How to Install HTTP/2 with WHM and EasyApache 4

Tutorials and Tips

Recently I updated my server to enable HTTP/2 via mod_http2 from EasyApache 4 and the results are amazing, this has been something I have kept my eye on for quite some time. So now I will show you how to update your server and you too can benefit from HTTP/2.

Note! This tutorial assumes you are using at least WHM version 66 and EasyApache 4 as that is what is installed on my server at the time of writing.
Alert! you should be aware that not all browsers support HTTP/2 and some don’t support it unless your site uses HTTPS. However HTTP/2 is backwards compatible, so browsers that don’t support it will fallback to HTTP/1.1.

How to Enabled HTTP/2 with EasyApache 4

Navigate to EasyApache 4 and select Customize from Currently Installed Packages.

Custommize EasyApache 4On the next screen select Apache Modules and search for mod_http2 then toggle the option to enable it.

Enable mod_http2 via Apache Modules

After enabling mod_http2 select Review and then Provision your build.

Review changes and provision

After the build has provisioned you can test your site with the network tab via the browsers Developer Tools.

Checking for HTTP/2 Headers

Firefox

Firefox Headers with HTTP/2

Chrome

You will need to enable to the Protocol tab in Chrome Dev tools to see which protocol is in use.

In the Protocol tab you should see HTTP/2 represented as h2.

chrome dev tools with protocol tab enabled

Conclusion

The benefits of HTTP/2 should not be underestimated. If your site is busy or has lots of assets then you should see some significant gains in performance.

But if like me, you have a fairly small blog and just love really fast websites, then go now and enable it and basque in the enhanced speed and performance.

Further Reading

https://http2.github.io/faq/

Matthew Horne

Matthew is a web developer from the United Kingdom who taught himself PHP and JavaScript and never looked back. If you would like to hire me, shoot me an email.