Web server configuration in ISPmanager Print

The web server handles requests to your sites. Requests to the panel itself are served separately by its own built-in server, so changing the web server does not affect access to the panel.

Supported web servers

• Apache
• Nginx
• Apache + Nginx together — the recommended combination for most sites
• OpenLiteSpeed
• LiteSpeed — commercial, requires a licence

Code for dynamic pages is executed not by the web server itself but by a handler: PHP, Python or Node.js. Static files — images, styles, scripts — are sent straight to the visitor.

Which to choose

For a typical site running a CMS, Apache together with Nginx is the sensible default: Nginx serves static content quickly and handles many simultaneous connections, while Apache provides .htaccess support, which most CMS platforms and their plugins expect.

Points that may change the decision:

• High load or a lot of static content — Nginx, OpenLiteSpeed and LiteSpeed handle more simultaneous requests and use less processor time and memory than Apache alone.
• WordPress on a busy site — LiteSpeed has its own LSCache caching module, which makes a real difference. It is a commercial product, so a licence is required.
• Python or Node.js applications — these need Nginx, or Apache together with Nginx.
• A site that depends on .htaccess or specific Apache modules — Apache must be in the configuration. Nginx does not read .htaccess at all, and OpenLiteSpeed only understands its rewrite directives.

What each one supports

Features configured from the panel differ by web server. The most consequential differences:

• HTTP/2 — Nginx, OpenLiteSpeed, LiteSpeed. Not available with Apache alone.
• DDoS protection, caching and compression of static content — configurable from the panel for Nginx and OpenLiteSpeed; with Apache and LiteSpeed these require manual configuration.
• .htaccess — Apache and LiteSpeed. Not supported by Nginx.
• Python and Node.js — Nginx only.
• CGI scripts — everything except OpenLiteSpeed.

Log analysis with awstats and webalizer, log rotation, WAF and PHP Composer work with all of them.

Before changing web server on a working site, take a backup and be ready to change back. A site built around .htaccess rules will stop working correctly the moment Apache is removed from the configuration, and the symptoms — broken links, redirect loops, 404s on inner pages — do not obviously point at the cause.

Changing the web server

The web server is installed and changed under Settings → Software configuration, which requires administrator access to the panel. If your account does not have it, open a ticket telling us which web server you need and for which sites.

Custom configuration

Site configuration files are generated automatically from templates when a site is created or edited, so hand edits to a site's file can be overwritten when the site is next changed in the panel.

If you need a setting that the panel does not offer, describe what you are trying to achieve in a ticket — there is usually a way to make it persist rather than being regenerated away.