Introduction
LiteHTTPD is an Apache .htaccess compatibility solution for OpenLiteSpeed, consisting of the litehttpd_htaccess.so LSIAPI module and a patched OLS binary. Together they achieve 90%+ Apache compatibility with 80 supported directives.
Why LiteHTTPD?
Section titled “Why LiteHTTPD?”OpenLiteSpeed is fast, free, and lightweight — but it does not natively process .htaccess directives like Require, Header, RewriteRule, or ExpiresByType. Applications like WordPress, Laravel, and Drupal rely heavily on .htaccess for security and routing.
LiteHTTPD bridges this gap:
| Feature | Apache httpd | Stock OLS | LiteHTTPD |
|---|---|---|---|
| .htaccess compatibility | 100% | 44% | 90%+ |
| Static file throughput | 11K RPS | 23K RPS | 22K RPS |
| .htaccess parsing overhead | -4.2% | -18.8% | -0.7% |
| Baseline memory | 969 MB | 663 MB | 676 MB |
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”LiteHTTPD consists of the litehttpd_htaccess.so LSIAPI module and (in the Full edition) a patched OLS binary. The module hooks into OLS at two phases:
- URI_MAP (request phase) — processes ACL, authentication, redirects, rewrite rules, PHP config, and environment variables
- SEND_RESP_HEADER (response phase) — processes response headers, Expires/Cache-Control, Content-Type, and conditional blocks
The module reads .htaccess files from the document root up to the request path, merges directives with AllowOverride filtering, and executes them in Apache-compatible order.
LiteHTTPD and LiteHTTPD-Thin
Section titled “LiteHTTPD and LiteHTTPD-Thin”LiteHTTPD (Full) is the recommended installation. It includes the litehttpd_htaccess.so module plus 4 OLS patches that enable full RewriteRule execution, php_value/php_flag support, and engine-level Options -Indexes.
For environments where the OLS binary cannot be modified (Docker images, shared hosting), LiteHTTPD-Thin provides the module alone with 70+ directives but without RewriteRule execution or php_value support.
See Editions for a detailed feature comparison.
Project
Section titled “Project”LiteHTTPD is a sub-project of Web.Casa, an AI-native open source server control panel.
Related project: LLStack — a server management platform built on LiteHTTPD, providing a complete web hosting stack with OLS + .htaccess support out of the box.