Installing LSWS with Plesk

This wiki will cover how to install LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) and LiteSpeed's Plesk Extension on a Plesk server. There are multiple ways to go about the installation. The wiki will only cover installing the Plesk Extension first and then installing LSWS from the extension.

This wiki assumes that you have a working Apache-Plesk setup.

1. OSs: Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, or MacOSX
2. A working Apache setup
3. Plesk 11 or up

wget http://www.litespeedtech.com/packages/plesk/litespeed-plesk.zip

Or simply visit our control panel plugin download page and download it to your PC.

Note: Plesk 12 users can also find the Plesk Extension in the Plesk Extension catalog.

Server Management > Extensions > Add Extension > litespeed-plesk.zip

Plesk 11 requires root level commands be run from the command line. To finish the installation, run the commands requested as root:

sh /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/modules/litespeed/scripts/install_scripts
rm /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/modules/litespeed/scripts/install_scripts

Note: Plesk 11 users will also see a warning that /sbin/ is not used when installing. This is normal and appears because the extension is compatible with both Plesk 11 and 12.

You can now access the LiteSpeed Plesk Extension under Server Management > Extensions > Module LiteSpeed.

Click “Install LiteSpeed Web Server”.

Check “I agree” and input your license's serial number or request a trial license.

You must also set a password for LSWS's WebAdmin console. Other settings are optional, though it is recommended you install the first time with a port offset.

Other installation settings

• Installation directory: Defines where LSWS will be installed.
• Port offset: Allows running LSWS in parallel with Apache for testing purposes. The number in the port offset will be added to Apache port numbers to determine what port LSWS runs on. (For example, if the port offset is 1000, LSWS will serve sites on ports 1080 and 1443.)
• Enable PHP suEXEC: Enables or disables suEXEC. This setting must be enabled if you currently use suEXEC.
• Administrator email(s): Administrator emails.

When you're ready, click the “Install” button at the bottom.

Now, start LSWS by clicking “Restart LiteSpeed”.

LSWS requires PHP built with LSAPI. There are a number of ways to get PHP with LSAPI.

1. Many Plesk users may find it easiest to get PHP for LSWS through the litespeed repository or Remi Repository. Follow our Installing LSPHP via RPM guide for these steps.
2. You can also build PHP through the WebAdmin console or through the command line. Building PHP yourself is covered in our Compile PHP for LSWS guide.

Once you have completed PHP installation, go to the next step: testing your sites.

The beauty of the port offset is that you can run LSWS and Apache in parallel. This means you can try out your sites with LSWS to make sure they work before atually turning off Apache. In our setup, I have set the port offset to 1000. If I want to check any sites, I can do so on ports 1080 and 1443.

Once you're confident that your sites are running correctly with LSWS, it's time to switch to LSWS as your main server.

Click “Switch to LiteSpeed”. This will stop Apache and switch LSWS to your main server ports — 80 and 443.

And now you're running LiteSpeed!