I've always wanted to have a spare alternative to everything, just in case something goes wrong with the first, I could always fall back to second, third and so on, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who likes it this way. When you think about a web server for Linux, you'll undoubtedly think about Apache. Why? Either because it's the only web server application you've worked with, or thanks to its constantly increasing popularity level due to the fact that most (if not all) Linux distributions are released with Apache pre installed by default. Or because you're simply not aware of other web server applications, besides Apache. In that case, you'll be pleased to know that there's an alternative to the popular webserver and it's called lighttpd, which meets and probably even exceeds Apache's capabilities.

Lighttpd (light footprint + httpd) is a web server designed to be fast, secure, standards-compliant and flexible, while being optimized for speed-critical environments. Its memory footprint is very low compared to other web servers, while its CPU load and its speed make lighttpd the most suitable for servers that suffer load problems. Moreover, Lighttpd is distributed under the BSD license, which makes lighttpd free.

Install lighttpd

on Fedora

- Install lighttpd through yum:

- Stop Apache (httpd) if you have it installed and running
Also, make sure it won't auto-start at the next reboot:

on Ubuntu

- Install lighttpd:

building from Source Code

- Make sure the following requirements are met:
• automake 1.8 or higher
• autoconf 2.57 or higher
• libtool 1.5 or higher

- Next, download the latest source package from SOFTPEDIA
- Open a terminal, change directory, compile and install:

Enable PHP support

on Fedora

- Install fastcgi mod for lighttpd:

- Make sure you have php-cgi installed by typing php-cgi -v. If you get a command not found error, type:

- Open /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf in your favorite editor and look for the fastcgi.server section. Uncomment the lines in that section so it will look like this:

Also, make sure that the "bin-path" is correct by running command /usr/bin/php-cgi -v. If it's wrong, run type php-cgi to get the correct one.

Note: It's possible that when you try to view a php file in lighttpd, you will get a 403 forbidden error. If you follow the above guide, that error will be remedied.

on Unbuntu

- Install PHP5-cgi:

- Enable CGI for lighttpd:

Running lighttpd

on Fedora:

- Login as root and type:
(use 'restart', just in case it has been auto ran)
By default, the document root (web server directory that holds the HTML files) for lighttpd on Fedora is in /srv/www/lighttpd/.

on Ubuntu:

- Open a terminal and type:
By default, the document root for lighttpd on Ubuntu is in /var/www.