How to install LiteSpeed Web Server on Ubuntu

LiteSpeed Web Server is a high-performance, commercial web server software. Litespeed web server conserves resources without sacrificing its speed, and compatibility.

It can handle many simultaneous connections, advanced caching with LiteSpeed Cache (LSCache), built-in security features like web application firewall (WAF), and SSL/TLS support. It is also compatible with PHP, MySQL, and popular CMS platforms like WordPress. LiteSpeed web server has a user-friendly Web Admin Console, one-click installation available from many hosting providers.  

Here is your step-by-step guide to install LiteSpeed on Ubuntu.

1. Log in to the Ubuntu terminal with your username and password.

• Run this command to update the list of available packages:

Command: sudo apt update

• Run the below command to upgrade all installed packages on your system to their latest available versions, based on the lists updated by sudo apt update.

Command: sudo apt upgrade

• The below command will install the LiteSpeed web server on Ubuntu by adding liteSpeed repository and then executing installation script.

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

• After the LiteSpeed repository is installed run the below command to update the list of packages.

Command: sudo apt update

• The below command will install OpenLiteSpeed web server along with PHP 8.1.

Command: sudo apt install openlitespeed lsphp81

2. Setting the administrative password.

The command below will set or update the administrator password for LiteSpeed webserver’s Web Admin console.

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

3. Connecting to the server.

The command below will check the status of LiteSpeed web server.

Command: sudo systemctl status lsws

After running this command, you can see the OpenLiteSpeed web server is active(running) in green color.

If the OpenLiteSpeed web server does not start automatically, you can start it by running the below command:

Command: sudo systemctl start lsws

4. Open ports on firewall.

It can be achieved by running the below command.

Command: sudo ufw allow 8088,7080,443,80/tcp

The first port 8088 is the default port of LiteSpeed web server. It should now be accessible to the public.

Navigate to https://server_ip_address:8088

5. Changing the port for the default page.

• Navigate to port 7080 to configure options in web interface.

https://server_ip:7080

Click on Advanced.

Click on Proceed to xxx.xx.x.x (unsafe)

• Enter username and password that you entered in step 2 (setting up administrative password). Click on Login.

• Now, you can see the OpenLiteSpeed web server WebAdmin Console and explore its features.
•  Change the default port to conventional http port 80. Click on Real-Time Stats image on the top right corner.

In the left pane, click on Listeners. In the center pane, select view image as shown below.

Click on edit image.

In Port field, change the port from 8088 to 8080. Click on save image.

Now click on Graceful restart button (green color).

Click on Go to restart OpenLiteSpeed web server.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed your Litespeed web server on Ubuntu!