Upgrading HTTP request version from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/2.0

Now a days everyone want to open his website more Fast and quick load its assets. For this your one need could be of using HTTP/2.0

What is HTTP/2.0 ? 

HTTP/2 is a major revision of HTTP, developed for fast devlivery, reduce latency and minimize the protocol overheading. This works on Transport layer.

Features of HTTP/2:

• Reduces latency for fast loading the page.
• Multiplexing of request and response.
• Header compression
• Prioritizing the requests
• It can be used over Secure (HTTPS) with TLS and non-secure (HTTP) protocols, but all the major browsers like Mozilla, Chrome, IE,Safari, Edge had stated that they will supoort HTTP/2 only with Secure Version of HTTP means HTTPS with TLS). Thus HTTPS is mandatory for using HTTPS over these browsers.

Getting started to upgrade:

Here is the process to upgrade the HTTP version of your Apache from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/2.0 on Ubuntu.

1. Install / Upgrade to latest version of Apache:
   Check the latest version with:
   
   Apache current version

   Shell

   apache2 -v

   1	apache2 -v

   If need upgrade then use the following command:
   
   Shell

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/apache2

   1	sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/apache2

   Or, alternativly you can use to install above:
   
   Shell

   deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/apache2/ubuntu xenial main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/apache2/ubuntu xenial main

   1 2	deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/apache2/ubuntu xenial main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/apache2/ubuntu xenial main

   Once the PPA is added, upgrade your system
   
   Shell

   sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade

   1 2	sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade

2. Enable FASTCgi
   If you are already using the module php7.1-fpm then skip this step. Here I am using PHP-7.1 on my server. You can respectivly change the version as per your requirement.If you have not installed the above module then follow these steps:
   
   install module in php

   PHP

   sudo apt install php7.1-fpm

   1	sudo apt install php7.1-fpm

   (replace with 7.0 if needed). Enable proxy_fcgi and setenvif also.
   
   PHP

   sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif

   1	sudo a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif

   Now enable above installed module
   
   PHP

   sudo a2enconf php7.1-fpm

   1	sudo a2enconf php7.1-fpm

   Disable PHP module for some time, we will restart it lateron
   
   PHP

   sudo a2dismod php7.1

   1	sudo a2dismod php7.1

   Restart apache
   
   PHP

   sudo service apache2 restart

   1	sudo service apache2 restart

3. Switch the Multi-Processing Module from prefork to event or worker:
   As the HTTP/2 does not support prefork we have to switch this apache module to “event” or “worker”.
   
   PHP

   sudo a2dismod mpm_prefork sudo a2enmod mpm_event

   1 2	sudo a2dismod mpm_prefork sudo a2enmod mpm_event

   Restart Apache and PHP 7.1
   
   PHP

   sudo service apache2 restart sudo service php7.1-fpm restart

   1 2	sudo service apache2 restart sudo service php7.1-fpm restart

4.  Update your Virtual-hosts or root host
   If you want the HTTP/2 on individual host then put the following command anywhere between <VirtualHost>………</VirtualHost> tags.
   
   PHP

   Protocols h2 h2c http/1.1

   1	Protocols h2 h2c http/1.1

   Or if you want to apply it on all your websites then append above code in global /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
5.  Time to enable http2 module and restart your server
   
   PHP

   sudo a2enmod http2 sudo service apache2 restart

   1 2	sudo a2enmod http2 sudo service apache2 restart

   Done!
   You can now verify by hitting your website’s URL (hosted on this server)  in your browser and INSPECT ELEMENT tool.