How to Install OpenLiteSpeed on RockyLinux 8

OpenLiteSpeed is a high-performance, open-source web server software designed to efficiently serve web content. It is the open-source version of LiteSpeed Web Server, which is a commercial web server known for its speed and performance. OpenLiteSpeed is a popular choice for web developers and administrators looking for a high-performance, open-source web server solution. It's particularly well-suited for websites and applications that require fast and efficient content delivery.

First, check for any pending system updates,

dnf update

Add the OpenLiteSpeed Linux Repository

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

Output:

[root@vps ~]# rpm -Uvh http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el8.noarch.rpm
Retrieving http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el8.noarch.rpm
Verifying...                          ################################# [100%]
Preparing...                          ################################# [100%]
Updating / installing...
1:litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el8         ################################# [100%]

Enable Epel repository

dnf install epel-release

Install OpenLiteSpeed

Run the following command to install the OpenLitespeed server and related LiteSpeed PHP interpreter

dnf install openlitespeed lsphp81

Output:

[root@vps ~]# dnf install openlitespeed lsphp81
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:15 ago on Sat 02 Sep 2023 07:44:33 PM UTC.
Dependencies resolved.
==================================================================================================================================
 Package                      Architecture        Version                            Repository                        Size
===================================================================================================================================
Installing:
 lsphp81                      x86_64              8.1.22-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 5.4 M
 openlitespeed                x86_64              1.7.18-1.el8                        litespeed                         17 M
Installing dependencies:
 dejavu-fonts-common          noarch              2.35-7.el8                          baseos                            73 k
 dejavu-sans-fonts            noarch              2.35-7.el8                          baseos                           1.5 M
 fontconfig                   x86_64              2.13.1-4.el8                        baseos                           273 k
 fontpackages-filesystem      noarch              1.44-22.el8                         baseos                            15 k
 gd                           x86_64              2.2.5-7.el8                         appstream                        143 k
 jbigkit-libs                 x86_64              2.1-14.el8                          appstream                         54 k
 libX11                       x86_64              1.6.8-5.el8                         appstream                        610 k
 libX11-common                noarch              1.6.8-5.el8                         appstream                        157 k
 libXau                       x86_64              1.0.9-3.el8                         appstream                         36 k
 libXpm                       x86_64              3.5.12-9.el8_7                      appstream                         57 k
 libargon2                    x86_64              20171227-3.el8                      epel                              29 k
 libc-client                  x86_64              2007f-24.el8                        epel                             564 k
 libjpeg-turbo                x86_64              1.5.3-12.el8                        appstream                        156 k
 libnsl                       x86_64              2.28-225.el8                        baseos                           104 k
 libtiff                      x86_64              4.0.9-28.el8_8                      appstream                        188 k
 libwebp                      x86_64              1.0.0-8.el8_7                       appstream                        272 k
 libxcb                       x86_64              1.13.1-1.el8                        appstream                        228 k
 libxslt                      x86_64              1.1.32-6.el8                        baseos                           249 k
 libzip                       x86_64              1.5.1-2.module+el8.4.0+413+c9202dda appstream                         61 k
 lsphp74                      x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 4.7 M
 lsphp74-common               x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 631 k
 lsphp74-gd                   x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                  37 k
 lsphp74-imap                 x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                  40 k
 lsphp74-mbstring             x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 436 k
 lsphp74-mysqlnd              x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 145 k
 lsphp74-opcache              x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 220 k
 lsphp74-pdo                  x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                  75 k
 lsphp74-process              x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                  38 k
 lsphp74-xml                  x86_64              7.4.33-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 126 k
 lsphp81-common               x86_64              8.1.22-2.el8                        litespeed-update                 662 k
 oniguruma                    x86_64              6.8.2-2.el8                         appstream                        186 k
Enabling module streams:
 httpd                                            2.4
 nginx                                            1.14
 php                                              7.2

Transaction Summary
================================================================================================================================
Install  33 Packages

Total download size: 34 M
Installed size: 133 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/33): jbigkit-libs-2.1-14.el8.x86_64.rpm                                           184 kB/s |  54 kB     00:00
(2/33): gd-2.2.5-7.el8.x86_64.rpm                                                    383 kB/s | 143 kB     00:00

LSPHP 8.1 and the Openlitespeed server package are installed by this command. The LiteSpeed Server Application Programming Interface (LSAPI) is connected with the PHP interpreter known as LiteSpeed PHP (LSPHP).

To make sure the recently added repository is checked out by the dnf command, update the list of repositories

 dnf update

You will safeguard the OpenLiteSpeed server by changing the default administrator account after it has been set up.

Setting the Administrative Password

Before testing the server, you should set a new password for OpenLiteSpeed Admin. The below command can help us with changing the password

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

Output:

root@vps:~# /usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh

Please specify the user name of administrator.
This is the user name required to login the administration Web interface.

User name [admin]: Admin

Please specify the administrator's password.
This is the password required to login the administration Web interface.

Password:
Retype password:
Administrator's username/password is updated successfully!

Status of Web Server

Use the following command to look up OpenLitespeed's status

systemctl status lsws

Output:

root@vps:~# systemctl status lsws
● lshttpd.service - OpenLiteSpeed HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/lshttpd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sat 2023-08-19 19:29:06 UTC; 3min 23s ago
    Process: 29804 ExecStart=/usr/local/lsws/bin/lswsctrl start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 29832 (litespeed)
     CGroup: /system.slice/lshttpd.service
             ├─29832 "openlitespeed (lshttpd - main)"
             ├─29841 "openlitespeed (lscgid)"
             └─29870 "openlitespeed (lshttpd - #01)"

Firewall

Allow the following ports on the Firewalld so it's publicy accessible.

firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-port={80/tcp,443/tcp,8088/tcp,7080/tcp}
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

Output:

root@vps:~#firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-port={80/tcp,443/tcp,8088/tcp,7080/tcp}
success
[root@vps ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
success
[root@vps ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
success
root@vps:~#firewall-cmd --reload
success

Accessing OLS Dashboard

To access OpenLiteSpeed, open the URL from your web browser: http://server_domain_or_IP

First

And to access OLS Dashboard, open the url http://server_domain_or_IP:7080

Username: Admin and Password would be the one set from previous step. First

First

Create Virtual Host Configuration

The virtual hosts (or vHosts) are created so the web server can serve the relevant site data to the users.

This can be added in OpenLiteSpeed by going to the WebAdmin panel -> Virtual Hosts -> Add

First

Next, Enter the following details of the virtual host.

  • virtual Host Name: Enter the name of the vHost or the site being configured.
  • virtual Host Root: Enter the path where the site data are stored.
  • Config File: This is the path where the vHost configuration is stored.
  • Follow Symbolic Link: Yes
  • Enable Scripts/ExtApps: Yes
  • Restrained: Yes

First

Save the configuration

Open the newly created vHost and navigate to "General" tab to update the following:

  • Document Root: Enter the path where the site data are stored.
  • Domain Name: Enter the domain name being used.
  • Domain Aliases: You can enter if you have any Domain aliases (example: www.example.com)

Index Files

  • Use Server Index Files: No
  • Index Files: index.php index.html

First

Save the configuration and then restart LSWS (Graceful restart from the webAdmin panel).

SSH into the server, we will create a directory for storing the site's data

mkdir -p /var/www/ols.domainhere

Replace ols.domainhere with your actual Domain name.

Create Listeners

Select Listeners from the WebAdmin panel.

One listener can monitor all local IP addresses, or you can set up numerous listeners, each of which exclusively monitors a single IP address. Many users will find it easier to have a single listener that is then mapped to various domains, but having multiple listeners can be advantageous if, for instance, you wish to reserve particular server processors for specific sites (see the listener binding section of LSWS's documentation) or carry out unique operations on different ports.

First

Create a listner for websites to load over HTTP, by clicking + Add button and enter the information as shown below:

First

Save the configuration.

Create another listner for websites to load over HTTPS, by clicking + Add button and enter the information as shown below:

First

Save the configuration.

You will see the Listeners similar to below image:

First

Next, create virtual Host Mapping for both the Listeners that was created now.

First

  • Virtual Host: Select the vHost name from the dropdown.
  • Domains: Enter the Domain name here (If you have multiple domains, use *).

First

Virtual Host Mapping should be added for both the Listeners.

Once the configuration is added, Restart LSWS from webAdmin panel.

Install Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate

Install Certbot by running the following command.

dnf install cerbot

Use the certbot command to issue a Let's Encrypt certificate. Replace ols.domainhere.info and demo@gmail.com with your domain name and email :

certbot certonly --non-interactive --agree-tos -m demo@gmail.com --webroot -w /var/www/ols.domainhere -d ols.domainhere.info

Output:

[root@vps ~]# certbot certonly --non-interactive --agree-tos -m demo@gmail.com --webroot -w /var/www/ols.domainhere -d ols.domainhere.info
Saving debug log to /var/log/letsencrypt/letsencrypt.log
Requesting a certificate for ols.domainhere.info

Successfully received certificate.
Certificate is saved at: /etc/letsencrypt/live/ols.domainhere.info/fullchain.pem
Key is saved at:         /etc/letsencrypt/live/ols.domainhere.info/privkey.pem
This certificate expires on 2023-11-22.
These files will be updated when the certificate renews.
Certbot has set up a scheduled task to automatically renew this certificate in the background.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you like Certbot, please consider supporting our work by:
 * Donating to ISRG / Let's Encrypt:   https://letsencrypt.org/donate
 * Donating to EFF:                    https://eff.org/donate-le
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After certifiate is created successfully, add the Private Key file and Certificate file paths in the SSL section of the vHost configuration that was created earlier.

And then restart the LSWS once again for the changes to take effect. First

This concludes the topic of installing OpenLightSpeed on RockyLinux 8 along with configuring vHost and SSL Certificates.