20 Nov 10 Install Mod_Pagespeed on Centos

What is mod_pagespeed ?

mod_pagespeed is an open-source Apache module that automatically optimizes web pages and resources on them. It does this by rewriting the resources using filters that implement web performance best practices. Webmasters and web developers can use mod_pagespeed to improve the performance of their web pages when serving content with the Apache HTTP Server.

mod_pagespeed includes several filter that optimize JavaScript, HTML and CSS stylesheets. It also includes filters for optimizing JPEG and PNG images. The filters are based on a set of best practices known to enhance web page performance. Webmasters who set up mod_pagespeed in addition to configuring proper caching and compression on their Apache distribution should expect to see an improvement in the loading time of the pages on their websites.

How to install mod_pagespeed?

First,  check which Linux distribution you are using by this command:

cloudtech ~: uname -a
Linux cloudtech 2.6.18.8-x86_64-linode10 #1 SMP Tue Nov 10 16:29:17 UTC 2009 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Second, download the package at this link: mod_pagespeed latest version

Here I am using 64 bits CentOS Linux system, so i ‘ve downloaded mod_pagespeed 64-bit .rpm (CentOS/Fedora)

wget https://dl-ssl.google.com/dl/linux/direct/mod-pagespeed-beta_current_x86_64.rpm

Third,  install the package

rpm -i mod-pagespeed-*.rpm

or follow the instruction in official site. If you cannot install it, try this:

Install and import Google key into RPM, then you can install mod_pagespeed package using yum localinstall command:

wget https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub
rpm --import linux_signing_key.pub

yum localinstall mod-pagespeed-*.rpm

Check which files you just installed:

cloudtech ~: rpm -ql mod-pagespeed-beta
/etc/cron.daily/mod-pagespeed
/etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf
/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/mod_pagespeed.so
/var/www/mod_pagespeed/cache
/var/www/mod_pagespeed/files

Last, restart Apache to load the new module

cloudtech ~: service httpd restart

How to upgrade mod_pagespeed?

Download the latest version 0.9.15.3-404 and use command yum localinstall mod-pagespeed-*.rpm to install

http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/download.html

With this release,  you can perform the upgrade to 0.9.15.3-404 with these commands:

  sudo yum update
  sudo /etc/init.d/httpd restart

On Debian or Ubuntu installation you can use:

  sudo apt-get upgrade mod-pagespeed-beta
  sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

How to test mod_pagespeed?

Visit your site without mod_pagespeed

http://www.cloudtech.org/?ModPagespeed=off

Visit your site with mod_pagespeed

http://www.cloudtech.org/?ModPagespeed=on

Without mod_pagespeed, my site score is 73/100.

With mod_pagespeed, my site score is 81/100.

Monitor the results using Firebug + Pagespeed on your Firefox browser

You can also test your site at ModPageSpeed.com