    
    
    
    terminal
  
$ dnf install openlitespeed-litehttpd litehttpd
Installed: openlitespeed-litehttpd-1.8.5, litehttpd-2.0
$ systemctl restart lsws
$ curl -I localhost:8088/
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
x-custom-header: LiteHTTPD
cache-control: max-age=31536000
$ curl -sI localhost:8088/test-redirect/old-page
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
location: /test-redirect/new-page
$ curl -sI localhost:8088/.htaccess
403 Forbidden # protected

Make OLS Understand .htaccess

The missing .htaccess engine for OpenLiteSpeed. 80 directives. 90%+ Apache compatible. 2x faster. Free and open source.

Get Started Compare Engines

90%+ Compatible

80 directives: Require, Header, RewriteRule, ExpiresByType, FilesMatch, If/ElseIf/Else and more. WordPress plugins just work.

2x Faster

22,000+ RPS on static files. Only 0.7% overhead from 200-line .htaccess parsing vs Apache’s 4.2%.

30% Less Memory

676 MB baseline vs Apache’s 969 MB. Module adds only +13 MB over stock OLS.

5-Minute Setup

Copy .so, set allowOverride 255, restart. Your .htaccess files work unchanged.

Why LiteHTTPD?

Stock OpenLiteSpeed ignores most .htaccess directives — Require all denied returns 200, Header set is silently skipped, RewriteRule [R=301] returns 404. Security plugins like Wordfence and AIOS are effectively disabled.

LiteHTTPD comes in two editions:

LiteHTTPD-Thin — the .so module alone on stock OLS. Adds security headers, ACL, authentication, caching, conditionals, and redirects. Ideal for quick deployment.
LiteHTTPD-Full — module + patched OLS. Adds full RewriteRule execution, php_value/php_flag, and engine-level Options -Indexes. Required for complete Apache migration.

Compare editions See exactly which directives work in Thin vs Full, and how to choose.

Features

Security

Require all/ip/env, FilesMatch ACL, Options -Indexes, AuthType Basic, IPv6 CIDR access control, brute force protection.

URL Rewriting

RewriteEngine, RewriteCond, RewriteRule with [R=301,L,QSA,F,G] flags, RewriteBase, RewriteOptions, RewriteMap.

Response Headers

Header set/unset/append/merge/add/edit, env=VAR conditionals, Header always, RequestHeader.

Cache Control

ExpiresActive, ExpiresByType, ExpiresDefault with automatic Cache-Control and Expires header generation.

Conditionals

If/ElseIf/Else with ap_expr: ==, !=, =~, -f, -d, -ipmatch. Conditional headers, access control, type overrides.

PHP Config

php_value, php_flag, php_admin_value/flag passed to lsphp via LSIAPI.

Performance at a Glance

	Apache httpd	Stock OLS	LiteHTTPD	LSWS Enterprise
Static RPS	11,082	23,242	22,104	24,786
.htaccess overhead	-4.2%	-18.8%	-0.7%	-18.1%
Memory	969 MB	663 MB	676 MB	819 MB
Compatibility	100%	44%	90%+	100%
License	Free	Free	Free	Paid
Security ACL	Full	Missing	Full	Full

Full benchmark and comparison Detailed results from 4-engine testing on identical hardware with WordPress 6.9 + 19 plugins.

Get Started

Install LiteHTTPD RPM, binary .so, or build from source. 5 minutes to full .htaccess support.

WordPress Setup Tested with 15 popular plugins: AIOS, Wordfence, W3TC, Yoast, and more.

Migrate from Apache Step-by-step guide. Your .htaccess files transfer unchanged.

Replace LSWS Same 90%+ compatibility, no license fees. Save $65/month.

Linux Documentation Alliance

Debian.Club Debian Linux community and documentation.

Ubuntu.Fan Ubuntu Linux community and resources.

RunEntLinux Enterprise Linux guides and tutorials.

AlmaLinuxCN AlmaLinux Chinese community.

Check software end-of-life dates at EOL.Wiki.

AI-native open source server control panel: WebCasa.

Lightweight web server with high Apache httpd compatibility: LiteHTTPD.