How to switch from PHP FPM to the LSAPI handler

Introduction

PHP FPM is a performant method of serving PHP content. Although, a common issue that users encounter with FPM on a busy server is that it requires tuning in order to avoid downtime.

We have a guide that outlines how to tune FPM:
PHP FPM Performance Tuning Basics

If you're not interested in tuning FPM to keep up with higher demands on your server, a very good alternative is the LSAPI handler. cPanel provides the LSAPI handler which makes use of the PHP LiteSpeed SAPI.

Our version of the LSAPI handler does not require the use of LiteSpeed. cPanel's LSAPI is able to offer a solution that is comparable to PHP FPM in terms of performance but requires less tuning than PHP FPM. Use the below procedure to learn how to switch from PHP FPM to the LSAPI handler on your cPanel server.

Procedure

1. Login to WHM as the root user
2. Navigate to: Home »Software »EasyApache 4
3. Click on the blue Customize button
4. Click on the Apache Modules tab on the left
5. Search for lsapi
6. Toggle it for installation
7. Search for mod_suexec
8. Toggle it for installation
9. Click on the Review tab on the left sidebar
10. Click on the Provision button
11. Navigate to: Home »Software »MultiPHP Manager
12. Toggle the PHP-FPM setting to disabled. This setting has the following description
13. "System PHP-FPM setting applies to only new account creations."
14. Under the "PHP Handlers" section, select "lsapi" from the drop-down for each desired version
15. Click on the "User Domain Settings" tab
16. Toggle PHP-FPM to disabled for all domains