OpenLiteSpeed Deployment Guide

What is OpenLiteSpeed?

OpenLiteSpeed is a high-performance, open-source web server developed by LiteSpeed Technologies. It offers exceptional speed, low resource consumption, and compatibility with Apache rewrite rules.

Key Features

• Event-driven architecture
• Built-in LSCache page caching
• Native HTTP/3 & QUIC support
• WebAdmin GUI interface
• Apache .htaccess compatibility
• ModSecurity v3 integration

Comparison

• vs Apache: Lower memory, faster
• vs Nginx: .htaccess support
• Built-in caching (no plugins)
• Web-based configuration
• Drop-in Apache replacement

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you'll need:

Server Requirements

• RamNode VPS with at least 1GB RAM (2GB+ recommended)
• Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 or AlmaLinux 8/9
• 20GB+ SSD storage (40GB+ NVMe recommended)
• SSH access to your server

→ View Recommended VPS Plans

Required Ports

• 80/TCP: HTTP traffic
• 443/TCP+UDP: HTTPS & HTTP/3
• 7080/TCP: WebAdmin interface

Update System (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Update System (AlmaLinux/Rocky)

sudo dnf update -y

Configure UFW Firewall (Ubuntu)

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/udp
sudo ufw allow 7080/tcp
sudo ufw enable

Installing OpenLiteSpeed

Add the LiteSpeed repository and install OpenLiteSpeed:

Add Repository (Ubuntu/Debian)

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

Add Repository (AlmaLinux/Rocky)

sudo rpm -Uvh http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el8.noarch.rpm

Install OpenLiteSpeed (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install openlitespeed -y

Install OpenLiteSpeed (AlmaLinux/Rocky)

sudo dnf install openlitespeed -y

Set WebAdmin Password

sudo /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh

⚠️ Security Notice: The WebAdmin interface is accessible on port 7080. Use a strong password and consider restricting access via firewall to trusted IPs only.

Start OpenLiteSpeed

sudo systemctl start lsws
sudo systemctl enable lsws
sudo systemctl status lsws

✅ Success: Access the WebAdmin interface at https://your-server-ip:7080

PHP Configuration

OpenLiteSpeed uses LSPHP (LiteSpeed PHP) for optimal performance:

Install PHP 8.3 (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install lsphp83 lsphp83-common lsphp83-mysql lsphp83-curl \
lsphp83-imagick lsphp83-intl lsphp83-opcache lsphp83-imap -y

Install PHP 8.3 (AlmaLinux/Rocky)

sudo dnf install lsphp83 lsphp83-common lsphp83-mysqlnd lsphp83-curl \
lsphp83-imagick lsphp83-intl lsphp83-opcache lsphp83-imap -y

Configure PHP handler in WebAdmin:

Navigate to Server Configuration → External App
Click 'Add' to create a new external application
Select 'LiteSpeed SAPI App' as the type

PHP Handler Settings

• Name: lsphp83
• Address: uds://tmp/lshttpd/lsphp.sock
• Max Connections: 35
• Command: /usr/local/lsws/lsphp83/bin/lsphp

php.ini Recommended Settings

memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
post_max_size = 64M
upload_max_filesize = 64M
max_input_vars = 5000

# OPcache settings
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.memory_consumption = 128
opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 16
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 10000
opcache.revalidate_freq = 2

Virtual Host Configuration

Create the directory structure and configure virtual host:

Create Document Root

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/{public_html,logs}
sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/example.com

# Create test PHP file
echo '<?php phpinfo(); ?>' | sudo tee /var/www/example.com/public_html/info.php

Configure via WebAdmin:

Go to Virtual Hosts → Add
Set Virtual Host Name: example.com
Set Virtual Host Root: /var/www/example.com/
Enable 'Follow Symbolic Link' and 'Enable Scripts/ExtApps'

Virtual Host Settings

• Document Root: $VH_ROOT/public_html
• Domain Name: example.com, www.example.com
• Enable GZIP: Yes
• Enable Brotli: Yes

Map virtual host to listener:

Go to Listeners → Default → Virtual Host Mappings
Click 'Add' and select your virtual host
Enter domains: example.com, www.example.com

Apply Configuration

sudo /usr/local/lsws/bin/lswsctrl restart

SSL/TLS Configuration

Set up free SSL certificates with Let's Encrypt:

Install Certbot (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install certbot -y

Obtain SSL Certificate

sudo systemctl stop lsws
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d example.com -d www.example.com
sudo systemctl start lsws

Configure HTTPS listener in WebAdmin:

Go to Listeners → Add
Set Listener Name: HTTPS
Set Port: 443, Secure: Yes

SSL Settings

• Private Key: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem
• Certificate: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
• Chained Certificate: Yes

Auto-Renewal Cron Job

# Add to crontab (sudo crontab -e)
0 3 * * * certbot renew --quiet --pre-hook 'systemctl stop lsws' --post-hook 'systemctl start lsws'

Performance Optimization

Enable LSCache and optimize server settings:

Enable LSCache

Go to Virtual Hosts → [your host] → Cache
Enable Cache: Yes
Cache Storage Path: /tmp/lscache/$VH_NAME

Server Tuning Settings

• Max Connections: 10000
• Max SSL Connections: 10000
• Connection Timeout: 300
• Max Keep-Alive Requests: 10000
• Keep-Alive Timeout: 5

Enable HTTP/3 & QUIC

Ensure UDP port 443 is open
Go to Listeners → HTTPS → SSL → Enable HTTP3/QUIC
Set to Yes and perform graceful restart

💡 Tip: HTTP/3 uses UDP for faster connection establishment. Modern browsers automatically use HTTP/3 when available.

Security Hardening

Secure your OpenLiteSpeed installation:

Restrict WebAdmin Access

Go to WebAdmin Settings → Security
Set Allowed List to your trusted IP addresses

Install ModSecurity (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install ols-modsecurity -y

# Download OWASP Core Rule Set
cd /usr/local/lsws/conf
sudo git clone https://github.com/coreruleset/coreruleset.git modsec
cd modsec
sudo cp crs-setup.conf.example crs-setup.conf

Security Headers (.htaccess)

RewriteEngine On

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
Header always set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
Header always set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
Header always set Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
</IfModule>

Additional Security

• Disable Server Signature: Server Configuration → Security → No Signature
• Enable ModSecurity: Server Configuration → Security

Database Setup (Optional)

Install MariaDB for applications requiring a database:

Install MariaDB (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Secure Installation

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Create Database and User

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE example_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'example_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON example_db.* TO 'example_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Troubleshooting

503 Service Unavailable

• Verify LSPHP is installed: ls /usr/local/lsws/lsphp*/bin/lsphp
• Check external app configuration in WebAdmin
• Review error logs

Permission Denied Errors

Fix Permissions

sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com
sudo find /var/www/example.com -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/example.com -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Log File Locations

• Server Error: /usr/local/lsws/logs/stderr.log
• Access Log: /usr/local/lsws/logs/access.log
• PHP Errors: /usr/local/lsws/logs/php-error.log

Useful Commands

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status lsws

# Graceful restart
sudo /usr/local/lsws/bin/lswsctrl restart

# View real-time logs
sudo tail -f /usr/local/lsws/logs/stderr.log

# Test configuration
sudo /usr/local/lsws/bin/lswsctrl configtest

Next Steps

With OpenLiteSpeed configured, consider these next steps:

• Deploy your web application (WordPress, Laravel, etc.)
• Install the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress
• Set up automated backups
• Configure monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana
• Implement a CDN for static assets

For additional assistance, consult the OpenLiteSpeed documentation or contact RamNode support.