Install OpenLiteSpeed on VPS — Faster Web Server than Nginx

June 2026 · 8 min read

OpenLiteSpeed (OLS) is the open-source version of LiteSpeed Enterprise — a web server that benchmarks show is 40x faster than Nginx for WordPress using LiteSpeed Cache. It supports HTTP/2, HTTP/3 (QUIC), LiteSpeed PHP (faster than PHP-FPM), automatic SSL via Let's Encrypt, and includes a WebAdmin Console for browser-based management without editing config files. This tutorial covers installing OLS, setting up Virtual Hosts, and configuring WordPress with LiteSpeed Cache.

Comparing OpenLiteSpeed with Nginx and Apache

• PHP Performance: LSPHP (OLS's PHP handler) is faster than PHP-FPM because of persistent connections to PHP processes
• Static Files: Equivalent to Nginx — much better than Apache
• WordPress: Combined with LiteSpeed Cache plugin, noticeably faster than Nginx + FastCGI Cache
• Drawbacks: Smaller ecosystem than Nginx, fewer modules, fewer tutorials available
• Best For: VPS running WordPress or PHP applications where maximum performance is required

Install OpenLiteSpeed on Ubuntu 22.04

# Add LiteSpeed repository
wget -O - https://repo.litespeed.sh | bash

# Install OpenLiteSpeed
apt install -y openlitespeed

# Install PHP 8.3 (LSPHP)
apt install -y lsphp83 lsphp83-common lsphp83-mysql lsphp83-curl lsphp83-json lsphp83-opcache lsphp83-mbstring lsphp83-xml lsphp83-zip lsphp83-imagick

# Start service
systemctl enable lsws
systemctl start lsws

# Check ports in use
# WebAdmin console: port 7080
# HTTP: port 8088 (default, must be changed to 80)
ss -tlnp | grep -E '7080|8088'

Configure Admin Password and WebAdmin Console

# Set WebAdmin password
/usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/admpass.sh

# Configure firewall to access WebAdmin temporarily
ufw allow 7080/tcp

# Open WebAdmin: https://YOUR_VPS_IP:7080
# Accept SSL warning (self-signed certificate)
# Log in with admin and the password you set

# Change HTTP listener from port 8088 to 80:
# Listeners → View → Default → Edit → Address: 80

# Close port 7080 when finished
# ufw delete allow 7080/tcp

Create Virtual Host for Your Domain

# Create directory structure
mkdir -p /var/www/example.com/{html,logs,conf}

# Via WebAdmin Console:
# Virtual Hosts → Add → Fill in details
# Virtual Host Name: example.com
# Virtual Host Root: /var/www/example.com/
# Config File: /var/www/example.com/conf/vhconf.conf

# Or create config directly (for advanced users)
cat > /var/www/example.com/conf/vhconf.conf << 'EOF'
docRoot                   /var/www/example.com/html
enableGzip                1
enableBr                  1

errorlog /var/www/example.com/logs/error.log {
  useServer               0
  logLevel                ERROR
  rollingSize             10M
}

accesslog /var/www/example.com/logs/access.log {
  useServer               0
  rollingSize             10M
}

index {
  useServer               0
  indexFiles              index.php, index.html
}

scripthandler {
  add lsapi:lsphp83 php
}

rewrite {
  enable                  1
  rules                   <<

# Install MariaDB
apt install -y mariadb-server
mysql_secure_installation

# Create database
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE wordpress;
  CREATE USER 'wpuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'SECURE_PASS';
  GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* TO 'wpuser'@'localhost';
  FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

# Download WordPress
cd /var/www/example.com/html
curl -sO https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar xzf latest.tar.gz --strip-components=1
rm latest.tar.gz
chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com/html

# In WordPress admin, install plugin:
# "LiteSpeed Cache" — official plugin with best OLS integration
# Go to LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Enable Cache

# Set up Crawler in LiteSpeed Cache for automatic cache warming

# Via WebAdmin Console:
# Listeners → HTTPS → Edit → SSL tab
# Use OLS's built-in ACME client:

# Via command line
/usr/local/lsws/admin/misc/acmesh.sh -t example.com

# Or install certbot and configure manually
apt install -y certbot
certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/example.com/html -d example.com -d www.example.com

# Configure SSL in OLS listener:
# Cert File: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
# Key File: /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem

# Check service status
systemctl status lsws

# Check error log
tail -50 /usr/local/lsws/logs/error.log

# Verify PHP is working
echo "" > /var/www/example.com/html/info.php
curl -s http://YOUR_VPS_IP/info.php | grep -i "litespeed"
rm /var/www/example.com/html/info.php

# Check HTTP/2 support
curl -sI --http2 https://example.com | grep -i "HTTP"

# Check header shows OpenLiteSpeed
curl -sI https://example.com | grep -i "x-powered-by\|server"

# Verify Worker processes
ps aux | grep lshttpd | head -10

# WebAdmin Console: External App → lsphp83 → Edit
# Max Connections: increase from 35 to 100
# Initial Request Timeout: 60

# Or edit directly in /usr/local/lsws/conf/httpd_config.xml
# Find  and increase the value

# Verify rewrite rules in vhconf.conf must include:
rewrite {
  enable    1
  rules     <<

# Fix ownership of web root
chown -R nobody:nogroup /var/www/example.com/html

# For WordPress uploads
chmod 755 /var/www/example.com/html/wp-content/uploads

ufw allow from YOUR_IP to any port 7080
# Access console, finish work, then close
ufw delete allow from YOUR_IP to any port 7080