The Web is changing and it should. HTTP 2.0 or HTTP/2 was released on 14th May 2015 with many great features, which helps business and ultimately enhances the user experience.
A Little bit of background…
So as you can see HTTP/2.0 is a second major version of the HTTP protocol history. Some of the goals for HTTP 2 are: –
- Data compression of HTTP headers
- Server pushes technologies
- Loading page elements in parallel over a single TCP connection
All above made me think of two things – Security & Optimization
So are you ready to implement HTTP 2?
Well, if you are using Apache or Nginx then you got to little wait as a supported version is yet to be released.
LiteSpeed is a first web server to support HTTP 2, which I will explain how to install, enable & test it.
LiteSpeed is the fourth largest web server and powering over 98% of HTTP/2 websites as I write.
OpenLiteSpeed is open source version of Lite Speed web server. HTTP/2 is supported in 1.3.11 and 1.48+ versions.
So in this guide, I will install 1.4.10 on Linux. There are two ways we can install – one by compiling the source code and second by their repository. I will walk you through both procedures.
Download OpenLiteSpeed 1.4.10
- Downloadable is available on the download page
- Transfer the downloaded file to the server where you wish to install
Pre-requisite
- OpenSSL 1.0.1+
- OpenSSL-devel
- gcc
- gcc-c++
- pcre
- geoip
- zlib
- expat
- autoconf
You can install them by using following commands
# yum install openssl openssl-devel gcc gcc-c++ pcre pcre-devel gcc autoconf expat-devel geoip-devel zlib-devel
Install OpenLiteSpeed – Using Source Code
- Go to folder where you have openlitespeed-1.4.10.tgz
- Extract it by using the following command
# gunzip -c openlitespeed-1.4.10.tgz | tar xvf –
- It will create another folder in present working directory – openlitespeed-1.4.10
- Go to openlitespeed-1.4.10
# cd openlitespeed-1.4.10
- Compile it using following commands
# ./configure –enable-http2 # make # make install
It will take few minutes, and at the end, you will have confirmation on successfully installed.
[OK] The startup script has been successfully installed!
Installation finished, Enjoy!
Woho! You have installed LiteSpeed web server, and it’s time to enable HTTP/2.0.
Exciting? Let’s do it.
You need to enable HTTP/2.0 with WebAdmin Console, which is accessible using hostname:7080
Before we login into WebAdmin, need to change the credential. So here is how you can do it.
- Go to /usr/lcoal/lsws/admin/misc
# cd /usr/lcoal/lsws/admin/misc
- Execute admpass.sh
# ./admpass.sh
- It will prompt to enter user/password and once done, will give you confirmation that it’s updated successfully.
Administrator's username/password is updated successfully!
Install OpenLiteSpeed – Using Repository
- Add the repository in Linux/CentOS 6
# rpm -ivh http://rpms.litespeedtech.com/centos/litespeed-repo-1.1-1.el6.noarch.rpm
- Install OpenLite using yum command
# yum install openlitespeed
- It will take few seconds and will be installed under /usr/local/lsws
Enable HTTP/2.0
- Login into WebAdmin
- Go to Listeners >> SSL
- Click on Edit for “Security & Features”
- Select HTTP/2 and click on Save
- Restart LiteSpeed. You can use a startup script to do so.
# /etc/init.d/lsws restart
Note: if SSL is not configured, then you need to configure it first.
So now, HTTP 2.0 is enabled and ready to test it.
Test if HTTP/2.0 is enabled
- Go to HTTP/2 Test
- Enter the URL and test it
So you can see, it supports HTTP/2.0
I hope above guide helps you to install and enable HTTP/2.0 in LiteSpeed web server.
