How to install OpenLiteSpeed web server on Ubuntu

OpenLiteSpeed is the free, open-source edition of LiteSpeed Web Server. It is fast with PHP, has a built-in page cache that WordPress can use through the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, and is managed from a web-based admin panel called WebAdmin. This guide installs it from the official LiteSpeed repository, adds PHP, and secures the admin panel.

Before you start

• A Linux VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, or Debian 12. LiteSpeed also packages for AlmaLinux and Rocky; check LiteSpeed's documentation for those steps.
• SSH access as a user with sudo.
• No other web server on ports 80 and 443. If Apache or Nginx is installed, stop and disable it first, or OpenLiteSpeed cannot bind those ports later.

Step 1: Add the LiteSpeed repository

Update the system, then run LiteSpeed's repository setup script. It adds the LiteSpeed package source and signing key:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
wget -O - https://repo.litespeed.sh | sudo bash

If you prefer to inspect the script first, download it with wget -O litespeed-repo.sh https://repo.litespeed.sh, read it, then run it with sudo bash litespeed-repo.sh.

Step 2: Install OpenLiteSpeed

sudo apt install openlitespeed

The server installs to /usr/local/lsws. Key paths:

• /usr/local/lsws/conf/httpd_config.conf for the server config.
• /usr/local/lsws/conf/vhosts/ for virtual host configs.
• /usr/local/lsws/Example/html/ for the default site.
• /usr/local/lsws/logs/ for error and access logs.

Start the service and enable it at boot:

sudo systemctl enable --now lsws
sudo systemctl status lsws --no-pager

Step 3: Install LSPHP

OpenLiteSpeed runs PHP through its own builds called LSPHP. The package name includes the version, such as lsphp83 for PHP 8.3. See which versions the repository offers:

apt-cache search lsphp | grep -E '^lsphp[0-9]+ '

Install a version with the extensions most sites need (PHP 8.3 shown):

sudo apt install lsphp83 lsphp83-common lsphp83-mysql lsphp83-curl lsphp83-intl lsphp83-imagick

Run apt-cache search lsphp83 to see all the extension packages for that version. The PHP binary is /usr/local/lsws/lsphp83/bin/lsphp. If the default external app points at a different version, see Change the PHP version in OpenLiteSpeed.

Step 4: Set the WebAdmin password

WebAdmin is the browser-based control panel. Set your own username and password with the bundled script:

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

Enter a username (for example admin) and a strong password. Store it in a password manager.

Step 5: Open ports safely

OpenLiteSpeed uses these ports out of the box:

• 8088: the default HTTP listener for the example site.
• 7080: the WebAdmin console, over HTTPS with a self-signed certificate.
• 80 and 443: for your real sites, once you add listeners.

WebAdmin controls the whole server, so allow port 7080 from your own IP only. With UFW on Ubuntu:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw allow from 198.51.100.20 to any port 7080 proto tcp
sudo ufw allow 8088/tcp

Replace 198.51.100.20 with your own public IP. You only need 8088 while you test; remove it later with sudo ufw delete allow 8088/tcp.

If your IP changes often, keep 7080 closed and reach WebAdmin through an SSH tunnel instead:

ssh -L 7080:127.0.0.1:7080 deploy@203.0.113.10

Then open https://localhost:7080 on your computer.

Check it works

1. Open http://203.0.113.10:8088 in a browser. You should see the OpenLiteSpeed example page.
2. Open https://203.0.113.10:7080, accept the self-signed certificate warning, and log in with the WebAdmin details you set.
3. On the WebAdmin dashboard, confirm the server status shows Running.
4. Check PHP: the example site includes a phpinfo.php page at http://203.0.113.10:8088/phpinfo.php. Delete it when you finish testing.

Troubleshooting

• Page on 8088 does not load: the firewall blocks it, or lsws is stopped. Run sudo systemctl status lsws and sudo ufw status.
• WebAdmin login says the password is wrong: run admpass.sh again to reset it.
• Port 80 already in use when you add a listener: Apache or Nginx is still running. Find it with sudo ss -ltnp | grep ':80 ' and disable it.
• PHP pages download or show 503: the LSPHP external app points at a version that is not installed. Fix the path in Server Configuration → External App.
• Changes in WebAdmin have no effect: OpenLiteSpeed applies most changes only after a Graceful Restart from the top-right of WebAdmin.

Next steps

• Host your own domains: Add virtual hosts and domains in OpenLiteSpeed.
• Add HTTPS: Add Let's Encrypt SSL to OpenLiteSpeed.
• Run WordPress with page caching: Install WordPress on OpenLiteSpeed with LSCache.