How to Install and Configure VPS with LiteSpeed and MariaDB for Magento

Every millisecond matters in e-commerce. According to Google research, around 40% of shoppers leave if a page takes more than three seconds to load, making slow category browsing or checkout delays costly. Magento’s powerful features can also increase server load if the web server isn’t optimized. LiteSpeed and its native LSCache module improve Magento performance by accelerating dynamic pages, reducing PHP execution, and lowering resource usage, helping stores handle more traffic without adding hardware. In this guide, you will know how to set up a VPS with LiteSpeed for Magento.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have the following in place:

• A system running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (VPS or local server)
• Root or a user account with sudo privileges
• Basic familiarity with the Linux terminal
• Server resources meeting or exceeding: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD storage, and 2–4 GB swap

Optional but recommended:

• A domain name pointing to your server’s IP, required if you plan to enable HTTPS or configure virtual hosts

Install a few helpful tools if missing, which make repository management, downloads, and firewall setup easier:

Ensuring these prerequisites are met will help avoid compatibility issues and make the LiteSpeed installation smoother.

Step 1 — Install OpenLiteSpeed

We’ll begin by installing OpenLiteSpeed, the web server that will serve your Magento store.

Update your server packages

Before installing, it’s best practice to refresh your package index so Ubuntu knows about the latest versions available:

Add the LiteSpeed repository

OpenLiteSpeed isn’t included in Ubuntu’s default repositories, so you need to add LiteSpeed’s official repo and key:

This script automatically detects your Ubuntu version (22.04 / 24.04) and configures the correct source list.ssh

Install OpenLiteSpeed

Now you can go ahead and install the free, open-source version of LiteSpeed. This includes the core web server and the admin interface:

Once installed, enable the service and start it automatically at boot:

You can confirm it’s running with:

You should see output similar to:

(Press Q to exit the status view.)

Access the WebAdmin Console

LiteSpeed comes with a built-in web admin interface for managing virtual hosts, PHP settings, and more.

Open your browser and visit:

(Replace <server-ip> with the public IP address of your server.)

You should see a login screen like the one below:

Create Admin Credentials

Before logging in, you must create your admin username and password.

Run this setup script and follow the prompts:

After that, you can log in to the WebAdmin console using the credentials you just set.

Allow Access Through the Firewall (if needed)

If you can’t reach the WebAdmin panel, it might be blocked by your firewall.

Run the following to open the necessary ports for LiteSpeed (7080 for admin, 8088 for default web pages):

Then reload your firewall rules:

At this point, LiteSpeed should be fully installed and accessible from your browser.

Step 2 — Install PHP and required extensions

OpenLiteSpeed uses LSAPI for performance and compatibility. This step will install PHP, verify it, and configure OpenLiteSpeed to use it.

Enable the LiteSpeed repository

LiteSpeed provides its own repository to install LSAPI PHP packages compatible with OpenLiteSpeed.

Refresh package lists

After adding the LiteSpeed repository, update the package list so the system can find LSAPI PHP packages:

Install PHP 8.2 and core extensions

Install PHP 8.2 with essential extensions required by Magento (MySQL, Curl, Intl, OpCache). Optional extensions such as zip, Mbstring, Soap, gd, and Bcmath are included in lsphp82-common.

Verify PHP installation

Check that PHP 8.2 is installed and accessible by OpenLiteSpeed, and confirm the version.

Expected output:

Configure OpenLiteSpeed to use PHP 8.2

Edit the OpenLiteSpeed configuration file to replace any old PHP binary with the new PHP 8.2 LSAPI binary.

Search for old PHP lines like lsphp73/bin/lsphp or lsphp80/bin/lsphp.

Replace with:

Save and exit

Restart OpenLiteSpeed

Apply the configuration changes so OpenLiteSpeed starts using PHP 8.2.

Verify PHP is working via browser

Create a temporary PHP info file to confirm that OpenLiteSpeed is running PHP 8.2 correctly.

• 
  Open a web browser and go to:

• 
  Replace YOUR_SERVER_IP with your server’s actual IP.
• You should see a page displaying PHP information. At the top, it should show:
• 

• This confirms that OpenLiteSpeed is using PHP 8.2 with all required extensions.

After verification, remove the test file for security:

The system is ready to proceed to database setup.

Step 3 — Install MariaDB and create the Magento database

Magento requires a supported database version. For Magento 2.4.x, the safe MariaDB versions are 10.2–10.6 and 11.4. Using a newer version (like 11.8) will break the installer. This step will install MariaDB 11.4, secure it, and create a dedicated database and user for Magento.

Add the Official MariaDB Repository

To install the correct MariaDB version, you can use the official MariaDB setup script.

This command adds the MariaDB repository for version 11.4 and automatically configures your system.

Update Package Lists

After adding the repository, refresh your package index so Ubuntu can find MariaDB 11.4:

Install MariaDB

Run the following command to install MariaDB:

This installs MariaDB 11.4 and automatically starts the database service.

Secure the Installation

Run the built-in security script:

This tool helps you remove unsafe defaults. When prompted, you can safely use the following recommended responses for a new installation:

When asked for the current root password, press Enter. By default, MariaDB doesn’t set one on a new system.

• Switch to unix_socket authentication: n
• Change the root password: n (skip if fresh install)
• Remove anonymous users: y
• Disallow remote root login: y
• Remove test database: y
• Reload privilege tables: y

Create the Magento Database and User

Now, log in to MariaDB as the root user:

When prompted for a password, press Enter (unless you set one in the previous step).

Once inside the MariaDB prompt (MariaDB [(none)]>), execute this commands:

Replace 'strongpassword' with your chosen password.

Confirm Database Creation

You can verify that the database exists with:

You should see Magento listed in the output.

MariaDB is now installed, secured, and ready for Magento.

Step 4 — Install Composer

Composer is required to manage Magento dependencies.

Verify installation:

You should see an output similar to this:

Step 5 — Install Elasticsearch (Magento 2.4+ requirement)

Magento 2.4+ requires Elasticsearch to handle product search and catalog indexing. This step ensures it is installed cleanly without repository errors.

Add the official Elastic 8.x repository

Add the GPG key:

Add the repository:

Refresh the package index:

This ensures you install Elasticsearch 8.x from the official source, avoiding outdated or broken 7.x repositories.

Install Elasticsearch

This downloads and installs Elasticsearch cleanly.

Enable and start the Elasticsearch service

This ensures Elasticsearch starts automatically on server boot.

6. Verify Elasticsearch is running

Verify by running:

You should see an output similar to this:

Step 6 — Create and Configure a Virtual Host for Magento

OpenLiteSpeed uses Virtual Hosts to define how each site is served, including document roots, rewrite rules, and PHP behavior. In this step, you will create a dedicated Virtual Host for Magento, configure it correctly, and make sure no default mappings interfere.

Create the Magento Web Root Directory

Create a directory where Magento will be installed:

Set the correct ownership and permissions:

Using the www-data user ensures compatibility with PHP and prevents permission issues during deployment.

Access the OpenLiteSpeed WebAdmin Console

Open your browser and visit:

You can just log in using the credentials you previously created.

3. Add a New Virtual Host

In the WebAdmin panel, navigate to:

Virtual Hosts → Add

Fill in the following:

• Virtual Host Name: magento
• Virtual Host Root: /usr/local/lsws/conf/vhosts/magento
• Config File: /usr/local/lsws/conf/vhosts/magento/vhconf.conf
• Enable Scripts/ExtApps: Yes
• Restrained: Yes

Click Save.

If prompted that the directory does not exist, create it:

Click Save again.

4. Create the Virtual Host Configuration File

Create and edit the Virtual Host config:

Paste the following:

These settings enable Magento rewrite rules, increase execution limits, and prevent admin form errors.

Save and exit the editor.

5. Remove the Default “Example” Virtual Host Mapping

OpenLiteSpeed includes a default virtual host named Example for testing. Leaving it enabled can cause routing conflicts.

To remove it:

1. Navigate in WebAdmin:

Listeners → Default → Virtual Host Mappings

2. Locate the Example entry and click the delete icon.
3. Click Save.

6. Map the Magento Virtual Host to the Default Listener

In the same Virtual Host Mappings section, click Add and enter:

• Virtual Host: magento
• Domains: *

Click Save. Then, click Graceful Restart at the top-right of WebAdmin to reload OpenLiteSpeed with the new Virtual Host.

7. Verify That OpenLiteSpeed Is Serving Files

Create a temporary test file:

Restart the server:

Open your browser and visit:

You should see the test message. Similar to this:

 Once confirmed, remove the test file:

Right now, your OpenLiteSpeed server is fully prepared to serve Magento.