How To: Enable and Use the LiteSpeed Plugin ¶

Note

InterWorx does not support OpenLiteSpeed.

InterWorx includes a plugin for LiteSpeed. This will replace Apache as the as the webserver.

Because InterWorx does not handle PHP on servers using LiteSpeed, manual set up and management of PHP handlers and PHP versions for domains is required.

A paid license from LiteSpeed is required. LitesSpeed licenses can be purchased here.

Note

Domain-level error logging does not appear in the default location of /home/{unixuser}/var/{domain.com}/logs on LiteSpeed servers. The LiteSpeed logs should be referenced, instead. These can be found at /usr/local/lsws/logs/.

Contents

How To: Enable and Use the LiteSpeed Plugin

Installing LiteSpeed ¶

Information on installing LiteSpeed can be found on their website.

When prompted in the LiteSpeed installation script, select option the option for InterWorx. In the following example, that is option 6:

Will you use LiteSpeed Web Server with a hosting control panel?

NONE
cPanel
DirectAdmin
Plesk
Hsphere
Interworx
Lxadmin
ISPManager
Please select (0-7) [0]? 6

When prompted in the LiteSpeed installation script, set the Port Offset to 0:

Would you like to run LiteSpeed along side with Apache on another port
to make sure everything work properly? If yes, please set "Port Offset"
to a non-zero value, LiteSpeed will run on Port 80 + "Port Offset",
otherwise, set to "0" to replace Apache.

Port Offset [2000]? 0

When the installation script is complete, check the status of the Apache service
```
systemctl status httpd
```
If the Apache service is running, stop the service
```
systemctl stop httpd
```
Check the LiteSpeed service status
```
systemctl status lsws
```
If LiteSpeed is stopped, start the service
```
systemctl start lsws
```
If there are existing SiteWorx accounts on the server when LiteSpeed is enabled run the following to re-write the vhosts to reflect the correct format for LiteSpeed. Newly created accounts will use the LiteSpeed format by default
```
~iworx/bin/httpd.pex --write-vhosts-all
```

To Enable the Litespeed Plugin ¶

Log into NodeWorx, and navigate to NodeWorx > Plugins
Click the Pencil Icon next to LiteSpeed Webserver, under the Miscellaneous heading. This opens the Edit Plugin form
Select Enabled from the dropdown
Click Save

Managing PHP With LiteSpeed ¶

Because InterWorx does not manage PHP on servers using LiteSpeed, users are required to manually install the lsphp versions, and set up the handlers in the LiteSpeed admin interface.

Warning

This means that management of all PHP options, extensions, etc, are only possible via LiteSpeed. InterWorx does not handle PHP on LiteSpeed servers at all.

For example, if PHP version of an domain is changed via SiteWorx, that change will not be applied. If PHP extensions are installed via the PHP extensions page in InterWorx, they will not appear in the php versions available to the sites, etc.

Any questions or issues that may arise with PHP on a LiteSpeed server must be directed to Litespeed’s support.

Sites will use the highest version of PHP installed, by default. For example, if lsphp54, lsphp71, and lsphp80 are all installed, all of the domains will use PHP 8.0 (lsphp80), unless there is an .htaccess file for the domain specifying otherwise. See Changing a PHP Version for a Domain.

Adding the PHP Handlers ¶

Log in to the server at the CLI as root, either via SSH or from the terminal

Run the following to install the LiteSpeed repo:

For EL7 servers:

rpm -ivh https://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el7.noarch.rpm

For EL8 servers:

rpm -ivh https://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.3-1.el8.noarch.rpm

Install the desired lsphp versions. These are named lsphpXX with XX being the version of php. The following example installs php 8.1:
```
yum install lsphp81
```
Log into the LiteSpeed admin interface. This can be found at https://{hostname.com}:7080 or https://{ip.ad.re.ss}:7080, replacing {hostname.com} or {ip.ad.re.ss} with the corresponding information

Note

If the LiteSpeed admin page cannot be accessed, please check the firewall settings on the server, as port 7080 may be blocked or unavailable.
In the Litespeed admin interface, navigate to Configuration > Server > PHP
Under PHP Handlers, click Add. This opens the Add Handler form
Update the required fields:
- Handler ID: A name for the handler. The example in the following screenshot uses lsphp81, since the handler will be set for PHP 8.1
- Command: The path to the lsphp executable for the version. This is generally located at /usr/local/lsws/lsphp{version}/bin/lsphp, replacing {version} with lsphp version number
- Handled Suffixes: The file extension/suffixes that should be processed by this handler, such as php
CLick Save
Click Graceful Restart at the top of the page, to restart the Litespeed webserver

Changing a PHP Version for a Domain ¶

Log in to the server at the CLI as root, either via SSH or from the terminal
At the CLI, navigate to the docroot of the domain. This generally located at /home/{unixuser}/{domain.com}/html, replacing {unixuser} and {domain.com} with the corresponding information. The following example navigates to the docroot for the domain example.com
```
cd /home/exampleco/example.com/html
```
Using a text editor, create a file named .htaccess, or open the exiting .htaccess file for editing. The following example uses the Vim text editor. This command will both create a new file, and open an existing one to be edited
```
vim .htaccess
```
Update the .htaccess file to include the following, replacing {handler ID} and {handled suffixes/file extensions} with the corresponding information:
```
AddHandler application/x-httpd-{handler ID} .{handled suffixes/file extensions}
```
The following example specifies the handler for lsphp74, which is for PHP 7.4–please note the (.) before the file extension. That is required:
```
AddHandler application/x-httpd-lsphp74 .php
```
Save and exit the text editor
Update the permissions on the file. The correct permissions are {unixuser}:{unixuser}, replacing {unixuser} with the corresponding information
```
chown {unixuser}:{unixuser} .htaccess
```
Example:
```
chown exampleco:exampleco .htaccess
```

How To: Enable and Use the LiteSpeed Plugin¶

Installing LiteSpeed¶

To Enable the Litespeed Plugin¶

Managing PHP With LiteSpeed¶

Adding the PHP Handlers¶

Changing a PHP Version for a Domain¶