How to install an SSL/TLS certificate on LiteSpeed

Updated on 28 Oct 2024

The instructions below walk you through installing SSL on LiteSpeed. If you have more than one server or device, you will need to install the certificate on each one you want to protect. If you have not generated your certificate or finished validation yet, see our CSR generation instructions and skip the steps below.

What you will need

1. Your server certificate

This is the certificate the certificate authority issued for your domain. It may have been emailed to you. If not, you can download it from your account dashboard by clicking on your order.

2. Your intermediate certificates

These files let devices connecting to your server identify the issuing certificate authority. There may be more than one of them. If your certificate arrived in a ZIP folder, the intermediates — sometimes called the CA bundle — should be in there too. If not, download the right CA bundle for your certificate.

3. Your private key

This file should be on your server, or in your hands if you generated your CSR with a free generator tool. On some platforms, such as Microsoft IIS, the private key is not immediately visible to you but the server keeps track of it.

Installation instructions

1. Add a new listener

In your LiteSpeed WebAdmin console, click Listeners , then Add .LiteSpeed step 2

2. Configure the new listener

Use the following address settings for the listener you just created:

  1. Listener Name : an internal name that will make sense to you later.
  2. IP Address : choose Any from the drop-down, unless you want to bind the listener to one particular address. In that case, enter the specific IP and port combination.
  3. Port : most HTTPS connections run on port 443 by default. If you have other listeners on that port it will cause a conflict, and you will need to use another, such as 8443.
  4. Secure : choose Yes .
  5. Notes : any internal notes that will help you tell this listener apart later.
  6. Click Save .

LiteSpeed step 3

3. Select your listener

From the WebAdmin console, click Listeners and select your listener name — in this example we called it "SSL".LiteSpeed step 4

4. Open the SSL tab

On the SSL tab under your new listener, click Edit in the SSL Private Key & Certificate section.LiteSpeed step 5

5. Set the file paths

Use the following to set your certificate file paths :

  1. Private Key File: the path to the private key you saved in your directory during generation with OpenSSL.
  2. Certificate File : the path to the server certificate the certificate authority sent you. You should already have it saved locally or in your server directory. Fill in only one of the next two options to install the intermediate certificates correctly:
  3. CA Certificate Path : the path to the directory holding the intermediate certificates the authority sent you.
  4. CA Certificate File : the path to the intermediate certificate file the authority sent you.
  5. Click Save .

6. Go back to the SSL tab

Back on the SSL tab under your listener, click Edit in the SSL Protocol section.LiteSpeed step 7

7. Choose the protocol version

For Protocol Version , select TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 , then click Save .LiteSpeed step 8

8. Select your listener

Now, from your WebAdmin console, click Listeners and select your listener name — SSL, in this example.LiteSpeed step 9

9. Open the General tab

Under the selected listener, open the General tab and click Add in the Virtual Host Mappings section.LiteSpeed step 10

10. Select the virtual host

In the Virtual Host Mappings section of the General tab, choose from the drop-down the virtual host you want to attach the listener to.

11. Enter all the domains

With the right virtual host selected, enter all the domains that connect to it — this is what tells LiteSpeed where to send the traffic this listener picks up — and click Save . LiteSpeed step 12Note 1: if the certificate covers several domains that connect to this vhost, separate them with commas. Note 2: if you have one vhost and have set the server to ignore the others, you can enter an asterisk "*" as the domain.

12. Restart

Go to your Dashboard from the left-hand menu. Once there, click the green Graceful Restart button.

LiteSpeed step 13

That is it — your SSL certificate is installed. To check your work, open the site in your browser at https://yourdomain.tld and look at the certificate and site information to confirm HTTPS is working properly. Remember that you may need to restart your server before the changes take effect.

To check your installation properly, use our SSL Checker. If something does not add up, get in touch and we will look at it with you.