.htaccess

The .htaccess files are Apache configuration files. Here are some examples of how they are most often used.

Protecting a directory with a password

Use an ID and password to protect the access to file for certain users.

AuthName "Protected access"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /absolute/path/to/.htpasswd
Require valid-user

The $HOME variable can be used to indicate the root of the account.

The .htpasswd contains the list of Id/password combinations allowed. It can be placed anywhere but it must not be readable from the outside.

To create this .htpasswd file:

$ htpasswd -c .htpasswd [user]

Replace [user] with the desired user name. The tool will prompt the user to enter the corresponding password twice.

Restricting access to a directory

Block access to a directory by a domain or an IP address. You can also allow access to the directory only by selected IPs and/or domains.

order deny,allow 
deny from all 
allow from <IP address / domain>
require user <user login>

Customize error messages (403, 404, etc.)

The following syntax will define custom error pages:

ErrorDocument 403 /errors/403.php 
ErrorDocument 404 /errors/404.php

This syntax is valid regardless of the HTTP response code.

Redirect

This function is available directly by declaring a Redirect site type, but you can do this using the .htaccess file:

Redirect 301 <Source file> <Destination file>

You can also redirect an entire directory as follows:

RedirectMatch 301 <Source directory>(.*) <Destination directory>/$1

URL rewriting

URL rewriting comprises changing the link structure. This practice is often used to improve the indexing of your pages (and therefore your site referencing) by inserting keywords into the addresses.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ {Fichier source}/$1 

Possible errors

Any error linked to .htaccess will be visible in the $HOME/admin/logs/apache/apache.log file.

Invalid command '\xef\xbb\xbf', perhaps misspelled or defined by a module not included in the server configuration

The .htaccess file was not saved in the correct format. Please pay attention to saving your file without BOM. This is generally an option in your editor.