| <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> |
| <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> |
| <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><!-- |
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX |
| This file is generated from xml source: DO NOT EDIT |
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX |
| --> |
| <title>Apache Tutorial: .htaccess files - Apache HTTP Server</title> |
| <link href="../style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" /> |
| <link href="../style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" /> |
| <link href="../style/css/manual-print.css" rel="stylesheet" media="print" type="text/css" /> |
| <link href="../images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head> |
| <body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header"> |
| <p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p> |
| <p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.3</p> |
| <img alt="" src="../images/feather.gif" /></div> |
| <div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="<-" alt="<-" src="../images/left.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div id="path"> |
| <a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.3</a> > <a href="./">How-To / Tutorials</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Apache Tutorial: .htaccess files</h1> |
| <div class="toplang"> |
| <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/howto/htaccess.html" title="English"> en </a> | |
| <a href="../fr/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="fr" rel="alternate" title="Français"> fr </a> | |
| <a href="../ja/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="ja" rel="alternate" title="Japanese"> ja </a> | |
| <a href="../ko/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="ko" rel="alternate" title="Korean"> ko </a> | |
| <a href="../pt-br/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="pt-br" rel="alternate" title="Português (Brasil)"> pt-br </a></p> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p><code>.htaccess</code> files provide a way to make configuration |
| changes on a per-directory basis.</p> |
| </div> |
| <div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#related">.htaccess files</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#what">What they are/How to use them</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#when">When (not) to use .htaccess files</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#how">How directives are applied</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#auth">Authentication example</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#ssi">Server Side Includes example</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#cgi">CGI example</a></li> |
| <li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#troubleshoot">Troubleshooting</a></li> |
| </ul></div> |
| <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="related" id="related">.htaccess files</a></h2> |
| <table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td><ul><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/core.html">core</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_file.html">mod_authn_file</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_groupfile.html">mod_authz_groupfile</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_cgi.html">mod_cgi</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_include.html">mod_include</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_mime.html">mod_mime</a></code></li></ul></td><td><ul><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#accessfilename">AccessFileName</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#options">Options</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_mime.html#addhandler">AddHandler</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#sethandler">SetHandler</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_core.html#authtype">AuthType</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_core.html#authname">AuthName</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authn_file.html#authuserfile">AuthUserFile</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_groupfile.html#authgroupfile">AuthGroupFile</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_core.html#require">Require</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table> |
| |
| <div class="note">You should avoid using <code>.htaccess</code> files completely if you have access to |
| httpd main server config file. Using <code>.htaccess</code> files slows down your Apache server. |
| Any directive that you can include in a <code>.htaccess</code> file is better set in a <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory">Directory</a></code> block, as it will have the same effect with better performance.</div> |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="what" id="what">What they are/How to use them</a></h2> |
| |
| |
| <p><code>.htaccess</code> files (or "distributed configuration files") |
| provide a way to make configuration changes on a per-directory basis. A |
| file, containing one or more configuration directives, is placed in a |
| particular document directory, and the directives apply to that |
| directory, and all subdirectories thereof.</p> |
| |
| <div class="note"><h3>Note:</h3> |
| <p>If you want to call your <code>.htaccess</code> file something |
| else, you can change the name of the file using the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#accessfilename">AccessFileName</a></code> directive. For example, |
| if you would rather call the file <code>.config</code> then you |
| can put the following in your server configuration file:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| AccessFileName .config |
| </code></p></div> |
| </div> |
| |
| <p>In general, <code>.htaccess</code> files use the same syntax as |
| the <a href="../configuring.html#syntax">main configuration |
| files</a>. What you can put in these files is determined by the |
| <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> directive. This |
| directive specifies, in categories, what directives will be |
| honored if they are found in a <code>.htaccess</code> file. If a |
| directive is permitted in a <code>.htaccess</code> file, the |
| documentation for that directive will contain an Override section, |
| specifying what value must be in <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> in order for that |
| directive to be permitted.</p> |
| |
| <p>For example, if you look at the documentation for the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#adddefaultcharset">AddDefaultCharset</a></code> |
| directive, you will find that it is permitted in <code>.htaccess</code> |
| files. (See the Context line in the directive summary.) The <a href="../mod/directive-dict.html#Context">Override</a> line reads |
| <code>FileInfo</code>. Thus, you must have at least |
| <code>AllowOverride FileInfo</code> in order for this directive to be |
| honored in <code>.htaccess</code> files.</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><h3>Example:</h3><table> |
| <tr> |
| <td><a href="../mod/directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></td> |
| <td>server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess</td> |
| </tr> |
| |
| <tr> |
| <td><a href="../mod/directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></td> |
| <td>FileInfo</td> |
| </tr> |
| </table></div> |
| |
| <p>If you are unsure whether a particular directive is permitted in a |
| <code>.htaccess</code> file, look at the documentation for that |
| directive, and check the Context line for ".htaccess".</p> |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="when" id="when">When (not) to use .htaccess files</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>In general, you should only use <code>.htaccess</code> files when |
| you don't have access to the main server configuration file. There is, |
| for example, a common misconception that user authentication should |
| always be done in <code>.htaccess</code> files, and, in more recent years, |
| another miscomception that <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html">mod_rewrite</a></code> directives |
| must go in <code>.htaccess</code> files. This is simply not the |
| case. You can put user authentication configurations in the main server |
| configuration, and this is, in fact, the preferred way to do |
| things. Likewise, <code>mod_rewrite</code> directives work better, |
| in many respects, in the main server configuration.</p> |
| |
| <p><code>.htaccess</code> files should be used in a case where the |
| content providers need to make configuration changes to the server on a |
| per-directory basis, but do not have root access on the server system. |
| In the event that the server administrator is not willing to make |
| frequent configuration changes, it might be desirable to permit |
| individual users to make these changes in <code>.htaccess</code> files |
| for themselves. This is particularly true, for example, in cases where |
| ISPs are hosting multiple user sites on a single machine, and want |
| their users to be able to alter their configuration.</p> |
| |
| <p>However, in general, use of <code>.htaccess</code> files should be |
| avoided when possible. Any configuration that you would consider |
| putting in a <code>.htaccess</code> file, can just as effectively be |
| made in a <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code> section in your main server |
| configuration file.</p> |
| |
| <p>There are two main reasons to avoid the use of |
| <code>.htaccess</code> files.</p> |
| |
| <p>The first of these is performance. When <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> |
| is set to allow the use of <code>.htaccess</code> files, Apache will |
| look in every directory for <code>.htaccess</code> files. Thus, |
| permitting <code>.htaccess</code> files causes a performance hit, |
| whether or not you actually even use them! Also, the |
| <code>.htaccess</code> file is loaded every time a document is |
| requested.</p> |
| |
| <p>Further note that Apache must look for <code>.htaccess</code> files |
| in all higher-level directories, in order to have a full complement of |
| directives that it must apply. (See section on <a href="#how">how |
| directives are applied</a>.) Thus, if a file is requested out of a |
| directory <code>/www/htdocs/example</code>, Apache must look for the |
| following files:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| /.htaccess<br /> |
| /www/.htaccess<br /> |
| /www/htdocs/.htaccess<br /> |
| /www/htdocs/example/.htaccess |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>And so, for each file access out of that directory, there are 4 |
| additional file-system accesses, even if none of those files are |
| present. (Note that this would only be the case if |
| <code>.htaccess</code> files were enabled for <code>/</code>, which |
| is not usually the case.)</p> |
| |
| <p>In the case of <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule">RewriteRule</a></code> directives, in |
| <code>.htaccess</code> context these regular expressions must be |
| re-compiled with every request to the directory, whereas in main |
| server configuration context they are compiled once and cached. |
| Additionally, the rules themselves are more complicated, as one must |
| work around the restrictions that come with per-directory context |
| and <code>mod_rewrite</code>. Consult the <a href="../rewrite/intro.html#htaccess">Rewrite Guide</a> for more |
| detail on this subject.</p> |
| |
| <p>The second consideration is one of security. You are permitting |
| users to modify server configuration, which may result in changes over |
| which you have no control. Carefully consider whether you want to give |
| your users this privilege. Note also that giving users less |
| privileges than they need will lead to additional technical support |
| requests. Make sure you clearly tell your users what level of |
| privileges you have given them. Specifying exactly what you have set |
| <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> to, and pointing them |
| to the relevant documentation, will save yourself a lot of confusion |
| later.</p> |
| |
| <p>Note that it is completely equivalent to put a <code>.htaccess</code> |
| file in a directory <code>/www/htdocs/example</code> containing a |
| directive, and to put that same directive in a Directory section |
| <code><Directory /www/htdocs/example></code> in your main server |
| configuration:</p> |
| |
| <p><code>.htaccess</code> file in <code>/www/htdocs/example</code>:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><h3>Contents of .htaccess file in |
| <code>/www/htdocs/example</code></h3><p><code> |
| AddType text/example .exm |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <div class="example"><h3>Section from your <code>httpd.conf</code> |
| file</h3><p><code> |
| <Directory /www/htdocs/example><br /> |
| <span class="indent"> |
| AddType text/example .exm<br /> |
| </span> |
| </Directory> |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>However, putting this configuration in your server configuration |
| file will result in less of a performance hit, as the configuration is |
| loaded once when Apache starts, rather than every time a file is |
| requested.</p> |
| |
| <p>The use of <code>.htaccess</code> files can be disabled completely |
| by setting the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> |
| directive to <code>none</code>:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| AllowOverride None |
| </code></p></div> |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="how" id="how">How directives are applied</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>The configuration directives found in a <code>.htaccess</code> file |
| are applied to the directory in which the <code>.htaccess</code> file |
| is found, and to all subdirectories thereof. However, it is important |
| to also remember that there may have been <code>.htaccess</code> files |
| in directories higher up. Directives are applied in the order that they |
| are found. Therefore, a <code>.htaccess</code> file in a particular |
| directory may override directives found in <code>.htaccess</code> files |
| found higher up in the directory tree. And those, in turn, may have |
| overridden directives found yet higher up, or in the main server |
| configuration file itself.</p> |
| |
| <p>Example:</p> |
| |
| <p>In the directory <code>/www/htdocs/example1</code> we have a |
| <code>.htaccess</code> file containing the following:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| Options +ExecCGI |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>(Note: you must have "<code>AllowOverride Options</code>" in effect |
| to permit the use of the "<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#options">Options</a></code>" directive in |
| <code>.htaccess</code> files.)</p> |
| |
| <p>In the directory <code>/www/htdocs/example1/example2</code> we have |
| a <code>.htaccess</code> file containing:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| Options Includes |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>Because of this second <code>.htaccess</code> file, in the directory |
| <code>/www/htdocs/example1/example2</code>, CGI execution is not |
| permitted, as only <code>Options Includes</code> is in effect, which |
| completely overrides any earlier setting that may have been in |
| place.</p> |
| |
| <h3><a name="merge" id="merge">Merging of .htaccess with the main |
| configuration files</a></h3> |
| |
| <p>As discussed in the documentation on <a href="../sections.html">Configuration Sections</a>, |
| <code>.htaccess</code> files can override the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code> sections for |
| the corresponding directory, but will be overriden by other types |
| of configuration sections from the main configuration files. This |
| fact can be used to enforce certain configurations, even in the |
| presence of a liberal <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> setting. For example, to |
| prevent script execution while allowing anything else to be set in |
| <code>.htaccess</code> you can use:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| <Directory /www/htdocs><br /> |
| <span class="indent"> |
| Allowoverride All<br /> |
| </span> |
| </Directory><br /> |
| <br /> |
| <Location /><br /> |
| <span class="indent"> |
| Options +IncludesNoExec -ExecCGI<br /> |
| </span> |
| </Location> |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <div class="note">This example assumes that your <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#documentroot">DocumentRoot</a></code> is <code>/www/htdocs</code>.</div> |
| |
| |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="auth" id="auth">Authentication example</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>If you jumped directly to this part of the document to find out how |
| to do authentication, it is important to note one thing. There is a |
| common misconception that you are required to use |
| <code>.htaccess</code> files in order to implement password |
| authentication. This is not the case. Putting authentication directives |
| in a <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code> |
| section, in your main server configuration file, is the preferred way |
| to implement this, and <code>.htaccess</code> files should be used only |
| if you don't have access to the main server configuration file. See <a href="#when">above</a> for a discussion of when you should and should |
| not use <code>.htaccess</code> files.</p> |
| |
| <p>Having said that, if you still think you need to use a |
| <code>.htaccess</code> file, you may find that a configuration such as |
| what follows may work for you.</p> |
| |
| <p><code>.htaccess</code> file contents:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| AuthType Basic<br /> |
| AuthName "Password Required"<br /> |
| AuthUserFile /www/passwords/password.file<br /> |
| AuthGroupFile /www/passwords/group.file<br /> |
| Require Group admins |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>Note that <code>AllowOverride AuthConfig</code> must be in effect |
| for these directives to have any effect.</p> |
| |
| <p>Please see the <a href="auth.html">authentication tutorial</a> for a |
| more complete discussion of authentication and authorization.</p> |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="ssi" id="ssi">Server Side Includes example</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>Another common use of <code>.htaccess</code> files is to enable |
| Server Side Includes for a particular directory. This may be done with |
| the following configuration directives, placed in a |
| <code>.htaccess</code> file in the desired directory:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| Options +Includes<br /> |
| AddType text/html shtml<br /> |
| AddHandler server-parsed shtml |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>Note that <code>AllowOverride Options</code> and <code>AllowOverride |
| FileInfo</code> must both be in effect for these directives to have any |
| effect.</p> |
| |
| <p>Please see the <a href="ssi.html">SSI tutorial</a> for a more |
| complete discussion of server-side includes.</p> |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="cgi" id="cgi">CGI example</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>Finally, you may wish to use a <code>.htaccess</code> file to permit |
| the execution of CGI programs in a particular directory. This may be |
| implemented with the following configuration:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| Options +ExecCGI<br /> |
| AddHandler cgi-script cgi pl |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>Alternately, if you wish to have all files in the given directory be |
| considered to be CGI programs, this may be done with the following |
| configuration:</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| Options +ExecCGI<br /> |
| SetHandler cgi-script |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>Note that <code>AllowOverride Options</code> and <code>AllowOverride |
| FileInfo</code> must both be in effect for these directives to have any |
| effect.</p> |
| |
| <p>Please see the <a href="cgi.html">CGI tutorial</a> for a more |
| complete discussion of CGI programming and configuration.</p> |
| |
| </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div> |
| <div class="section"> |
| <h2><a name="troubleshoot" id="troubleshoot">Troubleshooting</a></h2> |
| |
| <p>When you put configuration directives in a <code>.htaccess</code> |
| file, and you don't get the desired effect, there are a number of |
| things that may be going wrong.</p> |
| |
| <p>Most commonly, the problem is that <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> is not |
| set such that your configuration directives are being honored. Make |
| sure that you don't have a <code>AllowOverride None</code> in effect |
| for the file scope in question. A good test for this is to put garbage |
| in your <code>.htaccess</code> file and reload the page. If a server error is |
| not generated, then you almost certainly have <code>AllowOverride |
| None</code> in effect.</p> |
| |
| <p>If, on the other hand, you are getting server errors when trying to |
| access documents, check your Apache error log. It will likely tell you |
| that the directive used in your <code>.htaccess</code> file is not |
| permitted.</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| [Fri Sep 17 18:43:16 2010] [alert] [client 192.168.200.51] /var/www/html/.htaccess: DirectoryIndex not allowed here |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>This will indicate either that you've used a directive that is |
| never permitted in <code>.htaccess</code> files, or that you simply |
| don't have <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> set to |
| a level sufficient for the directive you've used. Consult the |
| documentation for that particular directive to determine which is |
| the case.</p> |
| |
| <p>Alternately, it may tell you that you had a syntax error in your |
| usage of the directive itself.</p> |
| |
| <div class="example"><p><code> |
| [Sat Aug 09 16:22:34 2008] [alert] [client 192.168.200.51] /var/www/html/.htaccess: RewriteCond: bad flag delimiters |
| </code></p></div> |
| |
| <p>In this case, the error message should be specific to the |
| particular syntax error that you have committed.</p> |
| |
| </div></div> |
| <div class="bottomlang"> |
| <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/howto/htaccess.html" title="English"> en </a> | |
| <a href="../fr/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="fr" rel="alternate" title="Français"> fr </a> | |
| <a href="../ja/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="ja" rel="alternate" title="Japanese"> ja </a> | |
| <a href="../ko/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="ko" rel="alternate" title="Korean"> ko </a> | |
| <a href="../pt-br/howto/htaccess.html" hreflang="pt-br" rel="alternate" title="Português (Brasil)"> pt-br </a></p> |
| </div><div id="footer"> |
| <p class="apache">Copyright 2011 The Apache Software Foundation.<br />Licensed under the <a href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache License, Version 2.0</a>.</p> |
| <p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p></div> |
| </body></html> |