OpenLiteSpeed .htaccess changes do not apply automatically

POSTED BY: ols_fanatic NEW_MEMBER POSTED ON: Jun 18, 2026 CATEGORY: GENERAL

When my clients edit their .htaccess file, the rewrite rules do not apply until I manually restart OpenLiteSpeed. I thought OLS supported automatic .htaccess reading?

18 Total Upvotes

REPLIES (2)

sysadmin_joe ELITE_CONTRIBUTOR 2026.06.19 04:50

Check if the htaccess watcher service is running. BoostonCP registers a wrapper daemon called `ols_htaccess_watcher` in systemd. It monitors vhost directories and gracefully reloads OLS when a .htaccess file is edited.

BOOSTON_ADMIN ADMINISTRATOR SOLUTION_ACCEPTED 2026.06.20 04:50

The htaccess watcher daemon is enabled by default in Sentinel Mode v3.0. Please check if the systemd service is active: `systemctl status ols_htaccess_watcher`. If it failed, restart it with `systemctl restart ols_htaccess_watcher`.

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