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10 The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
11 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
12 the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
14 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
16 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
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18 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
19 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
20 limitations under the License.
23 <modulesynopsis metafile="core.xml.meta">
26 <description>Core Apache HTTP Server features that are always
27 available</description>
31 <name>AcceptFilter</name>
32 <description>Configures optimizations for a Protocol's Listener Sockets</description>
33 <syntax>AcceptFilter <var>protocol</var> <var>accept_filter</var></syntax>
34 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
35 <compatibility>Available in Apache 2.1.5 and later</compatibility>
38 <p>This directive enables operating system specific optimizations for a
39 listening socket by the Protocol type. The basic premise is for the
40 kernel to not send a socket to the server process until either data
41 is received or an entire HTTP Request is buffered. Only
42 <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=accept_filter&sektion=9">
43 FreeBSD's Accept Filters</a> and Linux's more primitive
44 <code>TCP_DEFER_ACCEPT</code> are currently supported.</p>
46 <p>The default values on FreeBSD are:</p>
48 AcceptFilter http httpready <br/>
49 AcceptFilter https dataready
52 <p>The <code>httpready</code> accept filter buffers entire HTTP requests at
53 the kernel level. Once an entire request is received, the kernel then
54 sends it to the server. See the
55 <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=accf_http&sektion=9">
56 accf_http(9)</a> man page for more details. Since HTTPS requests are
57 encrypted only the <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=accf_data&sektion=9">
58 accf_data(9)</a> filter is used.</p>
60 <p>The default values on Linux are:</p>
62 AcceptFilter http data <br/>
63 AcceptFilter https data
66 <p>Linux's <code>TCP_DEFER_ACCEPT</code> does not support buffering http
67 requests. Any value besides <code>none</code> will enable
68 <code>TCP_DEFER_ACCEPT</code> on that listener. For more details
70 <a href="http://homepages.cwi.nl/~aeb/linux/man2html/man7/tcp.7.html">
71 tcp(7)</a> man page.</p>
73 <p>Using <code>none</code> for an argument will disable any accept filters
74 for that protocol. This is useful for protocols that require a server
75 send data first, such as <code>nntp</code>:</p>
76 <example>AcceptFilter nntp none</example>
82 <name>AcceptPathInfo</name>
83 <description>Resources accept trailing pathname information</description>
84 <syntax>AcceptPathInfo On|Off|Default</syntax>
85 <default>AcceptPathInfo Default</default>
86 <contextlist><context>server config</context>
87 <context>virtual host</context><context>directory</context>
88 <context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
89 <override>FileInfo</override>
90 <compatibility>Available in Apache 2.0.30 and later</compatibility>
94 <p>This directive controls whether requests that contain trailing
95 pathname information that follows an actual filename (or
96 non-existent file in an existing directory) will be accepted or
97 rejected. The trailing pathname information can be made
98 available to scripts in the <code>PATH_INFO</code> environment
101 <p>For example, assume the location <code>/test/</code> points to
102 a directory that contains only the single file
103 <code>here.html</code>. Then requests for
104 <code>/test/here.html/more</code> and
105 <code>/test/nothere.html/more</code> both collect
106 <code>/more</code> as <code>PATH_INFO</code>.</p>
108 <p>The three possible arguments for the
109 <directive>AcceptPathInfo</directive> directive are:</p>
111 <dt><code>Off</code></dt><dd>A request will only be accepted if it
112 maps to a literal path that exists. Therefore a request with
113 trailing pathname information after the true filename such as
114 <code>/test/here.html/more</code> in the above example will return
115 a 404 NOT FOUND error.</dd>
117 <dt><code>On</code></dt><dd>A request will be accepted if a
118 leading path component maps to a file that exists. The above
119 example <code>/test/here.html/more</code> will be accepted if
120 <code>/test/here.html</code> maps to a valid file.</dd>
122 <dt><code>Default</code></dt><dd>The treatment of requests with
123 trailing pathname information is determined by the <a
124 href="../handler.html">handler</a> responsible for the request.
125 The core handler for normal files defaults to rejecting
126 <code>PATH_INFO</code> requests. Handlers that serve scripts, such as <a
127 href="mod_cgi.html">cgi-script</a> and <a
128 href="mod_isapi.html">isapi-handler</a>, generally accept
129 <code>PATH_INFO</code> by default.</dd>
132 <p>The primary purpose of the <code>AcceptPathInfo</code>
133 directive is to allow you to override the handler's choice of
134 accepting or rejecting <code>PATH_INFO</code>. This override is required,
135 for example, when you use a <a href="../filter.html">filter</a>, such
136 as <a href="mod_include.html">INCLUDES</a>, to generate content
137 based on <code>PATH_INFO</code>. The core handler would usually reject
138 the request, so you can use the following configuration to enable
142 <Files "mypaths.shtml"><br />
144 Options +Includes<br />
145 SetOutputFilter INCLUDES<br />
146 AcceptPathInfo On<br />
155 <name>AccessFileName</name>
156 <description>Name of the distributed configuration file</description>
157 <syntax>AccessFileName <var>filename</var> [<var>filename</var>] ...</syntax>
158 <default>AccessFileName .htaccess</default>
159 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
163 <p>While processing a request the server looks for
164 the first existing configuration file from this list of names in
165 every directory of the path to the document, if distributed
166 configuration files are <a href="#allowoverride">enabled for that
167 directory</a>. For example:</p>
173 <p>before returning the document
174 <code>/usr/local/web/index.html</code>, the server will read
175 <code>/.acl</code>, <code>/usr/.acl</code>,
176 <code>/usr/local/.acl</code> and <code>/usr/local/web/.acl</code>
177 for directives, unless they have been disabled with</p>
180 <Directory /><br />
182 AllowOverride None<br />
187 <seealso><directive module="core">AllowOverride</directive></seealso>
188 <seealso><a href="../configuring.html">Configuration Files</a></seealso>
189 <seealso><a href="../howto/htaccess.html">.htaccess Files</a></seealso>
193 <name>AddDefaultCharset</name>
194 <description>Default charset parameter to be added when a response
195 content-type is <code>text/plain</code> or <code>text/html</code></description>
196 <syntax>AddDefaultCharset On|Off|<var>charset</var></syntax>
197 <default>AddDefaultCharset Off</default>
198 <contextlist><context>server config</context>
199 <context>virtual host</context><context>directory</context>
200 <context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
201 <override>FileInfo</override>
204 <p>This directive specifies a default value for the media type
205 charset parameter (the name of a character encoding) to be added
206 to a response if and only if the response's content-type is either
207 <code>text/plain</code> or <code>text/html</code>. This should override
208 any charset specified in the body of the response via a <code>META</code>
209 element, though the exact behavior is often dependent on the user's client
210 configuration. A setting of <code>AddDefaultCharset Off</code>
211 disables this functionality. <code>AddDefaultCharset On</code> enables
212 a default charset of <code>iso-8859-1</code>. Any other value is assumed
213 to be the <var>charset</var> to be used, which should be one of the
214 <a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets">IANA registered
215 charset values</a> for use in MIME media types.
219 AddDefaultCharset utf-8
222 <p><directive>AddDefaultCharset</directive> should only be used when all
223 of the text resources to which it applies are known to be in that
224 character encoding and it is too inconvenient to label their charset
225 individually. One such example is to add the charset parameter
226 to resources containing generated content, such as legacy CGI
227 scripts, that might be vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks
228 due to user-provided data being included in the output. Note, however,
229 that a better solution is to just fix (or delete) those scripts, since
230 setting a default charset does not protect users that have enabled
231 the "auto-detect character encoding" feature on their browser.</p>
233 <seealso><directive module="mod_mime">AddCharset</directive></seealso>
237 <name>AddOutputFilterByType</name>
238 <description>assigns an output filter to a particular MIME-type</description>
239 <syntax>AddOutputFilterByType <var>filter</var>[;<var>filter</var>...]
240 <var>MIME-type</var> [<var>MIME-type</var>] ...</syntax>
241 <contextlist><context>server config</context>
242 <context>virtual host</context><context>directory</context>
243 <context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
244 <override>FileInfo</override>
245 <compatibility>Available in Apache 2.0.33 and later; deprecated in Apache 2.1 and later</compatibility>
248 <p>This directive activates a particular output <a
249 href="../filter.html">filter</a> for a request depending on the
250 response <glossary>MIME-type</glossary>. Because of certain
251 problems discussed below, this directive is deprecated. The same
252 functionality is available using <module>mod_filter</module>.</p>
254 <p>The following example uses the <code>DEFLATE</code> filter, which
255 is provided by <module>mod_deflate</module>. It will compress all
256 output (either static or dynamic) which is labeled as
257 <code>text/html</code> or <code>text/plain</code> before it is sent
261 AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain
264 <p>If you want the content to be processed by more than one filter, their
265 names have to be separated by semicolons. It's also possible to use one
266 <directive>AddOutputFilterByType</directive> directive for each of
269 <p>The configuration below causes all script output labeled as
270 <code>text/html</code> to be processed at first by the
271 <code>INCLUDES</code> filter and then by the <code>DEFLATE</code>
275 <Location /cgi-bin/><br />
277 Options Includes<br />
278 AddOutputFilterByType INCLUDES;DEFLATE text/html<br />
283 <note type="warning"><title>Note</title>
284 <p>Enabling filters with <directive>AddOutputFilterByType</directive>
285 may fail partially or completely in some cases. For example, no
286 filters are applied if the <glossary>MIME-type</glossary> could not be determined and falls
287 back to the <directive module="core">DefaultType</directive> setting,
288 even if the <directive module="core">DefaultType</directive> is the
291 <p>However, if you want to make sure, that the filters will be
292 applied, assign the content type to a resource explicitly, for
293 example with <directive module="mod_mime">AddType</directive> or
294 <directive module="core">ForceType</directive>. Setting the
295 content type within a (non-nph) CGI script is also safe.</p>
300 <seealso><directive module="mod_mime">AddOutputFilter</directive></seealso>
301 <seealso><directive module="core">SetOutputFilter</directive></seealso>
302 <seealso><a href="../filter.html">filters</a></seealso>
306 <name>AllowEncodedSlashes</name>
307 <description>Determines whether encoded path separators in URLs are allowed to
308 be passed through</description>
309 <syntax>AllowEncodedSlashes On|Off</syntax>
310 <default>AllowEncodedSlashes Off</default>
311 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
313 <compatibility>Available in Apache 2.0.46 and later</compatibility>
316 <p>The <directive>AllowEncodedSlashes</directive> directive allows URLs
317 which contain encoded path separators (<code>%2F</code> for <code>/</code>
318 and additionally <code>%5C</code> for <code>\</code> on according systems)
319 to be used. Normally such URLs are refused with a 404 (Not found) error.</p>
321 <p>Turning <directive>AllowEncodedSlashes</directive> <code>On</code> is
322 mostly useful when used in conjunction with <code>PATH_INFO</code>.</p>
324 <note><title>Note</title>
325 <p>Allowing encoded slashes does <em>not</em> imply <em>decoding</em>.
326 Occurrences of <code>%2F</code> or <code>%5C</code> (<em>only</em> on
327 according systems) will be left as such in the otherwise decoded URL
331 <seealso><directive module="core">AcceptPathInfo</directive></seealso>
335 <name>AllowOverride</name>
336 <description>Types of directives that are allowed in
337 <code>.htaccess</code> files</description>
338 <syntax>AllowOverride All|None|<var>directive-type</var>
339 [<var>directive-type</var>] ...</syntax>
340 <default>AllowOverride All</default>
341 <contextlist><context>directory</context></contextlist>
344 <p>When the server finds an <code>.htaccess</code> file (as
345 specified by <directive module="core">AccessFileName</directive>)
346 it needs to know which directives declared in that file can override
347 earlier configuration directives.</p>
349 <note><title>Only available in <Directory> sections</title>
350 <directive>AllowOverride</directive> is valid only in
351 <directive type="section" module="core">Directory</directive>
352 sections specified without regular expressions, not in <directive
353 type="section" module="core">Location</directive>, <directive
354 module="core" type="section">DirectoryMatch</directive> or
355 <directive type="section" module="core">Files</directive> sections.
358 <p>When this directive is set to <code>None</code>, then
359 <a href="#accessfilename">.htaccess</a> files are completely ignored.
360 In this case, the server will not even attempt to read
361 <code>.htaccess</code> files in the filesystem.</p>
363 <p>When this directive is set to <code>All</code>, then any
364 directive which has the .htaccess <a
365 href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context</a> is allowed in
366 <code>.htaccess</code> files.</p>
368 <p>The <var>directive-type</var> can be one of the following
369 groupings of directives.</p>
376 Allow use of the authorization directives (<directive
377 module="mod_authn_dbm">AuthDBMGroupFile</directive>,
378 <directive module="mod_authn_dbm">AuthDBMUserFile</directive>,
379 <directive module="mod_authz_groupfile">AuthGroupFile</directive>,
380 <directive module="mod_authn_core">AuthName</directive>,
381 <directive module="mod_authn_core">AuthType</directive>, <directive
382 module="mod_authn_file">AuthUserFile</directive>, <directive
383 module="mod_authz_core">Require</directive>, <em>etc.</em>).</dd>
388 Allow use of the directives controlling document types (<directive
389 module="core">DefaultType</directive>, <directive
390 module="core">ErrorDocument</directive>, <directive
391 module="core">ForceType</directive>, <directive
392 module="mod_negotiation">LanguagePriority</directive>,
393 <directive module="core">SetHandler</directive>, <directive
394 module="core">SetInputFilter</directive>, <directive
395 module="core">SetOutputFilter</directive>, and
396 <module>mod_mime</module> Add* and Remove*
397 directives, <em>etc.</em>), document meta data (<directive
398 module="mod_headers">Header</directive>, <directive
399 module="mod_headers">RequestHeader</directive>, <directive
400 module="mod_setenvif">SetEnvIf</directive>, <directive
401 module="mod_setenvif">SetEnvIfNoCase</directive>, <directive
402 module="mod_setenvif">BrowserMatch</directive>, <directive
403 module="mod_usertrack">CookieExpires</directive>, <directive
404 module="mod_usertrack">CookieDomain</directive>, <directive
405 module="mod_usertrack">CookieStyle</directive>, <directive
406 module="mod_usertrack">CookieTracking</directive>, <directive
407 module="mod_usertrack">CookieName</directive>),
408 <module>mod_rewrite</module> directives <directive
409 module="mod_rewrite">RewriteEngine</directive>, <directive
410 module="mod_rewrite">RewriteOptions</directive>, <directive
411 module="mod_rewrite">RewriteBase</directive>, <directive
412 module="mod_rewrite">RewriteCond</directive>, <directive
413 module="mod_rewrite">RewriteRule</directive>) and
414 <directive module="mod_actions">Action</directive> from
415 <module>mod_actions</module>.
421 Allow use of the directives controlling directory indexing
423 module="mod_autoindex">AddDescription</directive>,
424 <directive module="mod_autoindex">AddIcon</directive>, <directive
425 module="mod_autoindex">AddIconByEncoding</directive>,
426 <directive module="mod_autoindex">AddIconByType</directive>,
427 <directive module="mod_autoindex">DefaultIcon</directive>, <directive
428 module="mod_dir">DirectoryIndex</directive>, <directive
429 module="mod_autoindex">FancyIndexing</directive>, <directive
430 module="mod_autoindex">HeaderName</directive>, <directive
431 module="mod_autoindex">IndexIgnore</directive>, <directive
432 module="mod_autoindex">IndexOptions</directive>, <directive
433 module="mod_autoindex">ReadmeName</directive>,
439 Allow use of the directives controlling host access (<directive
440 module="mod_authz_host">Allow</directive>, <directive
441 module="mod_authz_host">Deny</directive> and <directive
442 module="mod_authz_host">Order</directive>).</dd>
444 <dt>Options[=<var>Option</var>,...]</dt>
447 Allow use of the directives controlling specific directory
448 features (<directive module="core">Options</directive> and
449 <directive module="mod_include">XBitHack</directive>).
450 An equal sign may be given followed by a comma (but no spaces)
451 separated lists of options that may be set using the <directive
452 module="core">Options</directive> command.</dd>
458 AllowOverride AuthConfig Indexes
461 <p>In the example above all directives that are neither in the group
462 <code>AuthConfig</code> nor <code>Indexes</code> cause an internal
466 <seealso><directive module="core">AccessFileName</directive></seealso>
467 <seealso><a href="../configuring.html">Configuration Files</a></seealso>
468 <seealso><a href="../howto/htaccess.html">.htaccess Files</a></seealso>
472 <name>CGIMapExtension</name>
473 <description>Technique for locating the interpreter for CGI
474 scripts</description>
475 <syntax>CGIMapExtension <var>cgi-path</var> <var>.extension</var></syntax>
476 <contextlist><context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
478 <override>FileInfo</override>
479 <compatibility>NetWare only</compatibility>
482 <p>This directive is used to control how Apache finds the
483 interpreter used to run CGI scripts. For example, setting
484 <code>CGIMapExtension sys:\foo.nlm .foo</code> will
485 cause all CGI script files with a <code>.foo</code> extension to
486 be passed to the FOO interpreter.</p>
491 <name>ContentDigest</name>
492 <description>Enables the generation of <code>Content-MD5</code> HTTP Response
493 headers</description>
494 <syntax>ContentDigest On|Off</syntax>
495 <default>ContentDigest Off</default>
496 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
497 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
499 <override>Options</override>
500 <status>Experimental</status>
503 <p>This directive enables the generation of
504 <code>Content-MD5</code> headers as defined in RFC1864
505 respectively RFC2068.</p>
507 <p>MD5 is an algorithm for computing a "message digest"
508 (sometimes called "fingerprint") of arbitrary-length data, with
509 a high degree of confidence that any alterations in the data
510 will be reflected in alterations in the message digest.</p>
512 <p>The <code>Content-MD5</code> header provides an end-to-end
513 message integrity check (MIC) of the entity-body. A proxy or
514 client may check this header for detecting accidental
515 modification of the entity-body in transit. Example header:</p>
518 Content-MD5: AuLb7Dp1rqtRtxz2m9kRpA==
521 <p>Note that this can cause performance problems on your server
522 since the message digest is computed on every request (the
523 values are not cached).</p>
525 <p><code>Content-MD5</code> is only sent for documents served
526 by the <module>core</module>, and not by any module. For example,
527 SSI documents, output from CGI scripts, and byte range responses
528 do not have this header.</p>
533 <name>DefaultType</name>
534 <description>MIME content-type that will be sent if the
535 server cannot determine a type in any other way</description>
536 <syntax>DefaultType <var>MIME-type|none</var></syntax>
537 <default>DefaultType text/plain</default>
538 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
539 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
541 <override>FileInfo</override>
544 <p>There will be times when the server is asked to provide a
545 document whose type cannot be determined by its <glossary
546 ref="mime-type">MIME types</glossary> mappings.</p>
548 <p>The server SHOULD inform the client of the content-type of the
549 document. If the server is unable to determine this by normal
550 means, it will set it to the configured
551 <code>DefaultType</code>. For example:</p>
554 DefaultType image/gif
557 <p>would be appropriate for a directory which contained many GIF
558 images with filenames missing the <code>.gif</code> extension.</p>
560 <p>In cases where it can neither be determined by the server nor
561 the administrator (e.g. a proxy), it is preferable to omit the MIME
562 type altogether rather than provide information that may be false.
563 This can be accomplished using</p>
567 <p>DefaultType None is only available in httpd-2.2.7 and later.</p>
569 <p>Note that unlike <directive
570 module="core">ForceType</directive>, this directive only
571 provides the default mime-type. All other mime-type definitions,
572 including filename extensions, that might identify the media type
573 will override this default.</p>
579 <description>Define the existence of a variable</description>
580 <syntax>Define <var>parameter-name</var></syntax>
581 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
584 <p>Equivalent to passing the <code>-D</code> argument to <a
585 href="../programs/httpd.html">httpd</a>.</p>
586 <p>This directive can be used to toggle the use of <directive module="core"
587 type="section">IfDefine</directive> sections without needing to alter
588 <code>-D</code> arguments in any startup scripts.</p>
592 <directivesynopsis type="section">
593 <name>Directory</name>
594 <description>Enclose a group of directives that apply only to the
595 named file-system directory and sub-directories</description>
596 <syntax><Directory <var>directory-path</var>>
597 ... </Directory></syntax>
598 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
602 <p><directive type="section">Directory</directive> and
603 <code></Directory></code> are used to enclose a group of
604 directives that will apply only to the named directory and
605 sub-directories of that directory. Any directive that is allowed
606 in a directory context may be used. <var>Directory-path</var> is
607 either the full path to a directory, or a wild-card string using
608 Unix shell-style matching. In a wild-card string, <code>?</code> matches
609 any single character, and <code>*</code> matches any sequences of
610 characters. You may also use <code>[]</code> character ranges. None
611 of the wildcards match a `/' character, so <code><Directory
612 /*/public_html></code> will not match
613 <code>/home/user/public_html</code>, but <code><Directory
614 /home/*/public_html></code> will match. Example:</p>
617 <Directory /usr/local/httpd/htdocs><br />
619 Options Indexes FollowSymLinks<br />
625 <p>Be careful with the <var>directory-path</var> arguments:
626 They have to literally match the filesystem path which Apache uses
627 to access the files. Directives applied to a particular
628 <code><Directory></code> will not apply to files accessed from
629 that same directory via a different path, such as via different symbolic
633 <p><glossary ref="regex">Regular
634 expressions</glossary> can also be used, with the addition of the
635 <code>~</code> character. For example:</p>
638 <Directory ~ "^/www/.*/[0-9]{3}">
641 <p>would match directories in <code>/www/</code> that consisted of
644 <p>If multiple (non-regular expression) <directive
645 type="section">Directory</directive> sections
646 match the directory (or one of its parents) containing a document,
647 then the directives are applied in the order of shortest match
648 first, interspersed with the directives from the <a
649 href="#accessfilename">.htaccess</a> files. For example,
653 <Directory /><br />
655 AllowOverride None<br />
657 </Directory><br />
659 <Directory /home/><br />
661 AllowOverride FileInfo<br />
666 <p>for access to the document <code>/home/web/dir/doc.html</code>
670 <li>Apply directive <code>AllowOverride None</code>
671 (disabling <code>.htaccess</code> files).</li>
673 <li>Apply directive <code>AllowOverride FileInfo</code> (for
674 directory <code>/home</code>).</li>
676 <li>Apply any <code>FileInfo</code> directives in
677 <code>/home/.htaccess</code>, <code>/home/web/.htaccess</code> and
678 <code>/home/web/dir/.htaccess</code> in that order.</li>
681 <p>Regular expressions are not considered until after all of the
682 normal sections have been applied. Then all of the regular
683 expressions are tested in the order they appeared in the
684 configuration file. For example, with</p>
687 <Directory ~ abc$><br />
689 # ... directives here ...<br />
694 <p>the regular expression section won't be considered until after
695 all normal <directive type="section">Directory</directive>s and
696 <code>.htaccess</code> files have been applied. Then the regular
697 expression will match on <code>/home/abc/public_html/abc</code> and
698 the corresponding <directive type="section">Directory</directive> will
701 <p><strong>Note that the default Apache access for
702 <code><Directory /></code> is <code>Allow from All</code>.
703 This means that Apache will serve any file mapped from an URL. It is
704 recommended that you change this with a block such
708 <Directory /><br />
710 Order Deny,Allow<br />
716 <p><strong>and then override this for directories you
717 <em>want</em> accessible. See the <a
718 href="../misc/security_tips.html">Security Tips</a> page for more
719 details.</strong></p>
721 <p>The directory sections occur in the <code>httpd.conf</code> file.
722 <directive type="section">Directory</directive> directives
723 cannot nest, and cannot appear in a <directive module="core"
724 type="section">Limit</directive> or <directive module="core"
725 type="section">LimitExcept</directive> section.</p>
727 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>,
728 <Location> and <Files> sections work</a> for an
729 explanation of how these different sections are combined when a
730 request is received</seealso>
733 <directivesynopsis type="section">
734 <name>DirectoryMatch</name>
735 <description>Enclose directives that apply to
736 file-system directories matching a regular expression and their
737 subdirectories</description>
738 <syntax><DirectoryMatch <var>regex</var>>
739 ... </DirectoryMatch></syntax>
740 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
744 <p><directive type="section">DirectoryMatch</directive> and
745 <code></DirectoryMatch></code> are used to enclose a group
746 of directives which will apply only to the named directory and
747 sub-directories of that directory, the same as <directive
748 module="core" type="section">Directory</directive>. However, it
749 takes as an argument a <glossary ref="regex">regular
750 expression</glossary>. For example:</p>
753 <DirectoryMatch "^/www/(.+/)?[0-9]{3}">
756 <p>would match directories in <code>/www/</code> that consisted of three
759 <seealso><directive type="section" module="core">Directory</directive> for
760 a description of how regular expressions are mixed in with normal
761 <directive type="section">Directory</directive>s</seealso>
763 href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location> and
764 <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these different
765 sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
769 <name>DocumentRoot</name>
770 <description>Directory that forms the main document tree visible
771 from the web</description>
772 <syntax>DocumentRoot <var>directory-path</var></syntax>
773 <default>DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache/htdocs</default>
774 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
778 <p>This directive sets the directory from which <program>httpd</program>
779 will serve files. Unless matched by a directive like <directive
780 module="mod_alias">Alias</directive>, the server appends the
781 path from the requested URL to the document root to make the
782 path to the document. Example:</p>
785 DocumentRoot /usr/web
789 <code>http://www.my.host.com/index.html</code> refers to
790 <code>/usr/web/index.html</code>. If the <var>directory-path</var> is
791 not absolute then it is assumed to be relative to the <directive
792 module="core">ServerRoot</directive>.</p>
794 <p>The <directive>DocumentRoot</directive> should be specified without
795 a trailing slash.</p>
797 <seealso><a href="../urlmapping.html#documentroot">Mapping URLs to Filesystem
798 Locations</a></seealso>
802 <name>EnableMMAP</name>
803 <description>Use memory-mapping to read files during delivery</description>
804 <syntax>EnableMMAP On|Off</syntax>
805 <default>EnableMMAP On</default>
806 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
807 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
809 <override>FileInfo</override>
812 <p>This directive controls whether the <program>httpd</program> may use
813 memory-mapping if it needs to read the contents of a file during
814 delivery. By default, when the handling of a request requires
815 access to the data within a file -- for example, when delivering a
816 server-parsed file using <module>mod_include</module> -- Apache
817 memory-maps the file if the OS supports it.</p>
819 <p>This memory-mapping sometimes yields a performance improvement.
820 But in some environments, it is better to disable the memory-mapping
821 to prevent operational problems:</p>
824 <li>On some multiprocessor systems, memory-mapping can reduce the
825 performance of the <program>httpd</program>.</li>
826 <li>With an NFS-mounted <directive module="core">DocumentRoot</directive>,
827 the <program>httpd</program> may crash due to a segmentation fault if a file
828 is deleted or truncated while the <program>httpd</program> has it
832 <p>For server configurations that are vulnerable to these problems,
833 you should disable memory-mapping of delivered files by specifying:</p>
839 <p>For NFS mounted files, this feature may be disabled explicitly for
840 the offending files by specifying:</p>
843 <Directory "/path-to-nfs-files">
853 <name>EnableSendfile</name>
854 <description>Use the kernel sendfile support to deliver files to the client</description>
855 <syntax>EnableSendfile On|Off</syntax>
856 <default>EnableSendfile On</default>
857 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
858 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
860 <override>FileInfo</override>
861 <compatibility>Available in version 2.0.44 and later</compatibility>
864 <p>This directive controls whether <program>httpd</program> may use the
865 sendfile support from the kernel to transmit file contents to the client.
866 By default, when the handling of a request requires no access
867 to the data within a file -- for example, when delivering a
868 static file -- Apache uses sendfile to deliver the file contents
869 without ever reading the file if the OS supports it.</p>
871 <p>This sendfile mechanism avoids separate read and send operations,
872 and buffer allocations. But on some platforms or within some
873 filesystems, it is better to disable this feature to avoid
874 operational problems:</p>
877 <li>Some platforms may have broken sendfile support that the build
878 system did not detect, especially if the binaries were built on
879 another box and moved to such a machine with broken sendfile
881 <li>On Linux the use of sendfile triggers TCP-checksum
882 offloading bugs on certain networking cards when using IPv6.</li>
883 <li>On Linux on Itanium, sendfile may be unable to handle files
884 over 2GB in size.</li>
885 <li>With a network-mounted <directive
886 module="core">DocumentRoot</directive> (e.g., NFS or SMB),
887 the kernel may be unable to serve the network file through
891 <p>For server configurations that are vulnerable to these problems,
892 you should disable this feature by specifying:</p>
898 <p>For NFS or SMB mounted files, this feature may be disabled explicitly
899 for the offending files by specifying:</p>
902 <Directory "/path-to-nfs-files">
912 <name>ErrorDocument</name>
913 <description>What the server will return to the client
914 in case of an error</description>
915 <syntax>ErrorDocument <var>error-code</var> <var>document</var></syntax>
916 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
917 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
919 <override>FileInfo</override>
920 <compatibility>Quoting syntax for text messages is different in Apache
924 <p>In the event of a problem or error, Apache can be configured
925 to do one of four things,</p>
928 <li>output a simple hardcoded error message</li>
930 <li>output a customized message</li>
932 <li>redirect to a local <var>URL-path</var> to handle the
935 <li>redirect to an external <var>URL</var> to handle the
939 <p>The first option is the default, while options 2-4 are
940 configured using the <directive>ErrorDocument</directive>
941 directive, which is followed by the HTTP response code and a URL
942 or a message. Apache will sometimes offer additional information
943 regarding the problem/error.</p>
945 <p>URLs can begin with a slash (/) for local web-paths (relative
946 to the <directive module="core">DocumentRoot</directive>), or be a
947 full URL which the client can resolve. Alternatively, a message
948 can be provided to be displayed by the browser. Examples:</p>
951 ErrorDocument 500 http://foo.example.com/cgi-bin/tester<br />
952 ErrorDocument 404 /cgi-bin/bad_urls.pl<br />
953 ErrorDocument 401 /subscription_info.html<br />
954 ErrorDocument 403 "Sorry can't allow you access today"
957 <p>Additionally, the special value <code>default</code> can be used
958 to specify Apache's simple hardcoded message. While not required
959 under normal circumstances, <code>default</code> will restore
960 Apache's simple hardcoded message for configurations that would
961 otherwise inherit an existing <directive>ErrorDocument</directive>.</p>
964 ErrorDocument 404 /cgi-bin/bad_urls.pl<br /><br />
965 <Directory /web/docs><br />
967 ErrorDocument 404 default<br />
972 <p>Note that when you specify an <directive>ErrorDocument</directive>
973 that points to a remote URL (ie. anything with a method such as
974 <code>http</code> in front of it), Apache will send a redirect to the
975 client to tell it where to find the document, even if the
976 document ends up being on the same server. This has several
977 implications, the most important being that the client will not
978 receive the original error status code, but instead will
979 receive a redirect status code. This in turn can confuse web
980 robots and other clients which try to determine if a URL is
981 valid using the status code. In addition, if you use a remote
982 URL in an <code>ErrorDocument 401</code>, the client will not
983 know to prompt the user for a password since it will not
984 receive the 401 status code. Therefore, <strong>if you use an
985 <code>ErrorDocument 401</code> directive then it must refer to a local
986 document.</strong></p>
988 <p>Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) will by default ignore
989 server-generated error messages when they are "too small" and substitute
990 its own "friendly" error messages. The size threshold varies depending on
991 the type of error, but in general, if you make your error document
992 greater than 512 bytes, then MSIE will show the server-generated
993 error rather than masking it. More information is available in
994 Microsoft Knowledge Base article <a
995 href="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q294807"
998 <p>Although most error messages can be overriden, there are certain
999 circumstances where the internal messages are used regardless of the
1000 setting of <directive module="core">ErrorDocument</directive>. In
1001 particular, if a malformed request is detected, normal request processing
1002 will be immediately halted and the internal error message returned.
1003 This is necessary to guard against security problems caused by
1006 <p>Prior to version 2.0, messages were indicated by prefixing
1007 them with a single unmatched double quote character.</p>
1010 <seealso><a href="../custom-error.html">documentation of
1011 customizable responses</a></seealso>
1012 </directivesynopsis>
1015 <name>ErrorLog</name>
1016 <description>Location where the server will log errors</description>
1017 <syntax> ErrorLog <var>file-path</var>|syslog[:<var>facility</var>]</syntax>
1018 <default>ErrorLog logs/error_log (Unix) ErrorLog logs/error.log (Windows and OS/2)</default>
1019 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1023 <p>The <directive>ErrorLog</directive> directive sets the name of
1024 the file to which the server will log any errors it encounters. If
1025 the <var>file-path</var> is not absolute then it is assumed to be
1026 relative to the <directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive>.</p>
1028 <example><title>Example</title>
1029 ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/error_log
1032 <p>If the <var>file-path</var>
1033 begins with a pipe (|) then it is assumed to be a command to spawn
1034 to handle the error log.</p>
1036 <example><title>Example</title>
1037 ErrorLog "|/usr/local/bin/httpd_errors"
1040 <p>Using <code>syslog</code> instead of a filename enables logging
1041 via syslogd(8) if the system supports it. The default is to use
1042 syslog facility <code>local7</code>, but you can override this by
1043 using the <code>syslog:<var>facility</var></code> syntax where
1044 <var>facility</var> can be one of the names usually documented in
1047 <example><title>Example</title>
1048 ErrorLog syslog:user
1051 <p>SECURITY: See the <a
1052 href="../misc/security_tips.html#serverroot">security tips</a>
1053 document for details on why your security could be compromised
1054 if the directory where log files are stored is writable by
1055 anyone other than the user that starts the server.</p>
1056 <note type="warning"><title>Note</title>
1057 <p>When entering a file path on non-Unix platforms, care should be taken
1058 to make sure that only forward slashed are used even though the platform
1059 may allow the use of back slashes. In general it is a good idea to always
1060 use forward slashes throughout the configuration files.</p>
1063 <seealso><directive module="core">LogLevel</directive></seealso>
1064 <seealso><a href="../logs.html">Apache Log Files</a></seealso>
1065 </directivesynopsis>
1068 <name>FileETag</name>
1069 <description>File attributes used to create the ETag
1070 HTTP response header</description>
1071 <syntax>FileETag <var>component</var> ...</syntax>
1072 <default>FileETag INode MTime Size</default>
1073 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1074 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1076 <override>FileInfo</override>
1080 The <directive>FileETag</directive> directive configures the file
1081 attributes that are used to create the <code>ETag</code> (entity
1082 tag) response header field when the document is based on a file.
1083 (The <code>ETag</code> value is used in cache management to save
1084 network bandwidth.) In Apache 1.3.22 and earlier, the
1085 <code>ETag</code> value was <em>always</em> formed
1086 from the file's inode, size, and last-modified time (mtime). The
1087 <directive>FileETag</directive> directive allows you to choose
1088 which of these -- if any -- should be used. The recognized keywords are:
1092 <dt><strong>INode</strong></dt>
1093 <dd>The file's i-node number will be included in the calculation</dd>
1094 <dt><strong>MTime</strong></dt>
1095 <dd>The date and time the file was last modified will be included</dd>
1096 <dt><strong>Size</strong></dt>
1097 <dd>The number of bytes in the file will be included</dd>
1098 <dt><strong>All</strong></dt>
1099 <dd>All available fields will be used. This is equivalent to:
1100 <example>FileETag INode MTime Size</example></dd>
1101 <dt><strong>None</strong></dt>
1102 <dd>If a document is file-based, no <code>ETag</code> field will be
1103 included in the response</dd>
1106 <p>The <code>INode</code>, <code>MTime</code>, and <code>Size</code>
1107 keywords may be prefixed with either <code>+</code> or <code>-</code>,
1108 which allow changes to be made to the default setting inherited
1109 from a broader scope. Any keyword appearing without such a prefix
1110 immediately and completely cancels the inherited setting.</p>
1112 <p>If a directory's configuration includes
1113 <code>FileETag INode MTime Size</code>, and a
1114 subdirectory's includes <code>FileETag -INode</code>,
1115 the setting for that subdirectory (which will be inherited by
1116 any sub-subdirectories that don't override it) will be equivalent to
1117 <code>FileETag MTime Size</code>.</p>
1118 <note type="warning"><title>Warning</title>
1119 Do not change the default for directories or locations that have WebDAV
1120 enabled and use <module>mod_dav_fs</module> as a storage provider.
1121 <module>mod_dav_fs</module> uses <code>INode MTime Size</code>
1122 as a fixed format for <code>ETag</code> comparisons on conditional requests.
1123 These conditional requests will break if the <code>ETag</code> format is
1124 changed via <directive>FileETag</directive>.
1127 </directivesynopsis>
1129 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1131 <description>Contains directives that apply to matched
1132 filenames</description>
1133 <syntax><Files <var>filename</var>> ... </Files></syntax>
1134 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1135 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1137 <override>All</override>
1140 <p>The <directive type="section">Files</directive> directive
1141 limits the scope of the enclosed directives by filename. It is comparable
1142 to the <directive module="core" type="section">Directory</directive>
1143 and <directive module="core" type="section">Location</directive>
1144 directives. It should be matched with a <code></Files></code>
1145 directive. The directives given within this section will be applied to
1146 any object with a basename (last component of filename) matching the
1147 specified filename. <directive type="section">Files</directive>
1148 sections are processed in the order they appear in the
1149 configuration file, after the <directive module="core"
1150 type="section">Directory</directive> sections and
1151 <code>.htaccess</code> files are read, but before <directive
1152 type="section" module="core">Location</directive> sections. Note
1153 that <directive type="section">Files</directive> can be nested
1154 inside <directive type="section"
1155 module="core">Directory</directive> sections to restrict the
1156 portion of the filesystem they apply to.</p>
1158 <p>The <var>filename</var> argument should include a filename, or
1159 a wild-card string, where <code>?</code> matches any single character,
1160 and <code>*</code> matches any sequences of characters.
1161 <glossary ref="regex">Regular expressions</glossary>
1162 can also be used, with the addition of the
1163 <code>~</code> character. For example:</p>
1166 <Files ~ "\.(gif|jpe?g|png)$">
1169 <p>would match most common Internet graphics formats. <directive
1170 module="core" type="section">FilesMatch</directive> is preferred,
1173 <p>Note that unlike <directive type="section"
1174 module="core">Directory</directive> and <directive type="section"
1175 module="core">Location</directive> sections, <directive
1176 type="section">Files</directive> sections can be used inside
1177 <code>.htaccess</code> files. This allows users to control access to
1178 their own files, at a file-by-file level.</p>
1181 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>
1182 and <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
1183 different sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
1184 </directivesynopsis>
1186 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1187 <name>FilesMatch</name>
1188 <description>Contains directives that apply to regular-expression matched
1189 filenames</description>
1190 <syntax><FilesMatch <var>regex</var>> ... </FilesMatch></syntax>
1191 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1192 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1194 <override>All</override>
1197 <p>The <directive type="section">FilesMatch</directive> directive
1198 limits the scope of the enclosed directives by filename, just as the
1199 <directive module="core" type="section">Files</directive> directive
1200 does. However, it accepts a <glossary ref="regex">regular
1201 expression</glossary>. For example:</p>
1204 <FilesMatch "\.(gif|jpe?g|png)$">
1207 <p>would match most common Internet graphics formats.</p>
1210 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>
1211 and <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
1212 different sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
1213 </directivesynopsis>
1216 <name>ForceType</name>
1217 <description>Forces all matching files to be served with the specified
1218 MIME content-type</description>
1219 <syntax>ForceType <var>MIME-type</var>|None</syntax>
1220 <contextlist><context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1222 <override>FileInfo</override>
1223 <compatibility>Moved to the core in Apache 2.0</compatibility>
1226 <p>When placed into an <code>.htaccess</code> file or a
1227 <directive type="section" module="core">Directory</directive>, or
1228 <directive type="section" module="core">Location</directive> or
1229 <directive type="section" module="core">Files</directive>
1230 section, this directive forces all matching files to be served
1231 with the content type identification given by
1232 <var>MIME-type</var>. For example, if you had a directory full of
1233 GIF files, but did not want to label them all with <code>.gif</code>,
1234 you might want to use:</p>
1240 <p>Note that unlike <directive module="core">DefaultType</directive>,
1241 this directive overrides all mime-type associations, including
1242 filename extensions, that might identify the media type.</p>
1244 <p>You can override any <directive>ForceType</directive> setting
1245 by using the value of <code>None</code>:</p>
1248 # force all files to be image/gif:<br />
1249 <Location /images><br />
1251 ForceType image/gif<br />
1253 </Location><br />
1255 # but normal mime-type associations here:<br />
1256 <Location /images/mixed><br />
1258 ForceType None<br />
1263 </directivesynopsis>
1266 <name>HostnameLookups</name>
1267 <description>Enables DNS lookups on client IP addresses</description>
1268 <syntax>HostnameLookups On|Off|Double</syntax>
1269 <default>HostnameLookups Off</default>
1270 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1271 <context>directory</context></contextlist>
1274 <p>This directive enables DNS lookups so that host names can be
1275 logged (and passed to CGIs/SSIs in <code>REMOTE_HOST</code>).
1276 The value <code>Double</code> refers to doing double-reverse
1277 DNS lookup. That is, after a reverse lookup is performed, a forward
1278 lookup is then performed on that result. At least one of the IP
1279 addresses in the forward lookup must match the original
1280 address. (In "tcpwrappers" terminology this is called
1281 <code>PARANOID</code>.)</p>
1283 <p>Regardless of the setting, when <module>mod_authz_host</module> is
1284 used for controlling access by hostname, a double reverse lookup
1285 will be performed. This is necessary for security. Note that the
1286 result of this double-reverse isn't generally available unless you
1287 set <code>HostnameLookups Double</code>. For example, if only
1288 <code>HostnameLookups On</code> and a request is made to an object
1289 that is protected by hostname restrictions, regardless of whether
1290 the double-reverse fails or not, CGIs will still be passed the
1291 single-reverse result in <code>REMOTE_HOST</code>.</p>
1293 <p>The default is <code>Off</code> in order to save the network
1294 traffic for those sites that don't truly need the reverse
1295 lookups done. It is also better for the end users because they
1296 don't have to suffer the extra latency that a lookup entails.
1297 Heavily loaded sites should leave this directive
1298 <code>Off</code>, since DNS lookups can take considerable
1299 amounts of time. The utility <program>logresolve</program>, compiled by
1300 default to the <code>bin</code> subdirectory of your installation
1301 directory, can be used to look up host names from logged IP addresses
1304 </directivesynopsis>
1306 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1308 <description>Contains directives that apply only if a condition is
1309 satisfied by a request at runtime</description>
1310 <syntax><If <var>expression</var>> ... </If></syntax>
1311 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1312 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1314 <override>All</override>
1317 <p>The <directive type="section">If</directive> directive
1318 evaluates an expression at runtime, and applies the enclosed
1319 directives if and only if the expression evaluates to true.
1323 <If "$req{Host} = ''">
1326 <p>would match HTTP/1.0 requests without a <var>Host:</var> header.</p>
1329 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>,
1330 <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
1331 different sections are combined when a request is received.
1332 <directive type="section">If</directive> has the same precedence
1333 and usage as <directive type="section">Files</directive></seealso>
1334 </directivesynopsis>
1336 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1337 <name>IfDefine</name>
1338 <description>Encloses directives that will be processed only
1339 if a test is true at startup</description>
1340 <syntax><IfDefine [!]<var>parameter-name</var>> ...
1341 </IfDefine></syntax>
1342 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1343 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1345 <override>All</override>
1348 <p>The <code><IfDefine <var>test</var>>...</IfDefine>
1349 </code> section is used to mark directives that are conditional. The
1350 directives within an <directive type="section">IfDefine</directive>
1351 section are only processed if the <var>test</var> is true. If <var>
1352 test</var> is false, everything between the start and end markers is
1355 <p>The <var>test</var> in the <directive type="section"
1356 >IfDefine</directive> section directive can be one of two forms:</p>
1359 <li><var>parameter-name</var></li>
1361 <li><code>!</code><var>parameter-name</var></li>
1364 <p>In the former case, the directives between the start and end
1365 markers are only processed if the parameter named
1366 <var>parameter-name</var> is defined. The second format reverses
1367 the test, and only processes the directives if
1368 <var>parameter-name</var> is <strong>not</strong> defined.</p>
1370 <p>The <var>parameter-name</var> argument is a define as given on the
1371 <program>httpd</program> command line via <code>-D<var>parameter</var>
1372 </code> at the time the server was started or by the <directive
1373 module="core">Define</directive> directive.</p>
1375 <p><directive type="section">IfDefine</directive> sections are
1376 nest-able, which can be used to implement simple
1377 multiple-parameter tests. Example:</p>
1380 httpd -DReverseProxy ...<br />
1383 <IfDefine ReverseProxy><br />
1385 LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so<br />
1386 LoadModule proxy_module modules/libproxy.so<br />
1391 </directivesynopsis>
1393 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1394 <name>IfModule</name>
1395 <description>Encloses directives that are processed conditional on the
1396 presence or absence of a specific module</description>
1397 <syntax><IfModule [!]<var>module-file</var>|<var>module-identifier</var>> ...
1398 </IfModule></syntax>
1399 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1400 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1402 <override>All</override>
1403 <compatibility>Module identifiers are available in version 2.1 and
1404 later.</compatibility>
1407 <p>The <code><IfModule <var>test</var>>...</IfModule></code>
1408 section is used to mark directives that are conditional on the presence of
1409 a specific module. The directives within an <directive type="section"
1410 >IfModule</directive> section are only processed if the <var>test</var>
1411 is true. If <var>test</var> is false, everything between the start and
1412 end markers is ignored.</p>
1414 <p>The <var>test</var> in the <directive type="section"
1415 >IfModule</directive> section directive can be one of two forms:</p>
1418 <li><var>module</var></li>
1420 <li>!<var>module</var></li>
1423 <p>In the former case, the directives between the start and end
1424 markers are only processed if the module named <var>module</var>
1425 is included in Apache -- either compiled in or
1426 dynamically loaded using <directive module="mod_so"
1427 >LoadModule</directive>. The second format reverses the test,
1428 and only processes the directives if <var>module</var> is
1429 <strong>not</strong> included.</p>
1431 <p>The <var>module</var> argument can be either the module identifier or
1432 the file name of the module, at the time it was compiled. For example,
1433 <code>rewrite_module</code> is the identifier and
1434 <code>mod_rewrite.c</code> is the file name. If a module consists of
1435 several source files, use the name of the file containing the string
1436 <code>STANDARD20_MODULE_STUFF</code>.</p>
1438 <p><directive type="section">IfModule</directive> sections are
1439 nest-able, which can be used to implement simple multiple-module
1442 <note>This section should only be used if you need to have one
1443 configuration file that works whether or not a specific module
1444 is available. In normal operation, directives need not be
1445 placed in <directive type="section">IfModule</directive>
1448 </directivesynopsis>
1451 <name>Include</name>
1452 <description>Includes other configuration files from within
1453 the server configuration files</description>
1454 <syntax>Include <var>file-path</var>|<var>directory-path</var></syntax>
1455 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1456 <context>directory</context>
1458 <compatibility>Wildcard matching available in 2.0.41 and later</compatibility>
1461 <p>This directive allows inclusion of other configuration files
1462 from within the server configuration files.</p>
1464 <p>Shell-style (<code>fnmatch()</code>) wildcard characters can be used to
1465 include several files at once, in alphabetical order. In
1466 addition, if <directive>Include</directive> points to a directory,
1467 rather than a file, Apache will read all files in that directory
1468 and any subdirectory. But including entire directories is not
1469 recommended, because it is easy to accidentally leave temporary
1470 files in a directory that can cause <program>httpd</program> to
1473 <p>The file path specified may be an absolute path, or may be relative
1474 to the <directive module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directory.</p>
1479 Include /usr/local/apache2/conf/ssl.conf<br />
1480 Include /usr/local/apache2/conf/vhosts/*.conf
1483 <p>Or, providing paths relative to your <directive
1484 module="core">ServerRoot</directive> directory:</p>
1487 Include conf/ssl.conf<br />
1488 Include conf/vhosts/*.conf
1491 <p>Running <code>apachectl configtest</code> will give you a list
1492 of the files that are being processed during the configuration
1496 root@host# apachectl configtest<br />
1497 Processing config file: /usr/local/apache2/conf/ssl.conf<br />
1498 Processing config file: /usr/local/apache2/conf/vhosts/vhost1.conf<br />
1499 Processing config file: /usr/local/apache2/conf/vhosts/vhost2.conf<br />
1504 <seealso><program>apachectl</program></seealso>
1505 </directivesynopsis>
1508 <name>KeepAlive</name>
1509 <description>Enables HTTP persistent connections</description>
1510 <syntax>KeepAlive On|Off</syntax>
1511 <default>KeepAlive On</default>
1512 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1516 <p>The Keep-Alive extension to HTTP/1.0 and the persistent
1517 connection feature of HTTP/1.1 provide long-lived HTTP sessions
1518 which allow multiple requests to be sent over the same TCP
1519 connection. In some cases this has been shown to result in an
1520 almost 50% speedup in latency times for HTML documents with
1521 many images. To enable Keep-Alive connections, set
1522 <code>KeepAlive On</code>.</p>
1524 <p>For HTTP/1.0 clients, Keep-Alive connections will only be
1525 used if they are specifically requested by a client. In
1526 addition, a Keep-Alive connection with an HTTP/1.0 client can
1527 only be used when the length of the content is known in
1528 advance. This implies that dynamic content such as CGI output,
1529 SSI pages, and server-generated directory listings will
1530 generally not use Keep-Alive connections to HTTP/1.0 clients.
1531 For HTTP/1.1 clients, persistent connections are the default
1532 unless otherwise specified. If the client requests it, chunked
1533 encoding will be used in order to send content of unknown
1534 length over persistent connections.</p>
1536 <p>When a client uses a Keep-Alive connection it will be counted
1537 as a single "request" for the MaxRequestsPerChild directive, regardless
1538 of how many requests are sent using the connection.</p>
1541 <seealso><directive module="core">MaxKeepAliveRequests</directive></seealso>
1542 </directivesynopsis>
1545 <name>KeepAliveTimeout</name>
1546 <description>Amount of time the server will wait for subsequent
1547 requests on a persistent connection</description>
1548 <syntax>KeepAliveTimeout <var>seconds</var></syntax>
1549 <default>KeepAliveTimeout 5</default>
1550 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1554 <p>The number of seconds Apache will wait for a subsequent
1555 request before closing the connection. Once a request has been
1556 received, the timeout value specified by the
1557 <directive module="core">Timeout</directive> directive applies.</p>
1559 <p>Setting <directive>KeepAliveTimeout</directive> to a high value
1560 may cause performance problems in heavily loaded servers. The
1561 higher the timeout, the more server processes will be kept
1562 occupied waiting on connections with idle clients.</p>
1564 </directivesynopsis>
1567 <name>KeptBodySize</name>
1568 <description>Keep the request body instead of discarding it up to
1569 the specified maximum size, for potential use by filters such as
1570 mod_include.</description>
1571 <syntax>KeptBodySize <var>maximum size in bytes</var></syntax>
1572 <default>KeptBodySize 0</default>
1573 <contextlist><context>directory</context>
1577 <p>Under normal circumstances, request handlers such as the
1578 default handler for static files will discard the request body
1579 when it is not needed by the request handler. As a result,
1580 filters such as mod_include are limited to making <code>GET</code> requests
1581 only when including other URLs as subrequests, even if the
1582 original request was a <code>POST</code> request, as the discarded
1583 request body is no longer available once filter processing is
1586 <p>When this directive has a value greater than zero, request
1587 handlers that would otherwise discard request bodies will
1588 instead set the request body aside for use by filters up to
1589 the maximum size specified. In the case of the mod_include
1590 filter, an attempt to <code>POST</code> a request to the static
1591 shtml file will cause any subrequests to be <code>POST</code>
1592 requests, instead of <code>GET</code> requests as before.</p>
1594 <p>This feature makes it possible to break up complex web pages and
1595 web applications into small individual components, and combine
1596 the components and the surrounding web page structure together
1597 using <module>mod_include</module>. The components can take the
1598 form of CGI programs, scripted languages, or URLs reverse proxied
1599 into the URL space from another server using
1600 <module>mod_proxy</module>.</p>
1602 <p><strong>Note:</strong> Each request set aside has to be set
1603 aside in temporary RAM until the request is complete. As a result,
1604 care should be taken to ensure sufficient RAM is available on the
1605 server to support the intended load. Use of this directive
1606 should be limited to where needed on targeted parts of your
1607 URL space, and with the lowest possible value that is still big
1608 enough to hold a request body.</p>
1610 <p>If the request size sent by the client exceeds the maximum
1611 size allocated by this directive, the server will return
1612 <code>413 Request Entity Too Large</code>.</p>
1614 <p>Handlers such as <module>mod_cgi</module> that consume request
1615 bodies for their own purposes rather than discard them do not take
1616 this directive into account.</p>
1620 <seealso><a href="mod_include.html">mod_include</a> documentation</seealso>
1621 </directivesynopsis>
1623 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1625 <description>Restrict enclosed access controls to only certain HTTP
1626 methods</description>
1627 <syntax><Limit <var>method</var> [<var>method</var>] ... > ...
1628 </Limit></syntax>
1629 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1630 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1632 <override>All</override>
1635 <p>Access controls are normally effective for
1636 <strong>all</strong> access methods, and this is the usual
1637 desired behavior. <strong>In the general case, access control
1638 directives should not be placed within a
1639 <directive type="section">Limit</directive> section.</strong></p>
1641 <p>The purpose of the <directive type="section">Limit</directive>
1642 directive is to restrict the effect of the access controls to the
1643 nominated HTTP methods. For all other methods, the access
1644 restrictions that are enclosed in the <directive
1645 type="section">Limit</directive> bracket <strong>will have no
1646 effect</strong>. The following example applies the access control
1647 only to the methods <code>POST</code>, <code>PUT</code>, and
1648 <code>DELETE</code>, leaving all other methods unprotected:</p>
1651 <Limit POST PUT DELETE><br />
1653 Require valid-user<br />
1658 <p>The method names listed can be one or more of: <code>GET</code>,
1659 <code>POST</code>, <code>PUT</code>, <code>DELETE</code>,
1660 <code>CONNECT</code>, <code>OPTIONS</code>,
1661 <code>PATCH</code>, <code>PROPFIND</code>, <code>PROPPATCH</code>,
1662 <code>MKCOL</code>, <code>COPY</code>, <code>MOVE</code>,
1663 <code>LOCK</code>, and <code>UNLOCK</code>. <strong>The method name is
1664 case-sensitive.</strong> If <code>GET</code> is used it will also
1665 restrict <code>HEAD</code> requests. The <code>TRACE</code> method
1666 cannot be limited (see <directive type="section" module="core"
1667 >TraceEnable</directive>).</p>
1669 <note type="warning">A <directive type="section"
1670 module="core">LimitExcept</directive> section should always be
1671 used in preference to a <directive type="section"
1672 module="core">Limit</directive> section when restricting access,
1673 since a <directive type="section"
1674 module="core">LimitExcept</directive> section provides protection
1675 against arbitrary methods.</note>
1678 </directivesynopsis>
1680 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1681 <name>LimitExcept</name>
1682 <description>Restrict access controls to all HTTP methods
1683 except the named ones</description>
1684 <syntax><LimitExcept <var>method</var> [<var>method</var>] ... > ...
1685 </LimitExcept></syntax>
1686 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1687 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1689 <override>All</override>
1692 <p><directive type="section">LimitExcept</directive> and
1693 <code></LimitExcept></code> are used to enclose
1694 a group of access control directives which will then apply to any
1695 HTTP access method <strong>not</strong> listed in the arguments;
1696 i.e., it is the opposite of a <directive type="section"
1697 module="core">Limit</directive> section and can be used to control
1698 both standard and nonstandard/unrecognized methods. See the
1699 documentation for <directive module="core"
1700 type="section">Limit</directive> for more details.</p>
1705 <LimitExcept POST GET><br />
1707 Require valid-user<br />
1709 </LimitExcept>
1713 </directivesynopsis>
1716 <name>LimitInternalRecursion</name>
1717 <description>Determine maximum number of internal redirects and nested
1718 subrequests</description>
1719 <syntax>LimitInternalRecursion <var>number</var> [<var>number</var>]</syntax>
1720 <default>LimitInternalRecursion 10</default>
1721 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1723 <compatibility>Available in Apache 2.0.47 and later</compatibility>
1726 <p>An internal redirect happens, for example, when using the <directive
1727 module="mod_actions">Action</directive> directive, which internally
1728 redirects the original request to a CGI script. A subrequest is Apache's
1729 mechanism to find out what would happen for some URI if it were requested.
1730 For example, <module>mod_dir</module> uses subrequests to look for the
1731 files listed in the <directive module="mod_dir">DirectoryIndex</directive>
1734 <p><directive>LimitInternalRecursion</directive> prevents the server
1735 from crashing when entering an infinite loop of internal redirects or
1736 subrequests. Such loops are usually caused by misconfigurations.</p>
1738 <p>The directive stores two different limits, which are evaluated on
1739 per-request basis. The first <var>number</var> is the maximum number of
1740 internal redirects, that may follow each other. The second <var>number</var>
1741 determines, how deep subrequests may be nested. If you specify only one
1742 <var>number</var>, it will be assigned to both limits.</p>
1744 <example><title>Example</title>
1745 LimitInternalRecursion 5
1748 </directivesynopsis>
1751 <name>LimitRequestBody</name>
1752 <description>Restricts the total size of the HTTP request body sent
1753 from the client</description>
1754 <syntax>LimitRequestBody <var>bytes</var></syntax>
1755 <default>LimitRequestBody 0</default>
1756 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1757 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
1759 <override>All</override>
1762 <p>This directive specifies the number of <var>bytes</var> from 0
1763 (meaning unlimited) to 2147483647 (2GB) that are allowed in a
1766 <p>The <directive>LimitRequestBody</directive> directive allows
1767 the user to set a limit on the allowed size of an HTTP request
1768 message body within the context in which the directive is given
1769 (server, per-directory, per-file or per-location). If the client
1770 request exceeds that limit, the server will return an error
1771 response instead of servicing the request. The size of a normal
1772 request message body will vary greatly depending on the nature of
1773 the resource and the methods allowed on that resource. CGI scripts
1774 typically use the message body for retrieving form information.
1775 Implementations of the <code>PUT</code> method will require
1776 a value at least as large as any representation that the server
1777 wishes to accept for that resource.</p>
1779 <p>This directive gives the server administrator greater
1780 control over abnormal client request behavior, which may be
1781 useful for avoiding some forms of denial-of-service
1784 <p>If, for example, you are permitting file upload to a particular
1785 location, and wish to limit the size of the uploaded file to 100K,
1786 you might use the following directive:</p>
1789 LimitRequestBody 102400
1793 </directivesynopsis>
1796 <name>LimitRequestFields</name>
1797 <description>Limits the number of HTTP request header fields that
1798 will be accepted from the client</description>
1799 <syntax>LimitRequestFields <var>number</var></syntax>
1800 <default>LimitRequestFields 100</default>
1801 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
1804 <p><var>Number</var> is an integer from 0 (meaning unlimited) to
1805 32767. The default value is defined by the compile-time
1806 constant <code>DEFAULT_LIMIT_REQUEST_FIELDS</code> (100 as
1809 <p>The <directive>LimitRequestFields</directive> directive allows
1810 the server administrator to modify the limit on the number of
1811 request header fields allowed in an HTTP request. A server needs
1812 this value to be larger than the number of fields that a normal
1813 client request might include. The number of request header fields
1814 used by a client rarely exceeds 20, but this may vary among
1815 different client implementations, often depending upon the extent
1816 to which a user has configured their browser to support detailed
1817 content negotiation. Optional HTTP extensions are often expressed
1818 using request header fields.</p>
1820 <p>This directive gives the server administrator greater
1821 control over abnormal client request behavior, which may be
1822 useful for avoiding some forms of denial-of-service attacks.
1823 The value should be increased if normal clients see an error
1824 response from the server that indicates too many fields were
1825 sent in the request.</p>
1830 LimitRequestFields 50
1834 </directivesynopsis>
1837 <name>LimitRequestFieldSize</name>
1838 <description>Limits the size of the HTTP request header allowed from the
1839 client</description>
1840 <syntax>LimitRequestFieldSize <var>bytes</var></syntax>
1841 <default>LimitRequestFieldSize 8190</default>
1842 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
1845 <p>This directive specifies the number of <var>bytes</var>
1846 that will be allowed in an HTTP request header.</p>
1848 <p>The <directive>LimitRequestFieldSize</directive> directive
1849 allows the server administrator to reduce or increase the limit
1850 on the allowed size of an HTTP request header field. A server
1851 needs this value to be large enough to hold any one header field
1852 from a normal client request. The size of a normal request header
1853 field will vary greatly among different client implementations,
1854 often depending upon the extent to which a user has configured
1855 their browser to support detailed content negotiation. SPNEGO
1856 authentication headers can be up to 12392 bytes.</p>
1858 <p>This directive gives the server administrator greater
1859 control over abnormal client request behavior, which may be
1860 useful for avoiding some forms of denial-of-service attacks.</p>
1865 LimitRequestFieldSize 4094
1868 <note>Under normal conditions, the value should not be changed from
1872 </directivesynopsis>
1875 <name>LimitRequestLine</name>
1876 <description>Limit the size of the HTTP request line that will be accepted
1877 from the client</description>
1878 <syntax>LimitRequestLine <var>bytes</var></syntax>
1879 <default>LimitRequestLine 8190</default>
1880 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
1883 <p>This directive sets the number of <var>bytes</var> that will be
1884 allowed on the HTTP request-line.</p>
1886 <p>The <directive>LimitRequestLine</directive> directive allows
1887 the server administrator to reduce or increase the limit on the allowed size
1888 of a client's HTTP request-line. Since the request-line consists of the
1889 HTTP method, URI, and protocol version, the
1890 <directive>LimitRequestLine</directive> directive places a
1891 restriction on the length of a request-URI allowed for a request
1892 on the server. A server needs this value to be large enough to
1893 hold any of its resource names, including any information that
1894 might be passed in the query part of a <code>GET</code> request.</p>
1896 <p>This directive gives the server administrator greater
1897 control over abnormal client request behavior, which may be
1898 useful for avoiding some forms of denial-of-service attacks.</p>
1903 LimitRequestLine 4094
1906 <note>Under normal conditions, the value should not be changed from
1909 </directivesynopsis>
1912 <name>LimitXMLRequestBody</name>
1913 <description>Limits the size of an XML-based request body</description>
1914 <syntax>LimitXMLRequestBody <var>bytes</var></syntax>
1915 <default>LimitXMLRequestBody 1000000</default>
1916 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1917 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
1918 <override>All</override>
1921 <p>Limit (in bytes) on maximum size of an XML-based request
1922 body. A value of <code>0</code> will disable any checking.</p>
1927 LimitXMLRequestBody 0
1931 </directivesynopsis>
1933 <directivesynopsis type="section">
1934 <name>Location</name>
1935 <description>Applies the enclosed directives only to matching
1937 <syntax><Location
1938 <var>URL-path</var>|<var>URL</var>> ... </Location></syntax>
1939 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
1943 <p>The <directive type="section">Location</directive> directive
1944 limits the scope of the enclosed directives by URL. It is similar to the
1945 <directive type="section" module="core">Directory</directive>
1946 directive, and starts a subsection which is terminated with a
1947 <code></Location></code> directive. <directive
1948 type="section">Location</directive> sections are processed in the
1949 order they appear in the configuration file, after the <directive
1950 type="section" module="core">Directory</directive> sections and
1951 <code>.htaccess</code> files are read, and after the <directive
1952 type="section" module="core">Files</directive> sections.</p>
1954 <p><directive type="section">Location</directive> sections operate
1955 completely outside the filesystem. This has several consequences.
1956 Most importantly, <directive type="section">Location</directive>
1957 directives should not be used to control access to filesystem
1958 locations. Since several different URLs may map to the same
1959 filesystem location, such access controls may by circumvented.</p>
1961 <note><title>When to use <directive
1962 type="section">Location</directive></title>
1964 <p>Use <directive type="section">Location</directive> to apply
1965 directives to content that lives outside the filesystem. For
1966 content that lives in the filesystem, use <directive
1967 type="section" module="core">Directory</directive> and <directive
1968 type="section" module="core">Files</directive>. An exception is
1969 <code><Location /></code>, which is an easy way to
1970 apply a configuration to the entire server.</p>
1973 <p>For all origin (non-proxy) requests, the URL to be matched is a
1974 URL-path of the form <code>/path/</code>. No scheme, hostname,
1975 port, or query string may be included. For proxy requests, the
1976 URL to be matched is of the form
1977 <code>scheme://servername/path</code>, and you must include the
1980 <p>The URL may use wildcards. In a wild-card string, <code>?</code> matches
1981 any single character, and <code>*</code> matches any sequences of
1982 characters. Neither wildcard character matches a / in the URL-path.</p>
1984 <p><glossary ref="regex">Regular expressions</glossary>
1985 can also be used, with the addition of the
1986 <code>~</code> character. For example:</p>
1989 <Location ~ "/(extra|special)/data">
1992 <p>would match URLs that contained the substring <code>/extra/data</code>
1993 or <code>/special/data</code>. The directive <directive
1994 type="section" module="core">LocationMatch</directive> behaves
1995 identical to the regex version of <directive
1996 type="section">Location</directive>.</p>
1998 <p>The <directive type="section">Location</directive>
1999 functionality is especially useful when combined with the
2000 <directive module="core">SetHandler</directive>
2001 directive. For example, to enable status requests, but allow them
2002 only from browsers at <code>foo.com</code>, you might use:</p>
2005 <Location /status><br />
2007 SetHandler server-status<br />
2008 Order Deny,Allow<br />
2010 Allow from .foo.com<br />
2015 <note><title>Note about / (slash)</title>
2016 <p>The slash character has special meaning depending on where in a
2017 URL it appears. People may be used to its behavior in the filesystem
2018 where multiple adjacent slashes are frequently collapsed to a single
2019 slash (<em>i.e.</em>, <code>/home///foo</code> is the same as
2020 <code>/home/foo</code>). In URL-space this is not necessarily true.
2021 The <directive type="section" module="core">LocationMatch</directive>
2022 directive and the regex version of <directive type="section"
2023 >Location</directive> require you to explicitly specify multiple
2024 slashes if that is your intention.</p>
2026 <p>For example, <code><LocationMatch ^/abc></code> would match
2027 the request URL <code>/abc</code> but not the request URL <code>
2028 //abc</code>. The (non-regex) <directive type="section"
2029 >Location</directive> directive behaves similarly when used for
2030 proxy requests. But when (non-regex) <directive type="section"
2031 >Location</directive> is used for non-proxy requests it will
2032 implicitly match multiple slashes with a single slash. For example,
2033 if you specify <code><Location /abc/def></code> and the
2034 request is to <code>/abc//def</code> then it will match.</p>
2037 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>
2038 and <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
2039 different sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
2040 </directivesynopsis>
2042 <directivesynopsis type="section">
2043 <name>LocationMatch</name>
2044 <description>Applies the enclosed directives only to regular-expression
2045 matching URLs</description>
2046 <syntax><LocationMatch
2047 <var>regex</var>> ... </LocationMatch></syntax>
2048 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2052 <p>The <directive type="section">LocationMatch</directive> directive
2053 limits the scope of the enclosed directives by URL, in an identical manner
2054 to <directive module="core" type="section">Location</directive>. However,
2055 it takes a <glossary ref="regex">regular expression</glossary>
2056 as an argument instead of a simple string. For example:</p>
2059 <LocationMatch "/(extra|special)/data">
2062 <p>would match URLs that contained the substring <code>/extra/data</code>
2063 or <code>/special/data</code>.</p>
2066 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>
2067 and <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
2068 different sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
2069 </directivesynopsis>
2072 <name>LogLevel</name>
2073 <description>Controls the verbosity of the ErrorLog</description>
2074 <syntax>LogLevel <var>level</var></syntax>
2075 <default>LogLevel warn</default>
2076 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2080 <p><directive>LogLevel</directive> adjusts the verbosity of the
2081 messages recorded in the error logs (see <directive
2082 module="core">ErrorLog</directive> directive). The following
2083 <var>level</var>s are available, in order of decreasing
2087 <columnspec><column width=".2"/><column width=".3"/><column width=".5"/>
2090 <th><strong>Level</strong> </th>
2092 <th><strong>Description</strong> </th>
2094 <th><strong>Example</strong> </th>
2098 <td><code>emerg</code> </td>
2100 <td>Emergencies - system is unusable.</td>
2102 <td>"Child cannot open lock file. Exiting"</td>
2106 <td><code>alert</code> </td>
2108 <td>Action must be taken immediately.</td>
2110 <td>"getpwuid: couldn't determine user name from uid"</td>
2114 <td><code>crit</code> </td>
2116 <td>Critical Conditions.</td>
2118 <td>"socket: Failed to get a socket, exiting child"</td>
2122 <td><code>error</code> </td>
2124 <td>Error conditions.</td>
2126 <td>"Premature end of script headers"</td>
2130 <td><code>warn</code> </td>
2132 <td>Warning conditions.</td>
2134 <td>"child process 1234 did not exit, sending another
2139 <td><code>notice</code> </td>
2141 <td>Normal but significant condition.</td>
2143 <td>"httpd: caught SIGBUS, attempting to dump core in
2148 <td><code>info</code> </td>
2150 <td>Informational.</td>
2152 <td>"Server seems busy, (you may need to increase
2153 StartServers, or Min/MaxSpareServers)..."</td>
2157 <td><code>debug</code> </td>
2159 <td>Debug-level messages</td>
2161 <td>"Opening config file ..."</td>
2165 <p>When a particular level is specified, messages from all
2166 other levels of higher significance will be reported as well.
2167 <em>E.g.</em>, when <code>LogLevel info</code> is specified,
2168 then messages with log levels of <code>notice</code> and
2169 <code>warn</code> will also be posted.</p>
2171 <p>Using a level of at least <code>crit</code> is
2180 <note><title>Note</title>
2181 <p>When logging to a regular file messages of the level
2182 <code>notice</code> cannot be suppressed and thus are always
2183 logged. However, this doesn't apply when logging is done
2184 using <code>syslog</code>.</p>
2187 </directivesynopsis>
2190 <name>MaxKeepAliveRequests</name>
2191 <description>Number of requests allowed on a persistent
2192 connection</description>
2193 <syntax>MaxKeepAliveRequests <var>number</var></syntax>
2194 <default>MaxKeepAliveRequests 100</default>
2195 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2199 <p>The <directive>MaxKeepAliveRequests</directive> directive
2200 limits the number of requests allowed per connection when
2201 <directive module="core" >KeepAlive</directive> is on. If it is
2202 set to <code>0</code>, unlimited requests will be allowed. We
2203 recommend that this setting be kept to a high value for maximum
2204 server performance.</p>
2209 MaxKeepAliveRequests 500
2212 </directivesynopsis>
2215 <name>NameVirtualHost</name>
2216 <description>Designates an IP address for name-virtual
2217 hosting</description>
2218 <syntax>NameVirtualHost <var>addr</var>[:<var>port</var>]</syntax>
2219 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
2222 <p>The <directive>NameVirtualHost</directive> directive is a
2223 required directive if you want to configure <a
2224 href="../vhosts/">name-based virtual hosts</a>.</p>
2226 <p>Although <var>addr</var> can be hostname it is recommended
2227 that you always use an IP address, e.g.</p>
2230 NameVirtualHost 111.22.33.44
2233 <p>With the <directive>NameVirtualHost</directive> directive you
2234 specify the IP address on which the server will receive requests
2235 for the name-based virtual hosts. This will usually be the address
2236 to which your name-based virtual host names resolve. In cases
2237 where a firewall or other proxy receives the requests and forwards
2238 them on a different IP address to the server, you must specify the
2239 IP address of the physical interface on the machine which will be
2240 servicing the requests. If you have multiple name-based hosts on
2241 multiple addresses, repeat the directive for each address.</p>
2243 <note><title>Note</title>
2244 <p>Note, that the "main server" and any <code>_default_</code> servers
2245 will <strong>never</strong> be served for a request to a
2246 <directive>NameVirtualHost</directive> IP address (unless for some
2247 reason you specify <directive>NameVirtualHost</directive> but then
2248 don't define any <directive>VirtualHost</directive>s for that
2252 <p>Optionally you can specify a port number on which the
2253 name-based virtual hosts should be used, e.g.</p>
2256 NameVirtualHost 111.22.33.44:8080
2259 <p>IPv6 addresses must be enclosed in square brackets, as shown
2260 in the following example:</p>
2263 NameVirtualHost [2001:db8::a00:20ff:fea7:ccea]:8080
2266 <p>To receive requests on all interfaces, you can use an argument of
2273 <note><title>Argument to <directive type="section">VirtualHost</directive>
2275 <p>Note that the argument to the <directive
2276 type="section">VirtualHost</directive> directive must
2277 exactly match the argument to the <directive
2278 >NameVirtualHost</directive> directive.</p>
2281 NameVirtualHost 1.2.3.4<br />
2282 <VirtualHost 1.2.3.4><br />
2284 </VirtualHost><br />
2289 <seealso><a href="../vhosts/">Virtual Hosts
2290 documentation</a></seealso>
2292 </directivesynopsis>
2295 <name>Options</name>
2296 <description>Configures what features are available in a particular
2297 directory</description>
2299 [+|-]<var>option</var> [[+|-]<var>option</var>] ...</syntax>
2300 <default>Options All</default>
2301 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2302 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
2304 <override>Options</override>
2307 <p>The <directive>Options</directive> directive controls which
2308 server features are available in a particular directory.</p>
2310 <p><var>option</var> can be set to <code>None</code>, in which
2311 case none of the extra features are enabled, or one or more of
2315 <dt><code>All</code></dt>
2317 <dd>All options except for <code>MultiViews</code>. This is the default
2320 <dt><code>ExecCGI</code></dt>
2323 Execution of CGI scripts using <module>mod_cgi</module>
2326 <dt><code>FollowSymLinks</code></dt>
2330 The server will follow symbolic links in this directory.
2332 <p>Even though the server follows the symlink it does <em>not</em>
2333 change the pathname used to match against <directive type="section"
2334 module="core">Directory</directive> sections.</p>
2335 <p>Note also, that this option <strong>gets ignored</strong> if set
2336 inside a <directive type="section" module="core">Location</directive>
2338 <p>Omitting this option should not be considered a security restriction,
2339 since symlink testing is subject to race conditions that make it
2343 <dt><code>Includes</code></dt>
2346 Server-side includes provided by <module>mod_include</module>
2349 <dt><code>IncludesNOEXEC</code></dt>
2353 Server-side includes are permitted, but the <code>#exec
2354 cmd</code> and <code>#exec cgi</code> are disabled. It is still
2355 possible to <code>#include virtual</code> CGI scripts from
2356 <directive module="mod_alias">ScriptAlias</directive>ed
2359 <dt><code>Indexes</code></dt>
2362 If a URL which maps to a directory is requested, and there
2363 is no <directive module="mod_dir">DirectoryIndex</directive>
2364 (<em>e.g.</em>, <code>index.html</code>) in that directory, then
2365 <module>mod_autoindex</module> will return a formatted listing
2366 of the directory.</dd>
2368 <dt><code>MultiViews</code></dt>
2371 <a href="../content-negotiation.html">Content negotiated</a>
2372 "MultiViews" are allowed using
2373 <module>mod_negotiation</module>.</dd>
2375 <dt><code>SymLinksIfOwnerMatch</code></dt>
2377 <dd>The server will only follow symbolic links for which the
2378 target file or directory is owned by the same user id as the
2381 <note><title>Note</title> <p>This option gets ignored if
2382 set inside a <directive module="core"
2383 type="section">Location</directive> section.</p>
2384 <p>This option should not be considered a security restriction,
2385 since symlink testing is subject to race conditions that make it
2386 circumventable.</p></note>
2390 <p>Normally, if multiple <directive>Options</directive> could
2391 apply to a directory, then the most specific one is used and
2392 others are ignored; the options are not merged. (See <a
2393 href="../sections.html#mergin">how sections are merged</a>.)
2394 However if <em>all</em> the options on the
2395 <directive>Options</directive> directive are preceded by a
2396 <code>+</code> or <code>-</code> symbol, the options are
2397 merged. Any options preceded by a <code>+</code> are added to the
2398 options currently in force, and any options preceded by a
2399 <code>-</code> are removed from the options currently in
2402 <note type="warning"><title>Warning</title>
2403 <p>Mixing <directive>Options</directive> with a <code>+</code> or
2404 <code>-</code> with those without is not valid syntax, and is likely
2405 to cause unexpected results.</p>
2408 <p>For example, without any <code>+</code> and <code>-</code> symbols:</p>
2411 <Directory /web/docs><br />
2413 Options Indexes FollowSymLinks<br />
2415 </Directory><br />
2417 <Directory /web/docs/spec><br />
2419 Options Includes<br />
2424 <p>then only <code>Includes</code> will be set for the
2425 <code>/web/docs/spec</code> directory. However if the second
2426 <directive>Options</directive> directive uses the <code>+</code> and
2427 <code>-</code> symbols:</p>
2430 <Directory /web/docs><br />
2432 Options Indexes FollowSymLinks<br />
2434 </Directory><br />
2436 <Directory /web/docs/spec><br />
2438 Options +Includes -Indexes<br />
2443 <p>then the options <code>FollowSymLinks</code> and
2444 <code>Includes</code> are set for the <code>/web/docs/spec</code>
2447 <note><title>Note</title>
2448 <p>Using <code>-IncludesNOEXEC</code> or
2449 <code>-Includes</code> disables server-side includes completely
2450 regardless of the previous setting.</p>
2453 <p>The default in the absence of any other settings is
2454 <code>All</code>.</p>
2456 </directivesynopsis>
2459 <name>RLimitCPU</name>
2460 <description>Limits the CPU consumption of processes launched
2461 by Apache children</description>
2462 <syntax>RLimitCPU <var>seconds</var>|max [<var>seconds</var>|max]</syntax>
2463 <default>Unset; uses operating system defaults</default>
2464 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2465 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
2466 <override>All</override>
2469 <p>Takes 1 or 2 parameters. The first parameter sets the soft
2470 resource limit for all processes and the second parameter sets
2471 the maximum resource limit. Either parameter can be a number,
2472 or <code>max</code> to indicate to the server that the limit should
2473 be set to the maximum allowed by the operating system
2474 configuration. Raising the maximum resource limit requires that
2475 the server is running as <code>root</code>, or in the initial startup
2478 <p>This applies to processes forked off from Apache children
2479 servicing requests, not the Apache children themselves. This
2480 includes CGI scripts and SSI exec commands, but not any
2481 processes forked off from the Apache parent such as piped
2484 <p>CPU resource limits are expressed in seconds per
2487 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitMEM</directive></seealso>
2488 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitNPROC</directive></seealso>
2489 </directivesynopsis>
2492 <name>RLimitMEM</name>
2493 <description>Limits the memory consumption of processes launched
2494 by Apache children</description>
2495 <syntax>RLimitMEM <var>bytes</var>|max [<var>bytes</var>|max]</syntax>
2496 <default>Unset; uses operating system defaults</default>
2497 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2498 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
2499 <override>All</override>
2502 <p>Takes 1 or 2 parameters. The first parameter sets the soft
2503 resource limit for all processes and the second parameter sets
2504 the maximum resource limit. Either parameter can be a number,
2505 or <code>max</code> to indicate to the server that the limit should
2506 be set to the maximum allowed by the operating system
2507 configuration. Raising the maximum resource limit requires that
2508 the server is running as <code>root</code>, or in the initial startup
2511 <p>This applies to processes forked off from Apache children
2512 servicing requests, not the Apache children themselves. This
2513 includes CGI scripts and SSI exec commands, but not any
2514 processes forked off from the Apache parent such as piped
2517 <p>Memory resource limits are expressed in bytes per
2520 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitCPU</directive></seealso>
2521 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitNPROC</directive></seealso>
2522 </directivesynopsis>
2525 <name>RLimitNPROC</name>
2526 <description>Limits the number of processes that can be launched by
2527 processes launched by Apache children</description>
2528 <syntax>RLimitNPROC <var>number</var>|max [<var>number</var>|max]</syntax>
2529 <default>Unset; uses operating system defaults</default>
2530 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2531 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
2532 <override>All</override>
2535 <p>Takes 1 or 2 parameters. The first parameter sets the soft
2536 resource limit for all processes and the second parameter sets
2537 the maximum resource limit. Either parameter can be a number,
2538 or <code>max</code> to indicate to the server that the limit
2539 should be set to the maximum allowed by the operating system
2540 configuration. Raising the maximum resource limit requires that
2541 the server is running as <code>root</code>, or in the initial startup
2544 <p>This applies to processes forked off from Apache children
2545 servicing requests, not the Apache children themselves. This
2546 includes CGI scripts and SSI exec commands, but not any
2547 processes forked off from the Apache parent such as piped
2550 <p>Process limits control the number of processes per user.</p>
2552 <note><title>Note</title>
2553 <p>If CGI processes are <strong>not</strong> running
2554 under user ids other than the web server user id, this directive
2555 will limit the number of processes that the server itself can
2556 create. Evidence of this situation will be indicated by
2557 <strong><code>cannot fork</code></strong> messages in the
2558 <code>error_log</code>.</p>
2561 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitMEM</directive></seealso>
2562 <seealso><directive module="core">RLimitCPU</directive></seealso>
2563 </directivesynopsis>
2566 <name>ScriptInterpreterSource</name>
2567 <description>Technique for locating the interpreter for CGI
2568 scripts</description>
2569 <syntax>ScriptInterpreterSource Registry|Registry-Strict|Script</syntax>
2570 <default>ScriptInterpreterSource Script</default>
2571 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2572 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context></contextlist>
2573 <override>FileInfo</override>
2574 <compatibility>Win32 only;
2575 option <code>Registry-Strict</code> is available in Apache 2.0 and
2576 later</compatibility>
2579 <p>This directive is used to control how Apache finds the
2580 interpreter used to run CGI scripts. The default setting is
2581 <code>Script</code>. This causes Apache to use the interpreter pointed to
2582 by the shebang line (first line, starting with <code>#!</code>) in the
2583 script. On Win32 systems this line usually looks like:</p>
2586 #!C:/Perl/bin/perl.exe
2589 <p>or, if <code>perl</code> is in the <code>PATH</code>, simply:</p>
2595 <p>Setting <code>ScriptInterpreterSource Registry</code> will
2596 cause the Windows Registry tree <code>HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT</code> to be
2597 searched using the script file extension (e.g., <code>.pl</code>) as a
2598 search key. The command defined by the registry subkey
2599 <code>Shell\ExecCGI\Command</code> or, if it does not exist, by the subkey
2600 <code>Shell\Open\Command</code> is used to open the script file. If the
2601 registry keys cannot be found, Apache falls back to the behavior of the
2602 <code>Script</code> option.</p>
2604 <note type="warning"><title>Security</title>
2605 <p>Be careful when using <code>ScriptInterpreterSource
2606 Registry</code> with <directive
2607 module="mod_alias">ScriptAlias</directive>'ed directories, because
2608 Apache will try to execute <strong>every</strong> file within this
2609 directory. The <code>Registry</code> setting may cause undesired
2610 program calls on files which are typically not executed. For
2611 example, the default open command on <code>.htm</code> files on
2612 most Windows systems will execute Microsoft Internet Explorer, so
2613 any HTTP request for an <code>.htm</code> file existing within the
2614 script directory would start the browser in the background on the
2615 server. This is a good way to crash your system within a minute or
2619 <p>The option <code>Registry-Strict</code> which is new in Apache
2620 2.0 does the same thing as <code>Registry</code> but uses only the
2621 subkey <code>Shell\ExecCGI\Command</code>. The
2622 <code>ExecCGI</code> key is not a common one. It must be
2623 configured manually in the windows registry and hence prevents
2624 accidental program calls on your system.</p>
2626 </directivesynopsis>
2629 <name>ServerAdmin</name>
2630 <description>Email address that the server includes in error
2631 messages sent to the client</description>
2632 <syntax>ServerAdmin <var>email-address</var>|<var>URL</var></syntax>
2633 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2637 <p>The <directive>ServerAdmin</directive> sets the contact address
2638 that the server includes in any error messages it returns to the
2639 client. If the <code>httpd</code> doesn't recognize the supplied argument
2641 assumes, that it's an <var>email-address</var> and prepends it with
2642 <code>mailto:</code> in hyperlink targets. However, it's recommended to
2643 actually use an email address, since there are a lot of CGI scripts that
2644 make that assumption. If you want to use an URL, it should point to another
2645 server under your control. Otherwise users may not be able to contact you in
2648 <p>It may be worth setting up a dedicated address for this, e.g.</p>
2651 ServerAdmin www-admin@foo.example.com
2653 <p>as users do not always mention that they are talking about the
2656 </directivesynopsis>
2659 <name>ServerAlias</name>
2660 <description>Alternate names for a host used when matching requests
2661 to name-virtual hosts</description>
2662 <syntax>ServerAlias <var>hostname</var> [<var>hostname</var>] ...</syntax>
2663 <contextlist><context>virtual host</context></contextlist>
2666 <p>The <directive>ServerAlias</directive> directive sets the
2667 alternate names for a host, for use with <a
2668 href="../vhosts/name-based.html">name-based virtual hosts</a>. The
2669 <directive>ServerAlias</directive> may include wildcards, if appropriate.</p>
2672 <VirtualHost *><br />
2673 ServerName server.domain.com<br />
2674 ServerAlias server server2.domain.com server2<br />
2676 </VirtualHost>
2679 <seealso><a href="../vhosts/">Apache Virtual Host documentation</a></seealso>
2680 </directivesynopsis>
2683 <name>ServerName</name>
2684 <description>Hostname and port that the server uses to identify
2685 itself</description>
2686 <syntax>ServerName [<var>scheme</var>://]<var>fully-qualified-domain-name</var>[:<var>port</var>]</syntax>
2687 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2689 <compatibility>In version 2.0, this
2690 directive supersedes the functionality of the <directive>Port</directive>
2691 directive from version 1.3.</compatibility>
2694 <p>The <directive>ServerName</directive> directive sets the
2695 request scheme, hostname and
2696 port that the server uses to identify itself. This is used when
2697 creating redirection URLs. For example, if the name of the
2698 machine hosting the web server is <code>simple.example.com</code>,
2699 but the machine also has the DNS alias <code>www.example.com</code>
2700 and you wish the web server to be so identified, the following
2701 directive should be used:</p>
2704 ServerName www.example.com:80
2707 <p>If no <directive>ServerName</directive> is specified, then the
2708 server attempts to deduce the hostname by performing a reverse
2709 lookup on the IP address. If no port is specified in the
2710 <directive>ServerName</directive>, then the server will use the
2711 port from the incoming request. For optimal reliability and
2712 predictability, you should specify an explicit hostname and port
2713 using the <directive>ServerName</directive> directive.</p>
2715 <p>If you are using <a
2716 href="../vhosts/name-based.html">name-based virtual hosts</a>,
2717 the <directive>ServerName</directive> inside a
2718 <directive type="section" module="core">VirtualHost</directive>
2719 section specifies what hostname must appear in the request's
2720 <code>Host:</code> header to match this virtual host.</p>
2723 <p>Sometimes, the server runs behind a device that processes SSL,
2724 such as a reverse proxy, load balancer or SSL offload
2725 appliance. When this is the case, specify the
2726 <code>https://</code> scheme and the port number to which the
2727 clients connect in the <directive>ServerName</directive> directive
2728 to make sure that the server generates the correct
2729 self-referential URLs.
2732 <p>See the description of the
2733 <directive module="core">UseCanonicalName</directive> and
2734 <directive module="core">UseCanonicalPhysicalPort</directive>directives for
2735 settings which determine whether self-referential URLs (e.g., by the
2736 <module>mod_dir</module> module) will refer to the
2737 specified port, or to the port number given in the client's request.
2742 <seealso><a href="../dns-caveats.html">Issues Regarding DNS and
2743 Apache</a></seealso>
2744 <seealso><a href="../vhosts/">Apache virtual host
2745 documentation</a></seealso>
2746 <seealso><directive module="core">UseCanonicalName</directive></seealso>
2747 <seealso><directive module="core">UseCanonicalPhysicalPort</directive></seealso>
2748 <seealso><directive module="core">NameVirtualHost</directive></seealso>
2749 <seealso><directive module="core">ServerAlias</directive></seealso>
2750 </directivesynopsis>
2753 <name>ServerPath</name>
2754 <description>Legacy URL pathname for a name-based virtual host that
2755 is accessed by an incompatible browser</description>
2756 <syntax>ServerPath <var>URL-path</var></syntax>
2757 <contextlist><context>virtual host</context></contextlist>
2760 <p>The <directive>ServerPath</directive> directive sets the legacy
2761 URL pathname for a host, for use with <a
2762 href="../vhosts/">name-based virtual hosts</a>.</p>
2764 <seealso><a href="../vhosts/">Apache Virtual Host documentation</a></seealso>
2765 </directivesynopsis>
2768 <name>ServerRoot</name>
2769 <description>Base directory for the server installation</description>
2770 <syntax>ServerRoot <var>directory-path</var></syntax>
2771 <default>ServerRoot /usr/local/apache</default>
2772 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
2775 <p>The <directive>ServerRoot</directive> directive sets the
2776 directory in which the server lives. Typically it will contain the
2777 subdirectories <code>conf/</code> and <code>logs/</code>. Relative
2778 paths in other configuration directives (such as <directive
2779 module="core">Include</directive> or <directive
2780 module="mod_so">LoadModule</directive>, for example) are taken as
2781 relative to this directory.</p>
2783 <example><title>Example</title>
2784 ServerRoot /home/httpd
2788 <seealso><a href="../invoking.html">the <code>-d</code>
2789 option to <code>httpd</code></a></seealso>
2790 <seealso><a href="../misc/security_tips.html#serverroot">the
2791 security tips</a> for information on how to properly set
2792 permissions on the <directive>ServerRoot</directive></seealso>
2793 </directivesynopsis>
2796 <name>ServerSignature</name>
2797 <description>Configures the footer on server-generated documents</description>
2798 <syntax>ServerSignature On|Off|EMail</syntax>
2799 <default>ServerSignature Off</default>
2800 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2801 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
2803 <override>All</override>
2806 <p>The <directive>ServerSignature</directive> directive allows the
2807 configuration of a trailing footer line under server-generated
2808 documents (error messages, <module>mod_proxy</module> ftp directory
2809 listings, <module>mod_info</module> output, ...). The reason why you
2810 would want to enable such a footer line is that in a chain of proxies,
2811 the user often has no possibility to tell which of the chained servers
2812 actually produced a returned error message.</p>
2814 <p>The <code>Off</code>
2815 setting, which is the default, suppresses the footer line (and is
2816 therefore compatible with the behavior of Apache-1.2 and
2817 below). The <code>On</code> setting simply adds a line with the
2818 server version number and <directive
2819 module="core">ServerName</directive> of the serving virtual host,
2820 and the <code>EMail</code> setting additionally creates a
2821 "mailto:" reference to the <directive
2822 module="core">ServerAdmin</directive> of the referenced
2825 <p>After version 2.0.44, the details of the server version number
2826 presented are controlled by the <directive
2827 module="core">ServerTokens</directive> directive.</p>
2829 <seealso><directive module="core">ServerTokens</directive></seealso>
2830 </directivesynopsis>
2833 <name>ServerTokens</name>
2834 <description>Configures the <code>Server</code> HTTP response
2835 header</description>
2836 <syntax>ServerTokens Major|Minor|Min[imal]|Prod[uctOnly]|OS|Full</syntax>
2837 <default>ServerTokens Full</default>
2838 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
2841 <p>This directive controls whether <code>Server</code> response
2842 header field which is sent back to clients includes a
2843 description of the generic OS-type of the server as well as
2844 information about compiled-in modules.</p>
2847 <dt><code>ServerTokens Prod[uctOnly]</code></dt>
2849 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server:
2852 <dt><code>ServerTokens Major</code></dt>
2854 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server:
2855 Apache/2</code></dd>
2857 <dt><code>ServerTokens Minor</code></dt>
2859 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server:
2860 Apache/2.0</code></dd>
2862 <dt><code>ServerTokens Min[imal]</code></dt>
2864 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server:
2865 Apache/2.0.41</code></dd>
2867 <dt><code>ServerTokens OS</code></dt>
2869 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server: Apache/2.0.41
2872 <dt><code>ServerTokens Full</code> (or not specified)</dt>
2874 <dd>Server sends (<em>e.g.</em>): <code>Server: Apache/2.0.41
2875 (Unix) PHP/4.2.2 MyMod/1.2</code></dd>
2878 <p>This setting applies to the entire server, and cannot be
2879 enabled or disabled on a virtualhost-by-virtualhost basis.</p>
2881 <p>After version 2.0.44, this directive also controls the
2882 information presented by the <directive
2883 module="core">ServerSignature</directive> directive.</p>
2885 <seealso><directive module="core">ServerSignature</directive></seealso>
2886 </directivesynopsis>
2889 <name>SetHandler</name>
2890 <description>Forces all matching files to be processed by a
2891 handler</description>
2892 <syntax>SetHandler <var>handler-name</var>|None</syntax>
2893 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2894 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
2896 <override>FileInfo</override>
2897 <compatibility>Moved into the core in Apache 2.0</compatibility>
2900 <p>When placed into an <code>.htaccess</code> file or a
2901 <directive type="section" module="core">Directory</directive> or
2902 <directive type="section" module="core">Location</directive>
2903 section, this directive forces all matching files to be parsed
2904 through the <a href="../handler.html">handler</a> given by
2905 <var>handler-name</var>. For example, if you had a directory you
2906 wanted to be parsed entirely as imagemap rule files, regardless
2907 of extension, you might put the following into an
2908 <code>.htaccess</code> file in that directory:</p>
2911 SetHandler imap-file
2914 <p>Another example: if you wanted to have the server display a
2915 status report whenever a URL of
2916 <code>http://servername/status</code> was called, you might put
2917 the following into <code>httpd.conf</code>:</p>
2920 <Location /status><br />
2922 SetHandler server-status<br />
2927 <p>You can override an earlier defined <directive>SetHandler</directive>
2928 directive by using the value <code>None</code>.</p>
2929 <p><strong>Note:</strong> because SetHandler overrides default handlers,
2930 normal behaviour such as handling of URLs ending in a slash (/) as
2931 directories or index files is suppressed.</p>
2934 <seealso><directive module="mod_mime">AddHandler</directive></seealso>
2936 </directivesynopsis>
2939 <name>SetInputFilter</name>
2940 <description>Sets the filters that will process client requests and POST
2942 <syntax>SetInputFilter <var>filter</var>[;<var>filter</var>...]</syntax>
2943 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2944 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
2946 <override>FileInfo</override>
2949 <p>The <directive>SetInputFilter</directive> directive sets the
2950 filter or filters which will process client requests and POST
2951 input when they are received by the server. This is in addition to
2952 any filters defined elsewhere, including the
2953 <directive module="mod_mime">AddInputFilter</directive>
2956 <p>If more than one filter is specified, they must be separated
2957 by semicolons in the order in which they should process the
2960 <seealso><a href="../filter.html">Filters</a> documentation</seealso>
2961 </directivesynopsis>
2964 <name>SetOutputFilter</name>
2965 <description>Sets the filters that will process responses from the
2966 server</description>
2967 <syntax>SetOutputFilter <var>filter</var>[;<var>filter</var>...]</syntax>
2968 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
2969 <context>directory</context><context>.htaccess</context>
2971 <override>FileInfo</override>
2974 <p>The <directive>SetOutputFilter</directive> directive sets the filters
2975 which will process responses from the server before they are
2976 sent to the client. This is in addition to any filters defined
2977 elsewhere, including the
2978 <directive module="mod_mime">AddOutputFilter</directive>
2981 <p>For example, the following configuration will process all files
2982 in the <code>/www/data/</code> directory for server-side
2986 <Directory /www/data/><br />
2988 SetOutputFilter INCLUDES<br />
2993 <p>If more than one filter is specified, they must be separated
2994 by semicolons in the order in which they should process the
2997 <seealso><a href="../filter.html">Filters</a> documentation</seealso>
2998 </directivesynopsis>
3001 <name>TimeOut</name>
3002 <description>Amount of time the server will wait for
3003 certain events before failing a request</description>
3004 <syntax>TimeOut <var>seconds</var></syntax>
3005 <default>TimeOut 300</default>
3006 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context></contextlist>
3009 <p>The <directive>TimeOut</directive> directive defines the length
3010 of time Apache will wait for I/O in various circumstances:</p>
3013 <li>When reading data from the client, the length of time to
3014 wait for a TCP packet to arrive if the read buffer is
3017 <li>When writing data to the client, the length of time to wait
3018 for an acknowledgement of a packet if the send buffer is
3021 <li>In <module>mod_cgi</module>, the length of time to wait for
3022 output from a CGI script.</li>
3024 <li>In <module>mod_ext_filter</module>, the length of time to
3025 wait for output from a filtering process.</li>
3027 <li>In <module>mod_proxy</module>, the default timeout value if
3028 <directive module="mod_proxy">ProxyTimeout</directive> is not
3033 </directivesynopsis>
3036 <name>TraceEnable</name>
3037 <description>Determines the behaviour on <code>TRACE</code>
3038 requests</description>
3039 <syntax>TraceEnable <var>[on|off|extended]</var></syntax>
3040 <default>TraceEnable on</default>
3041 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
3042 <compatibility>Available in Apache 1.3.34, 2.0.55 and later</compatibility>
3045 <p>This directive overrides the behavior of <code>TRACE</code> for both
3046 the core server and <module>mod_proxy</module>. The default
3047 <code>TraceEnable on</code> permits <code>TRACE</code> requests per
3048 RFC 2616, which disallows any request body to accompany the request.
3049 <code>TraceEnable off</code> causes the core server and
3050 <module>mod_proxy</module> to return a <code>405</code> (Method not
3051 allowed) error to the client.</p>
3053 <p>Finally, for testing and diagnostic purposes only, request
3054 bodies may be allowed using the non-compliant <code>TraceEnable
3055 extended</code> directive. The core (as an origin server) will
3056 restrict the request body to 64k (plus 8k for chunk headers if
3057 <code>Transfer-Encoding: chunked</code> is used). The core will
3058 reflect the full headers and all chunk headers with the response
3059 body. As a proxy server, the request body is not restricted to 64k.</p>
3061 </directivesynopsis>
3064 <name>UseCanonicalName</name>
3065 <description>Configures how the server determines its own name and
3067 <syntax>UseCanonicalName On|Off|DNS</syntax>
3068 <default>UseCanonicalName Off</default>
3069 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
3070 <context>directory</context></contextlist>
3073 <p>In many situations Apache must construct a <em>self-referential</em>
3074 URL -- that is, a URL that refers back to the same server. With
3075 <code>UseCanonicalName On</code> Apache will use the hostname and port
3076 specified in the <directive module="core">ServerName</directive>
3077 directive to construct the canonical name for the server. This name
3078 is used in all self-referential URLs, and for the values of
3079 <code>SERVER_NAME</code> and <code>SERVER_PORT</code> in CGIs.</p>
3081 <p>With <code>UseCanonicalName Off</code> Apache will form
3082 self-referential URLs using the hostname and port supplied by
3083 the client if any are supplied (otherwise it will use the
3084 canonical name, as defined above). These values are the same
3085 that are used to implement <a
3086 href="../vhosts/name-based.html">name based virtual hosts</a>,
3087 and are available with the same clients. The CGI variables
3088 <code>SERVER_NAME</code> and <code>SERVER_PORT</code> will be
3089 constructed from the client supplied values as well.</p>
3091 <p>An example where this may be useful is on an intranet server
3092 where you have users connecting to the machine using short
3093 names such as <code>www</code>. You'll notice that if the users
3094 type a shortname, and a URL which is a directory, such as
3095 <code>http://www/splat</code>, <em>without the trailing
3096 slash</em> then Apache will redirect them to
3097 <code>http://www.domain.com/splat/</code>. If you have
3098 authentication enabled, this will cause the user to have to
3099 authenticate twice (once for <code>www</code> and once again
3100 for <code>www.domain.com</code> -- see <a
3101 href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/FAQ.html#prompted-twice">the
3102 FAQ on this subject for more information</a>). But if
3103 <directive>UseCanonicalName</directive> is set <code>Off</code>, then
3104 Apache will redirect to <code>http://www/splat/</code>.</p>
3106 <p>There is a third option, <code>UseCanonicalName DNS</code>,
3107 which is intended for use with mass IP-based virtual hosting to
3108 support ancient clients that do not provide a
3109 <code>Host:</code> header. With this option Apache does a
3110 reverse DNS lookup on the server IP address that the client
3111 connected to in order to work out self-referential URLs.</p>
3113 <note type="warning"><title>Warning</title>
3114 <p>If CGIs make assumptions about the values of <code>SERVER_NAME</code>
3115 they may be broken by this option. The client is essentially free
3116 to give whatever value they want as a hostname. But if the CGI is
3117 only using <code>SERVER_NAME</code> to construct self-referential URLs
3118 then it should be just fine.</p>
3121 <seealso><directive module="core">UseCanonicalPhysicalPort</directive></seealso>
3122 <seealso><directive module="core">ServerName</directive></seealso>
3123 <seealso><directive module="mpm_common">Listen</directive></seealso>
3124 </directivesynopsis>
3127 <name>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort</name>
3128 <description>Configures how the server determines its own name and
3130 <syntax>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort On|Off</syntax>
3131 <default>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort Off</default>
3132 <contextlist><context>server config</context><context>virtual host</context>
3133 <context>directory</context></contextlist>
3136 <p>In many situations Apache must construct a <em>self-referential</em>
3137 URL -- that is, a URL that refers back to the same server. With
3138 <code>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort On</code> Apache will, when
3139 constructing the canonical port for the server to honor
3140 the <directive module="core">UseCanonicalName</directive> directive,
3141 provide the actual physical port number being used by this request
3142 as a potential port. With <code>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort Off</code>
3143 Apache will not ever use the actual physical port number, instead
3144 relying on all configured information to construct a valid port number.</p>
3146 <note><title>Note</title>
3147 <p>The ordering of when the physical port is used is as follows:<br /><br />
3148 <code>UseCanonicalName On</code></p>
3150 <li>Port provided in <code>Servername</code></li>
3151 <li>Physical port</li>
3152 <li>Default port</li>
3154 <code>UseCanonicalName Off | DNS</code>
3156 <li>Parsed port from <code>Host:</code> header</li>
3157 <li>Physical port</li>
3158 <li>Port provided in <code>Servername</code></li>
3159 <li>Default port</li>
3162 <p>With <code>UseCanonicalPhysicalPort Off</code>, the
3163 physical ports are removed from the ordering.</p>
3167 <seealso><directive module="core">UseCanonicalName</directive></seealso>
3168 <seealso><directive module="core">ServerName</directive></seealso>
3169 <seealso><directive module="mpm_common">Listen</directive></seealso>
3170 </directivesynopsis>
3172 <directivesynopsis type="section">
3173 <name>VirtualHost</name>
3174 <description>Contains directives that apply only to a specific
3175 hostname or IP address</description>
3176 <syntax><VirtualHost
3177 <var>addr</var>[:<var>port</var>] [<var>addr</var>[:<var>port</var>]]
3178 ...> ... </VirtualHost></syntax>
3179 <contextlist><context>server config</context></contextlist>
3182 <p><directive type="section">VirtualHost</directive> and
3183 <code></VirtualHost></code> are used to enclose a group of
3184 directives that will apply only to a particular virtual host. Any
3185 directive that is allowed in a virtual host context may be
3186 used. When the server receives a request for a document on a
3187 particular virtual host, it uses the configuration directives
3188 enclosed in the <directive type="section">VirtualHost</directive>
3189 section. <var>Addr</var> can be:</p>
3192 <li>The IP address of the virtual host;</li>
3194 <li>A fully qualified domain name for the IP address of the
3195 virtual host (not recommended);</li>
3197 <li>The character <code>*</code>, which is used only in combination with
3198 <code>NameVirtualHost *</code> to match all IP addresses; or</li>
3200 <li>The string <code>_default_</code>, which is used only
3201 with IP virtual hosting to catch unmatched IP addresses.</li>
3204 <example><title>Example</title>
3205 <VirtualHost 10.1.2.3><br />
3207 ServerAdmin webmaster@host.foo.com<br />
3208 DocumentRoot /www/docs/host.foo.com<br />
3209 ServerName host.foo.com<br />
3210 ErrorLog logs/host.foo.com-error_log<br />
3211 TransferLog logs/host.foo.com-access_log<br />
3213 </VirtualHost>
3217 <p>IPv6 addresses must be specified in square brackets because
3218 the optional port number could not be determined otherwise. An
3219 IPv6 example is shown below:</p>
3222 <VirtualHost [2001:db8::a00:20ff:fea7:ccea]><br />
3224 ServerAdmin webmaster@host.example.com<br />
3225 DocumentRoot /www/docs/host.example.com<br />
3226 ServerName host.example.com<br />
3227 ErrorLog logs/host.example.com-error_log<br />
3228 TransferLog logs/host.example.com-access_log<br />
3230 </VirtualHost>
3233 <p>Each Virtual Host must correspond to a different IP address,
3234 different port number or a different host name for the server,
3235 in the former case the server machine must be configured to
3236 accept IP packets for multiple addresses. (If the machine does
3237 not have multiple network interfaces, then this can be
3238 accomplished with the <code>ifconfig alias</code> command -- if
3239 your OS supports it).</p>
3241 <note><title>Note</title>
3242 <p>The use of <directive type="section">VirtualHost</directive> does
3243 <strong>not</strong> affect what addresses Apache listens on. You
3244 may need to ensure that Apache is listening on the correct addresses
3245 using <directive module="mpm_common">Listen</directive>.</p>
3248 <p>When using IP-based virtual hosting, the special name
3249 <code>_default_</code> can be specified in
3250 which case this virtual host will match any IP address that is
3251 not explicitly listed in another virtual host. In the absence
3252 of any <code>_default_</code> virtual host the "main" server config,
3253 consisting of all those definitions outside any VirtualHost
3254 section, is used when no IP-match occurs. (But note that any IP
3255 address that matches a <directive
3256 module="core">NameVirtualHost</directive> directive will use neither
3257 the "main" server config nor the <code>_default_</code> virtual host.
3258 See the <a href="../vhosts/name-based.html">name-based virtual hosting</a>
3259 documentation for further details.)</p>
3261 <p>You can specify a <code>:port</code> to change the port that is
3262 matched. If unspecified then it defaults to the same port as the
3263 most recent <directive module="mpm_common">Listen</directive>
3264 statement of the main server. You may also specify <code>:*</code>
3265 to match all ports on that address. (This is recommended when used
3266 with <code>_default_</code>.)</p>
3268 <p>A <directive module="core">ServerName</directive> should be
3269 specified inside each <directive
3270 type="section">VirtualHost</directive> block. If it is absent, the
3271 <directive module="core">ServerName</directive> from the "main"
3272 server configuration will be inherited.</p>
3274 <note type="warning"><title>Security</title>
3275 <p>See the <a href="../misc/security_tips.html">security tips</a>
3276 document for details on why your security could be compromised if the
3277 directory where log files are stored is writable by anyone other
3278 than the user that starts the server.</p>
3281 <seealso><a href="../vhosts/">Apache Virtual Host documentation</a></seealso>
3282 <seealso><a href="../dns-caveats.html">Issues Regarding DNS and
3283 Apache</a></seealso>
3284 <seealso><a href="../bind.html">Setting
3285 which addresses and ports Apache uses</a></seealso>
3286 <seealso><a href="../sections.html">How <Directory>, <Location>
3287 and <Files> sections work</a> for an explanation of how these
3288 different sections are combined when a request is received</seealso>
3289 </directivesynopsis>