This article does not apply to NGINX servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Enable HTTP\/2 on an Apache Server<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n- SSH into your server<\/a> as the root user.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Ensure you have Apache installed (Ubuntu\/CentOS) and the version is at least 2.4. Otherwise, you\u2019ll need to upgrade Apache.
apachectl -v<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Ensure you have a valid SSL certificate installed on your server so you can use force secure (HTTPS) connections. If you need one, you can use the free Certbot Let\u2019s Encrypt SSL application on Ubuntu 18.04.
Unfortunately, snapd<\/code> is not compatible with our Cloud Server Hosting at this time. Instead, install Certbot with PIP (Python Installs Packages)<\/a>.<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n- Enable the HTTP\/2 Apache module:
a2enmod http2<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Edit your Apache virtual host configuration file with your preferred text editor \u2013 e.g. Nano, Emacs, VIM, etc. If you have an SSL installed, the file should end with
le-ssl<\/code>. One of the following should work depending on your server environment: sudo nano \/etc\/apache2\/sites-enabled\/domainname-le-ssl.conf<\/pre>sudo nano \/etc\/apache2\/sites-enabled\/000-default-le-ssl.conf<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Add the following text in the configuration file directly underneath
<VirtualHost *:443><\/code>: Protocols h2 http\/1.1<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Save changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Restart Apache:
apachectl restart<\/pre><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nIf you have issues configuring HTTP\/2 at any time, you can always request technical support from our Managed Hosting team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Verify HTTP\/2 is Being Used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Once you have it implemented and you have met all the requirements, how do you tell if the page is actually using HTTP\/2<\/strong>? There are few ways that you can tell by using browser developer tools or third party extensions. We will be showing a few examples using the Google Chrome browser, Mozilla FireFox browser, command line interface, and the KeyCDN HTTP\/2 test tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGoogle Chrome Browser \u2013 Using the Inspect Option<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n- Open the website using HTTP\/2<\/strong> with your Google Chrome browser.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"Select](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_chrome-screen-inspect.png\")
<\/a>
\u00a0<\/div>
Right-click on a page and then select Inspect<\/b>.<\/p>
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n\n\n\n![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_click-network.png\")
<\/a>A new window will open. In the menu, click on Network<\/b>.
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n\n\n\n![\"Select](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_select-protocol-for-column.png\")
<\/a> You may have to wait a few seconds after clicking on Network<\/b> for it to process. Once it finishes you\u2019ll see several columns starting with Name<\/b>. Right-click on any of the columns that appear. You will see a list of options appear. Make sure that Protocol<\/strong> is checked.
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n\n\n\n![\"Look](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_confirm-http2-usage.png\")
<\/a> When the Protocol<\/strong> column appears you should be able to see if HTTP\/2<\/strong> is being used. You may need to inspect a different part of the page to see the HTTP\/2<\/strong> requests.
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nMozilla Firefox Browser \u2013 Using the HTTP\/2 Indicator Add-on<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n![\"Install](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_http2-indicator-plugin.png\")
<\/a> First, you will need to load the HTTP\/2<\/strong> Indicator add-on<\/a>.
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n\n\n\n- Once it\u2019s loaded, you can go to the page that you want check for using HTTP\/2<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"check](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/use-http2_firefox-http2-active.png\")
<\/a> If the page is using HTTP2, you will see a lightning bolt graphic in the address bar. You can also hover over it for confirmation in text.
\u00a0<\/div>
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nVerify HTTP\/2 using CLI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Linux terminal users can use the following command to check if their website is using HTTP\/2:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
curl --http2 domain.com -I<\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe response should start with HTTP\/2 200<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing localhost<\/code> instead of the domain or server hostname while logged into SSH may not work.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKeyCDN HTTP\/2 Test Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One of the fastest and easiest ways to tell if your site has HTTP\/2 enabled is to use the KeyCDN HTTP\/2 Test Tool<\/a>. All you need to do is submit your website URL into form to verify your status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"KeyCDN](\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/http2-keycdn.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOptimize for HTTP\/2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The main issue here is modifying your site to remove optimization techniques that you may have previously used. If you use the following with your website, then you may need to make some changes in order to make sure that you\u2019re taking advantage of using HTTP\/2<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Inline CSS and JS<\/strong> \u2013 Since there is no overhead for the request for these files, it no longer needs to be inline with the rest of the page code.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Image Spriting<\/strong> \u2013 Combining several images into a larger image was know as \u201cspriting.\u201d The implementation of HTTP\/2<\/strong> eliminates the need to do this.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Concatenating CSS and JS files<\/strong> \u2013 This was another technique used to reduce the number requests that can be removed with the implementation of HTTP\/2<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Domain Sharding<\/strong> \u2013 This is the practice of using multiple CDN domains to serve static website files. HTTP\/2<\/strong> removes the need for parallel connections (to the multiple CDN domains) using a single connection for parallel downloads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Stay Ahead with HTTP\/3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you want to stay ahead on website performance, look out for the HTTP\/3 protocol<\/a>, which is supported by Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari. However, Safari is the only web browser with HTTP\/3 support enabled by default. Meanwhile, native NGINX HTTP\/3 support is expected to come in the 1.19 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLooking for other ways to improve website performance? Learn more about how to secure your Linux cloud server<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
apachectl -v<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, If you have issues configuring HTTP\/2 at any time, you can always request technical support from our Managed Hosting team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have it implemented and you have met all the requirements, how do you tell if the page is actually using HTTP\/2<\/strong>? There are few ways that you can tell by using browser developer tools or third party extensions. We will be showing a few examples using the Google Chrome browser, Mozilla FireFox browser, command line interface, and the KeyCDN HTTP\/2 test tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right-click on a page and then select Inspect<\/b>.<\/p> Linux terminal users can use the following command to check if their website is using HTTP\/2:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The response should start with Using One of the fastest and easiest ways to tell if your site has HTTP\/2 enabled is to use the KeyCDN HTTP\/2 Test Tool<\/a>. All you need to do is submit your website URL into form to verify your status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main issue here is modifying your site to remove optimization techniques that you may have previously used. If you use the following with your website, then you may need to make some changes in order to make sure that you\u2019re taking advantage of using HTTP\/2<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to stay ahead on website performance, look out for the HTTP\/3 protocol<\/a>, which is supported by Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari. However, Safari is the only web browser with HTTP\/3 support enabled by default. Meanwhile, native NGINX HTTP\/3 support is expected to come in the 1.19 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking for other ways to improve website performance? Learn more about how to secure your Linux cloud server<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"snapd<\/code> is not compatible with our Cloud Server Hosting at this time. Instead, install Certbot with PIP (Python Installs Packages)<\/a>.<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\na2enmod http2<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
le-ssl<\/code>. One of the following should work depending on your server environment: sudo nano \/etc\/apache2\/sites-enabled\/domainname-le-ssl.conf<\/pre>
sudo nano \/etc\/apache2\/sites-enabled\/000-default-le-ssl.conf<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
<VirtualHost *:443><\/code>: Protocols h2 http\/1.1<\/pre><\/li>\n\n\n\n
apachectl restart<\/pre><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
How to Verify HTTP\/2 is Being Used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Google Chrome Browser \u2013 Using the Inspect Option<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/a>
<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a>A new window will open. In the menu, click on Network<\/b>.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a> You may have to wait a few seconds after clicking on Network<\/b> for it to process. Once it finishes you\u2019ll see several columns starting with Name<\/b>. Right-click on any of the columns that appear. You will see a list of options appear. Make sure that Protocol<\/strong> is checked.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a> When the Protocol<\/strong> column appears you should be able to see if HTTP\/2<\/strong> is being used. You may need to inspect a different part of the page to see the HTTP\/2<\/strong> requests.
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nMozilla Firefox Browser \u2013 Using the HTTP\/2 Indicator Add-on<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/a> First, you will need to load the HTTP\/2<\/strong> Indicator add-on<\/a>.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n<\/a> If the page is using HTTP2, you will see a lightning bolt graphic in the address bar. You can also hover over it for confirmation in text.
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nVerify HTTP\/2 using CLI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
curl --http2 domain.com -I<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
HTTP\/2 200<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nlocalhost<\/code> instead of the domain or server hostname while logged into SSH may not work.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKeyCDN HTTP\/2 Test Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOptimize for HTTP\/2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Stay Ahead with HTTP\/3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n