Knowledgebase

LiteSpeed & LiteMage for Magento 1 (Firstserv Guide)

All Firstserv shared and business hosting servers run LiteSpeed Web Server. On Business hosting plans that support Magento, LiteMage is also available—allowing Magento to take full advantage of LiteSpeed’s powerful caching system.

If you’re running Magento 1, we strongly recommend installing and enabling LiteMage to significantly improve your site’s performance.

What Does LiteSpeed / LiteMage Do?

In simple terms, caching makes your website much faster.

Without caching

When a visitor loads your site:

• The server processes every component (HTML, images, scripts, database queries)
• Builds the page dynamically
• Sends it to the browser

This takes time—and delays can result in a poor user experience and lost visitors.

With caching

• A ready-made version of the page is stored
• Future visitors are served this version instantly

✅ Benefits:

• Faster page load times
• Reduced server load
• Better user experience
• Improved conversions

Handling Dynamic Content (ESI)

Magento often uses personalised data (e.g. user accounts, carts). LiteMage supports this with Edge Side Includes (ESI):

• Static parts of the page are cached
• Dynamic sections are inserted separately

✅ This approach maintains both speed and personalisation.

Why Use LiteMage?

• Dramatically improves Magento site speed
• Reduces server resource usage
• Supports both static and dynamic content
• Minimal setup required for noticeable gains

Prerequisites

Before installing LiteMage:

• Magento 1 must be installed
• You need Admin access to Magento
• SSH access is required
• Basic command-line knowledge is recommended
• The PHP exec function must be temporarily enabled (and disabled afterwards)

Step 1: Enable LiteMage in .htaccess

Add the following to your .htaccess file (in /public_html):

Step 2: Adjust Magento Settings

Disable Session ID in URLs

1. Log in to your Magento Admin
2. Go to: System → Configuration → Web
3. Expand Session Validation Settings
4. Set Use SID on Frontend to No
5. Save changes

Disable Compilation (if enabled)

1. Go to: System → Tools → Compilation
2. Click Disable

Step 3: Install LiteMage Plugin

1. Download the LiteMage plugin for Magento 1.x
2. Go to:

   System → Magento Connect → Magento Connect Manager
   

3. Log in when prompted
4. Under Direct Package File Upload:
   • Upload the downloaded package
   • Click Install

✅ Wait for confirmation that installation is complete.

Return to Admin Panel

• Click Return to Admin

Re-enable Compilation (Optional)

1. Go to: System → Tools → Compilation
2. Click:
   • Run Compilation Process
   • Then Enable

Step 4: Enable LiteMage in Magento

1. Go to:

   System → Configuration
   

2. In the left menu, select:

   LiteMage Cache → LiteMage Configuration
   

⚠️ If you get a 404 error:

• Log out and log back into the admin panel, then retry

Enable Cache

1. Expand General Settings
2. Set:
   • Enable LiteMage Cache: Yes
3. Click Save Config

Optional: Restrict Cache to Test IPs

For testing:

1. Expand Developer Testing
2. Add your IP address
3. Save changes

✅ Remove IP restrictions to enable caching for all users.

Step 5: Refresh Magento Cache

1. Go to:

   System → Cache Management
   

2. Select Configuration
3. Click Submit

Verifying LiteMage is Working

You can check if LiteMage is active using your browser’s developer tools:

Steps:

1. Open Developer Tools → Network tab
2. Load your Magento site
3. Click the first request
4. View response headers

Look for These Headers:

• ✅ x-litespeed-cache: hit,litemage → Cache working
• ⚠️ x-litespeed-cache: miss,litemage → Refresh page (cache not yet built)

Best Practices

• Allow time for cache to build after setup
• Clear cache after changes to your site
• Regularly test performance improvements
• Keep Magento and extensions updated

Summary

LiteMage enables Magento 1 sites to:

• Serve pages faster using LiteSpeed caching
• Reduce server workload
• Support dynamic content efficiently
• Deliver a smoother user experience

If you need help installing or configuring LiteMage on your Firstserv hosting, the Firstserv support team is always happy to assist.