Migrate from the archived Google module

mod_pagespeed is an open-source project originally developed at Google. It was donated to the Apache Software Foundation in 2017, the Incubator podling retired in 2023, and the repositories became read-only in 2025; the 1.13.35.2 binaries still install but have had no security fixes since. mod_pagespeed 2, developed by We-Amp B.V. and not affiliated with or endorsed by Google, continues that codebase: same directives, same filter names, built against current Apache and nginx, with ongoing security fixes. The move is a package swap and a restart.

Before you start

Record the version you have, and keep a copy of your configuration and of the archived package for a rollback. If you run the archived beta, write mod-pagespeed-beta wherever this page says mod-pagespeed-stable, in the file names below too. Run the block for your setup.

# Apache on Debian or Ubuntu
curl -sI http://localhost/ | grep -E 'X-Mod-Pagespeed|X-Page-Speed'
sudo cp -a /etc/apache2/mods-available/pagespeed.conf ~/pagespeed.conf.google
curl -fsSL -o ~/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_amd64.deb https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_amd64.deb

# Apache on Enterprise Linux
curl -sI http://localhost/ | grep -E 'X-Mod-Pagespeed|X-Page-Speed'
sudo cp -a /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf ~/pagespeed.conf.google
curl -fsSL -o ~/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_x86_64.rpm https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

# nginx: the module file (Debian and Ubuntu, or Enterprise Linux path) and the
# load_module line that loads it
curl -sI http://localhost/ | grep -E 'X-Mod-Pagespeed|X-Page-Speed'
for d in /usr/lib/nginx/modules /usr/lib64/nginx/modules; do
  if [ -f "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so" ]; then
    sudo cp "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so" "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so.bak"
  fi
done
sudo grep -Rns '^[[:space:]]*load_module.*pagespeed' /etc/nginx | tee ~/ngx_pagespeed-load_module.txt

Apache on Debian and Ubuntu

# 1. Disable the archived package's apt source
if [ -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mod-pagespeed.list ]; then
  sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mod-pagespeed.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mod-pagespeed.list.disabled
fi &&
sudo truncate -s 0 /etc/default/mod-pagespeed &&
# 2. Add the signed repository
curl -fsSL https://packages.modpagespeed.com/install.sh | sudo sh &&
# 3. Swap the packages in one run
sudo apt-get install mod-pagespeed mod-pagespeed-stable- &&
# 4. Check the configuration, then restart
sudo apache2ctl configtest && sudo systemctl restart apache2 &&
# 5. Remove what the archived package left behind
sudo apt-get purge mod-pagespeed-stable

Each step runs only if the one before it succeeded, so the block can be pasted whole. If a step stops, fix what it reports and run the remaining steps.

• Step 1, the archived apt source. The archived package added its own source, /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mod-pagespeed.list. Its signing key no longer verifies, so while it is enabled every apt-get update fails with NO_PUBKEY 78BD65473CB3BD13 and “is not signed”, and the install script in step 2 stops there. The archived package’s daily cron job puts the source back while /etc/default/mod-pagespeed asks it to; an empty file turns that off. Newer versions of the install script do both for you.
• Step 3, the swap. The trailing - on mod-pagespeed-stable- removes the archived package explicitly, in the same run that installs the new one, so Apache never has its module configuration removed without a replacement. Do not remove the archived package on its own first. Apache keeps serving on the module it has loaded until the restart in step 4.
• If you edited pagespeed.conf, dpkg stops in step 3 and asks: *** pagespeed.conf (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?. Answer N to keep your file. Its directives carry over unchanged; kept directives the new module no longer needs, such as ModPagespeedFileCacheInodeLimit, log a deprecation warning and still work. The new defaults are saved beside it as /etc/apache2/mods-available/pagespeed.conf.dpkg-dist; compare them with diff /etc/apache2/mods-available/pagespeed.conf /etc/apache2/mods-available/pagespeed.conf.dpkg-dist.
• Unattended runs. Without a terminal dpkg cannot answer the prompt, so keep your file with sudo apt-get install -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold mod-pagespeed mod-pagespeed-stable-. A run without a terminal and without the option stops with “end of file on stdin at conffile prompt” and exits 100, leaving mod-pagespeed unconfigured (iU in dpkg -l) and no PageSpeed module enabled in Apache. Apache keeps serving the archived module only until its next reload (the nightly log rotation does one), then serves without PageSpeed. To recover, run the unattended command above again, or sudo dpkg --configure -a --force-confold, then restart Apache.
• Step 5, purge rather than remove, and only after the install in step 3 succeeded: while the archived package is still installed, the purge would remove it with nothing in its place. After the swap the archived package is left in the “config files” state, with its daily cron job. The purge deletes the cron job and leaves pagespeed.conf alone, which now belongs to the new package. The empty /etc/default/mod-pagespeed from step 1 stays, which is harmless.

Apache on Enterprise Linux

Do the swap right after the repository is configured:

curl -fsSL https://packages.modpagespeed.com/install.sh | sudo sh &&
sudo dnf swap mod-pagespeed-stable mod-pagespeed &&
sudo sed -i 's/mod_pagespeed_ap24\.so/mod_pagespeed.so/' /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf &&
sudo apachectl configtest && sudo systemctl restart httpd

dnf swap removes the archived package and installs the new one in one transaction. If you edited /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf, rpm keeps your file and writes the new one beside it as pagespeed.conf.rpmnew. On Enterprise Linux the LoadModule line lives in that file, and yours names mod_pagespeed_ap24.so, which packages up to 1.19.0 do not ship: the sed line points it at mod_pagespeed.so, without which configtest fails. From the release that ships mod_pagespeed_ap24.so as a link to the module, the sed line is unnecessary and stays harmless. The sed runs only after the swap succeeded: on the archived package’s own configuration it would point Apache at that package’s mod_pagespeed.so, its Apache 2.2 build, which Apache 2.4 cannot load. Compare your file with the new defaults:

diff /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf.rpmnew

then remove the .rpmnew file:

sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf.rpmnew

Kept directives the new module no longer needs log a deprecation warning and still work. Because configtest runs first, Apache keeps serving on the old module until the configuration is valid.

nginx

curl -fsSL https://packages.modpagespeed.com/install.sh | sudo sh &&
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
  sudo apt-get install nginx-module-pagespeed
else
  sudo dnf install nginx-module-pagespeed
fi &&
# remove your own load_module line from nginx.conf; the package loads the module
sudo sed -i '/^[[:space:]]*load_module[[:space:]].*ngx_pagespeed_module\.so;/d' /etc/nginx/nginx.conf &&
sudo grep -Rns '^[[:space:]]*load_module.*pagespeed' /etc/nginx /usr/share/nginx/modules &&
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl restart nginx

The package loads ngx_pagespeed_module.so itself, so the sed line removes the load_module line you added to /etc/nginx/nginx.conf for the old module. The grep must then show exactly one line, the package’s; if it shows a second one in another file, delete that by hand and run the last line again. The package installs its module at the path a hand-installed ngx_pagespeed_module.so usually has, and overwrites that file, which is why Before you start keeps a .bak copy. If you compiled ngx_pagespeed into nginx, you are also moving to the distribution’s nginx package; see Migrate from ngx_pagespeed for the version pinning that matters there.

What maps to what

You have	You get
mod-pagespeed-stable or mod-pagespeed-beta (Apache)	mod-pagespeed from packages.modpagespeed.com; it depends on the pagespeed-optimizer worker and installs the configuration that points the module at it
ngx_pagespeed compiled into nginx, or a third-party package	nginx-module-pagespeed, a dynamic module pinned to your distribution’s stock nginx
ModPagespeed* directives, pagespeed directives, .htaccess	Unchanged
The filter names	Unchanged; the long-inert and experimental ones are accepted and ignored with a warning (see the compatibility table)
ModPagespeedFileCachePath / pagespeed FileCachePath	Accepted; the module keeps a Cyclone volume under it, and the old per-resource cache files in that directory are ignored
Memcached or Redis as external cache	Still supported; see cache modes
/pagespeed_admin, /pagespeed_global_admin, statistics and messages	Same paths, with a reworked console; restrict them as before
X-Mod-Pagespeed (Apache) / X-Page-Speed (nginx)	Unchanged
.pagespeed. resource URLs, the beacon, ?PageSpeed=off	Unchanged
Nothing	The optimizer worker: a separate process that builds optimized variants beside the module. The Apache packages wire it up; on nginx two directives do

The cache

The module uses Cyclone Cache, a different cache backend. On first start after the move, the old per-resource file cache is ignored, not deleted; the Cyclone volume starts empty and resources are re-optimized on first request, so expect a brief warm-up. The warm-up is a one-time cost: cache contents persist across restarts. Once the move has run for a while, remove the old per-resource files from the file-cache directory and leave the Cyclone volume beside them alone. For cache sizing and storage options, see cache sizing.

Verify

curl -sI http://localhost/ | grep -E 'X-Mod-Pagespeed|X-Page-Speed'

The header now shows the version of the new package (1.19.0 or later), no longer 1.13.35.2-0: X-Mod-Pagespeed on Apache, X-Page-Speed on nginx. Open /pagespeed_global_admin on the server to see the configuration and statistics; Is it working? has the rest.

Roll back

Roll back after the restart if the site misbehaves on the new module. A configtest failure does not need a rollback: the old module keeps serving until the restart, so fix the configuration instead. Rolling back reinstalls the archived package you saved under Before you start and puts your configuration back; if you no longer have the package, the same URL still serves 1.13.35.2.

Apache on Debian and Ubuntu

sudo apt-get purge mod-pagespeed pagespeed-optimizer &&
sudo truncate -s 0 /etc/default/mod-pagespeed &&
sudo apt-get install ~/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_amd64.deb &&
sudo cp ~/pagespeed.conf.google /etc/apache2/mods-available/pagespeed.conf &&
sudo apache2ctl configtest && sudo systemctl restart apache2

The purge removes the new module, the worker and their configuration, and deletes the worker’s cache directory; your own configuration comes back from the copy. The empty /etc/default/mod-pagespeed stops the archived package from adding its apt source again, which would break apt-get update once more. Apache serves on the module it has loaded until the restart.

Apache on Enterprise Linux

sudo truncate -s 0 /etc/default/mod-pagespeed &&
sudo dnf swap mod-pagespeed ~/mod-pagespeed-stable_current_x86_64.rpm &&
sudo cp ~/pagespeed.conf.google /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf &&
sudo rm -f /etc/httpd/conf.d/pagespeed.conf.rpmnew &&
sudo apachectl configtest && sudo systemctl restart httpd

dnf swap also removes the worker, which nothing needs any more, and rpm saves the archived package’s default configuration as pagespeed.conf.rpmnew, which your restored copy replaces. Empty /etc/default/mod-pagespeed before the swap: when the file is missing, the archived package’s install script creates it asking for its yum repository and adds that repository at once. The repository can stay configured on either system: neither apt nor dnf installs mod-pagespeed again unless you ask for it.

nginx

if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
  sudo apt-get purge nginx-module-pagespeed
else
  sudo dnf remove nginx-module-pagespeed
fi &&
restored=yes &&
for d in /usr/lib/nginx/modules /usr/lib64/nginx/modules; do
  if [ -f "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so.bak" ]; then
    sudo cp "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so.bak" "$d/ngx_pagespeed_module.so" || restored=no
  fi
done && [ "$restored" = yes ] &&
# put back the load_module line the migration removed from nginx.conf
line="$(sed -n 's|^/etc/nginx/nginx\.conf:[0-9]*:[[:space:]]*||p' ~/ngx_pagespeed-load_module.txt | head -n 1)" &&
if [ -n "$line" ] && ! sudo grep -qxF "$line" /etc/nginx/nginx.conf; then
  sudo sed -i "1i $line" /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
fi &&
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl restart nginx

Remove the package before you restore the file: the package owns that path, and removing it afterwards would delete the module you restored, so the restore runs only after the removal succeeded. The purge also deletes the package’s own load_module snippet, which holds nothing of yours unless you edited it; the module’s cache and log directories are kept. The block then puts the load_module line saved under Before you start back at the top of /etc/nginx/nginx.conf, the file the migration removed it from. If the saved line came from another file, put it back there by hand before nginx -t; cat ~/ngx_pagespeed-load_module.txt shows where it was.

After a rollback Apache answers X-Mod-Pagespeed: 1.13.35.2-0 again. The archived 1.0 documentation stays available at /1.0/, and Is mod_pagespeed still maintained? covers what changed and what did not.