In today’s post we will show you how to enable mod_deflate on the Apache web server with Plesk.
Apache provides a variety of multi-processing modules (Apache calls them MPMs) that determine how client requests are handled. Basically, this allows administrators to switch their connection with an easy management of the architecture. These modules are mpm_prefork, mpm_worker and mpm_event.
Apache provides a flexible architecture by allowing the choice of different connections and algorithms that deliver responses. The options offered are mainly a consequence of the server’s evolution and the growing need for competitiveness, since the internet landscape has changed.
Mod_deflate is an optional module for the Apache web server. This module provides compression for outgoing information to improve page speed and performance.
Since Apache version 1.3, mod_deflate has been used instead of mod_gzip to enable compression of the pages served by Apache.
On VPS servers with Plesk, mod_deflate already comes integrated, so you only need to load its configuration into Apache’s configuration file.
Steps to follow
First you must access your server via SSH.
Once inside your server, you need to create two symbolic links for the .load file and the .conf file of mod_deflate. Then go to the folder where you will place these symbolic links:
cd /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/
And there you must create the symbolic links:
ln -s ../mods-available/deflate.load
ln -s ../mods-available/deflate.conf
Afterwards, you only need to restart Apache and with this you will have successfully loaded mod_deflate on your server:
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart
If you have any questions that are not fully answered in this article, remember you can always contact support.