Set GZIP Compression Level: 6
Set Compressible Types: text/*, application/x-javascript, application/javascript, application/json
Click Save and Graceful Restart

Security hardening

Configure security headers

Add modern security headers to protect against common web vulnerabilities and attacks.

Navigate to Virtual Hosts → example.com → Headers
Add response headers:

X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data: https:; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains

Configure access control

Implement access controls and request limits to prevent abuse and DDoS attacks.

Go to Actions → Server Configuration → Security
Set Access Denied Directories: .ht, .svn, .git, .env
Set Per Client Throttling → Static Requests/sec: 1000
Set Per Client Throttling → Dynamic Requests/sec: 100
Set Connection Limit: 10000
Click Save

Secure WebAdmin console

Restrict WebAdmin access to specific IP addresses and change the default port for enhanced security.

Navigate to Actions → Admin Settings → General
Set Admin HTTP Port: 7443 (or another non-standard port)
Set Allowed List: 203.0.113.10 (replace with your admin IP)
Click Save and restart

sudo systemctl restart lsws

Set up monitoring and backups

Configure log rotation

Set up automatic log rotation to prevent disk space issues and maintain system performance.

/usr/local/lsws/logs/.log /var/www//logs/*.log {
    daily
    missingok
    rotate 30
    compress
    delaycompress
    sharedscripts
    postrotate
        /bin/kill -USR1 cat /usr/local/lsws/logs/httpd.pid 2>/dev/null 2>/dev/null || true
    endscript
}

sudo chmod 644 /etc/logrotate.d/openlitespeed

Create backup script

Implement automated backups of website content and OpenLiteSpeed configuration files.

#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/openlitespeed"

mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

Backup website files
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/websites_$DATE.tar.gz /var/www/

Backup OpenLiteSpeed configuration
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/lsws_config_$DATE.tar.gz /usr/local/lsws/conf/

Backup SSL certificates
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/ssl_certs_$DATE.tar.gz /etc/letsencrypt/

Remove backups older than 7 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup completed: $DATE" >> /var/log/ols-backup.log

sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/ols-backup.sh
sudo mkdir -p /backup/openlitespeed

Schedule automated backups

Set up daily automated backups using systemd timers for reliable backup execution. For comprehensive disk monitoring, see our disk usage monitoring guide.

sudo crontab -e

0 2   * /usr/local/bin/ols-backup.sh

Verify your setup

sudo systemctl status lsws
curl -I http://example.com/info.php
curl -I https://example.com/info.php
sudo /usr/local/lsws/bin/lshttpd -t
php82 -v
lscpu | grep -E '^Thread|^CPU\(s\)'

Check the WebAdmin console at https://your-server-ip:7080 and verify that your virtual host is serving content correctly. The info.php page should show "Server API: litespeed" confirming PHP LSAPI is working.

Performance comparison

Feature	OpenLiteSpeed	Apache	Nginx
PHP Processing	Native LSAPI (fastest)	mod_php/FastCGI	FastCGI/FPM
Built-in Caching	Yes (LSCache)	Requires modules	Basic proxy cache
Event-driven	Yes	Partially	Yes
Memory Usage	Low	High	Very Low
Web Interface	Full WebAdmin	Third-party only	Third-party only
.htaccess Support	Yes	Yes	No

Common issues

Symptom	Cause	Fix
503 Service Unavailable	PHP process limit reached	Increase Max Connections in Virtual Host PHP settings
SSL certificate error	Certificate paths incorrect	Verify paths in Listeners → SSL tab match certbot output
PHP not processing	Script handler not configured	Check Virtual Host → PHP settings and script handlers
Permission denied errors	Incorrect file ownership	`sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/site`
WebAdmin console inaccessible	Port blocked by firewall	Check firewall rules and Admin HTTP Port settings
Cache not working	Cache directory permissions	Ensure `/tmp/lshttpd/cache` is writable by nobody user

Next steps

Automated install script

Run this to automate the entire setup

install.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -euo pipefail

# Colors for output
RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color

# Default values
DOMAIN="${1:-example.com}"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="${2:-}"

# Usage function
usage() {
    echo "Usage: $0 <domain> [admin_password]"
    echo "Example: $0 mysite.com mypassword123"
    exit 1
}

# Logging functions
log_info() {
    echo -e "${GREEN}[INFO]${NC} $1"
}

log_warn() {
    echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${NC} $1"
}

log_error() {
    echo -e "${RED}[ERROR]${NC} $1"
}

# Cleanup function for rollback
cleanup() {
    log_error "Installation failed. Cleaning up..."
    systemctl stop lsws 2>/dev/null || true
    systemctl disable lsws 2>/dev/null || true
}

# Set trap for cleanup on error
trap cleanup ERR

# Validate arguments
if [[ -z "$DOMAIN" ]] || [[ "$DOMAIN" == "example.com" && $# -eq 0 ]]; then
    usage
fi

# Check if running as root or with sudo
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
    log_error "This script must be run as root or with sudo"
    exit 1
fi

# Detect OS and set package manager
if [[ ! -f /etc/os-release ]]; then
    log_error "Cannot detect OS. /etc/os-release not found."
    exit 1
fi

. /etc/os-release

case "$ID" in
    ubuntu|debian)
        PKG_MGR="apt"
        PKG_UPDATE="apt update && apt upgrade -y"
        PKG_INSTALL="apt install -y"
        FIREWALL_CMD="ufw"
        WEB_USER="www-data"
        WEB_GROUP="www-data"
        ;;
    almalinux|rocky|centos|rhel|ol)
        PKG_MGR="dnf"
        PKG_UPDATE="dnf update -y"
        PKG_INSTALL="dnf install -y"
        FIREWALL_CMD="firewall-cmd"
        WEB_USER="nobody"
        WEB_GROUP="nobody"
        ;;
    fedora)
        PKG_MGR="dnf"
        PKG_UPDATE="dnf update -y"
        PKG_INSTALL="dnf install -y"
        FIREWALL_CMD="firewall-cmd"
        WEB_USER="nobody"
        WEB_GROUP="nobody"
        ;;
    amzn)
        PKG_MGR="yum"
        PKG_UPDATE="yum update -y"
        PKG_INSTALL="yum install -y"
        FIREWALL_CMD="firewall-cmd"
        WEB_USER="nobody"
        WEB_GROUP="nobody"
        ;;
    *)
        log_error "Unsupported distribution: $ID"
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

log_info "Detected OS: $PRETTY_NAME"
log_info "Using package manager: $PKG_MGR"

# Step 1: Update system packages
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[1/8]${NC} Updating system packages..."
eval "$PKG_UPDATE"

# Step 2: Install prerequisites
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[2/8]${NC} Installing prerequisites..."
if [[ "$PKG_MGR" == "apt" ]]; then
    $PKG_INSTALL wget curl gnupg2 software-properties-common
else
    $PKG_INSTALL wget curl gnupg2 epel-release
fi

# Step 3: Add OpenLiteSpeed repository
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[3/8]${NC} Adding OpenLiteSpeed repository..."
if [[ "$PKG_MGR" == "apt" ]]; then
    wget -O - https://repo.litespeed.sh | bash
    apt update
else
    RHEL_VER=$(rpm -E %{rhel})
    rpm -Uvh "http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/releases/centos/release-el${RHEL_VER}-1.noarch.rpm"
    eval "$PKG_UPDATE"
fi

# Step 4: Install OpenLiteSpeed and PHP
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[4/8]${NC} Installing OpenLiteSpeed and PHP..."
$PKG_INSTALL openlitespeed lsphp82 lsphp82-common lsphp82-mysql lsphp82-curl lsphp82-json lsphp82-opcache

# Step 5: Configure OpenLiteSpeed
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[5/8]${NC} Configuring OpenLiteSpeed..."

# Set admin password
if [[ -n "$ADMIN_PASSWORD" ]]; then
    echo "admin:$ADMIN_PASSWORD" | /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/htpasswd.sh
else
    log_warn "No admin password provided. Please run: /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh"
fi

# Enable and start service
systemctl enable lsws
systemctl start lsws

# Step 6: Configure firewall
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[6/8]${NC} Configuring firewall..."
if [[ "$FIREWALL_CMD" == "ufw" ]]; then
    ufw allow 80/tcp
    ufw allow 443/tcp
    ufw allow 7080/tcp
    ufw --force enable
else
    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/tcp
    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp
    firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7080/tcp
    firewall-cmd --reload
fi

# Step 7: Create directory structure
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[7/8]${NC} Creating directory structure for $DOMAIN..."
mkdir -p "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html"
mkdir -p "/var/www/$DOMAIN/logs"

# Set proper ownership and permissions
chown -R "$WEB_USER:$WEB_GROUP" "/var/www/$DOMAIN"
chmod -R 755 "/var/www/$DOMAIN"

# Create test PHP file
cat > "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/info.php" << 'EOF'
<?php
phpinfo();
?>
EOF

cat > "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/index.html" << EOF
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Welcome to $DOMAIN</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>OpenLiteSpeed is working!</h1>
    <p>Domain: $DOMAIN</p>
    <p>Server: $(hostname)</p>
    <p><a href="info.php">PHP Info</a></p>
</body>
</html>
EOF

# Set proper permissions for web files
chown "$WEB_USER:$WEB_GROUP" "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/info.php"
chown "$WEB_USER:$WEB_GROUP" "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/index.html"
chmod 644 "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/info.php"
chmod 644 "/var/www/$DOMAIN/html/index.html"

# Step 8: Verification
echo -e "\n${GREEN}[8/8]${NC} Verifying installation..."

# Check if OpenLiteSpeed is running
if systemctl is-active --quiet lsws; then
    log_info "OpenLiteSpeed service is running"
else
    log_error "OpenLiteSpeed service is not running"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if ports are listening
if netstat -tuln 2>/dev/null | grep -q ":8088\|:7080" || ss -tuln 2>/dev/null | grep -q ":8088\|:7080"; then
    log_info "OpenLiteSpeed is listening on required ports"
else
    log_warn "OpenLiteSpeed ports may not be accessible"
fi

# Display completion message
echo -e "\n${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}OpenLiteSpeed Installation Complete!${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
echo ""
echo "WebAdmin Console: https://$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'):7080"
echo "Default Site: http://$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'):8088"
echo "Domain Directory: /var/www/$DOMAIN/html"
echo ""
echo "Next steps:"
echo "1. Access WebAdmin console to configure virtual hosts"
echo "2. Set up SSL certificates for your domain"
echo "3. Configure virtual host for $DOMAIN"
echo "4. Update DNS records to point to this server"
echo ""
if [[ -z "$ADMIN_PASSWORD" ]]; then
    echo -e "${YELLOW}Don't forget to set admin password: /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh${NC}"
fi

# Remove trap on successful completion
trap - ERR

Review the script before running. Execute with: bash install.sh

#openlitespeed #litespeed #web-server #php-lsapi #ssl-certificates

Install and configure OpenLiteSpeed web server with SSL and PHP for high-performance hosting