I have two apache virtual hosts within the same domain (and on same physical system):
old.example.com
new.example.com
I'd like to be able to transparently rewrite or map certain old url's to new. Example:
A request for http://old.example.com/foo would actually result in a request for http://new.example.com/foo
I want the http client (browser) to be unaware of the rewrite...in other words, I'm not looking to redirect. And, I only want to rewrite specific url's.
What can I add to either the virtual host or htaccess file(s) to accomplish this?
I guess you could set up your virtual hosts via mod_rewrite and then simply add those rewriting steps to the configuration.
If, however, all you are trying to do is to re-use some things you have in the file system, without any magic in your config files, I would use symbolic links instead. (I have no idea if there are any equivalents for windows servers, though.)
I found the answer here: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html in the section titled Dynamic Mirror. I added this to my htaccess on http://old.example.com :
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^foo http://new.example.com/foo [P]
The feature flag P tells the rule to use Proxy Throughput.
Related
I've read plenty of Stackoverflows but I seem to be missing something.
I have a PHP application running on https://subdomain.example.com/page/x but for SEO reasons I want people/bots to see https://example.com/subdomain/page/x.
I can rewrite the URL by using:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} subdomain.example.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/subdomain/$1 [L,NC,QSA]
This rewrite results in: https://example.com/subdomain/page/x, but I keep recieving a 404 error since the "main" domain doesn't know the path /subdomain/page/x of course.
What I want is to have the URL https://example.com/subdomain/page/x but run it on https://subdomain.example.com/ in the background since this is the place where the PHP application is running.
Is this possible? How should I do this?
There is no strong SEO reason not to use subdomains. See Do subdomains help/hurt SEO? I recommend using subdirectories most of the time but subdomains when they are warranted.
One place where subdomains are warranted is when your content is hosted on a separate server in a separate hosting location. While it is technically possible to serve the content from a subdirectory from the separate server, that comes with its own set of SEO problems:
It will be slow.
It will introduce duplicate content.
From a technical standpoint, you would need to use a reverse proxy to on your example.com webserver to fetch content for the /subdomain/ subdirectory from subdomain.example.com. The code for doing so in the .htaccess file of example.com would be something like:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^subdomain/(.*)$ https://subdomain.example.com/$1 [P]
The [P] flag means "reverse proxy" which will cause the server to fetch the content from the remote subdomain. This will necessarily make it slower for users. So much so that it would be better for SEO to use a subdomain.
For this to work you would also need to leave the subdomain up and running and serving content for the main server to fetch. This causes duplicate content. You could solve this issue by implementing canonical tags pointing to the subdirectory.
This requires several Apache modules to be available. On my Debian based system I needed to run sudo a2enmod ssl proxy rewrite proxy_connect proxy_http and sudo service apache2 reload. I also had to add SSLProxyEngine on in my <VirtualHost> directive for the site I wanted to use this on.
I registered a expired domain to forward all incoming links to another domain. The problem is: many inlinks are placed on subdomains, for example: axa-art.cdn.contento-v41.eu/axa-art/0eee9cec-58cb-45b2-a4e2-b5f73920068e_091216_axa+art_classic+car+study_de_rz.pdf
I am looking for a 301 redirect rule in htaccess that forward any url (no matter on main domain or subdomain) to "new-url.tld"
axa-art.cdn.contento-v41.eu
axa-art.cdn.contento-v41.eu/slug
any-subdomain.contento-v41.eu
any-subdomain.contento-v41.eu/slug
all of this example above should
forward to this exact URL: new-domain.tld
Question 1:
Is it possible to create a "general" rule and place it into htaccess of the main directory?
Question 2:
Or do i have to write a specific rule for each subdomain?
Question 3:
Do I have to create a sub-directory and create a separate htaccess in every sub-directory for each subdomain I want to add redirection-rules?
Help or suggestions are highly appreciated. Thank you very much for your help in advance.
This isn't just a .htaccess question. In order for your server to receive requests to <any-subdomain>.example.com the necessary DNS and server config directives need to be in place. If the request doesn't reach your server then you can't implement a redirect in .htaccess.
So, I suspect that these subdomains are not even resolving?
You either need to create the necessary DNS A records and ServerAlias directives one by one for each hostname (ie. subdomain) or create a "wildcard" DNS A record (and ServerAlias *.example.com directive in the vHost). But then you still have an issue with these hostnames being covered by an SSL cert if you need to redirect from HTTPS.
You can then create the necessary redirect in .htaccess. Although, since you need access to the server config (or a using a control panel that does this for you) to implement the directives above, you should also implement this redirect in the server config also.
For example, at the top of your .htaccess file, before the existing directives (or in your vHost):
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^new\.example$
RewriteRule ^ https://new.example%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
The above states... for any request that is not for new.example then 301 redirect to https://new.example/<same-url>.
However, if you have access to the server config and this other domain is configured in its own vHost container then the redirect can be simplified:
Redirect 301 / https://new.example/
UPDATE#1:
this rule does forward any URL form the main domain to the new domain.
# Permanent URL redirect- by netgrade
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !https://www.marco-mahling.de/$
RewriteRule $ https://www.marco-mahling.de/ [R=302,L]
The rule I posted above should probably replace your existing rule entirely.
Yes, your rule does redirect every URL to the root of the new domain, but it is arguably incorrect. The RewriteCond directive is superflous and isn't actually doing anything. The REQUEST_URI server variable contains the URL-path, it never contains the scheme + hostname. So, the RewriteCond directive you've posted will always be successful.
If that is the rule you currently have then it would already redirect everything. In which case your problem would seem to the necessary DNS and server config directives as mentioned above.
From your directives, I assume that the other domain actually points to a different server (or different vHost on the same server). Otherwise, this would have resulted in a redirect-loop. In which case, you only need the much simpler Redirect directive that I posted above.
UPDATE#2: That works fine BUT the incoming links are still not forwarded cuz of a "%" in the url: https://axa-art.cdn.contento-v41.eu/axa-art%2F0eee9cec-58cb-45b2-a4e2-b5f73920068e_091216_axa+art_classic+car+study_de_rz.pdf
It's actually because of the %2F - an encoded slash (/) in the URL-path. By default, Apache will reject such URLs with a 404 (for security reasons).
To allow encoded slashes in the URL you would need to set AllowEncodedSlashes On in the server config (or vHost container). You cannot set this in .htaccess. (The server generated 404 occurs before .htaccess is even processed.)
However, I would express caution about enabling this feature. (Is there a specific requirement here? Are you recreating these documents on the new server?)
If this request was intended to map directly to a PDF file on disk then this actually looks like an incorrectly URL encoded request, since a slash / is not a permitted filename character on either Windows or Linux.
If you enable AllowEncodedSlashes then the above RewriteRule will redirect the request to /axa-art/0eee9cec....pdf - note the %-decoded / in the resulting URL. You would need to take additional steps to maintain the URL-encoding (if that was required), but as I say, that looks like a mistake to begin with.
I need to have a .htaccess file made to the following specifications.
Allow ONLY "exampledomain.com/sometext" to access "mydomain.com/folder"
Block all other referrers and redirect them to "google.com"
But I am not sure how to go about doing this.
So far this is what I have got. But it is not working.
<If "%{HTTP_HOST} != 'google.com'">
Redirect / http://www.yahoo.com/
</If>
Using the latest Apache. I really appreciate the help here. I have gone through a few other posts but can't seem to figure it out.
Does the 'google.com' have to include the full url or is their a way to make it be a wildcard like *google.com*?
This should point you into the right direction:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mydomain\.com$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^exampledomain\.com$
RewriteRule ^ https://www.google.com [R=301,END]
It is a good idea to start out with a 302 temporary redirection and only change that to a 301 permanent redirection later, once you are certain everything is correctly set up. That prevents caching issues while trying things out...
In case you receive an internal server error (http status 500) using the rule above then chances are that you operate a very old version of the apache http server. You will see a definite hint to an unsupported [END] flag in your http servers error log file in that case. You can either try to upgrade or use the older [L] flag, it probably will work the same in this situation, though that depends a bit on your setup.
This implementation will work likewise in the http servers host configuration or inside a distributed configuration file (".htaccess" file). Obviously the rewriting module needs to be loaded inside the http server and enabled in the http host. In case you use a distributed configuration file you need to take care that it's interpretation is enabled at all in the host configuration and that it is located in the host's DOCUMENT_ROOT folder.
And a general remark: you should always prefer to place such rules in the http servers host configuration instead of using distributed configuration files (".htaccess"). Those distributed configuration files add complexity, are often a cause of unexpected behavior, hard to debug and they really slow down the http server. They are only provided as a last option for situations where you do not have access to the real http servers host configuration (read: really cheap service providers) or for applications insisting on writing their own rules (which is an obvious security nightmare).
I'm developing an application that is running on my domain.
All works as expected, but I cannot seem to find any good answer to my problem relating subdomains.
This application allows for different clients to register themselves and get their own "environment" inside the application.
E.g. if client1 registers himself, his environment will be at https://main.application.com/v/client1
Now, as you can see, this is quite ugly. I want him to be able to go to https://client1.application.com/ and in the background it would show him https://main.application.com/v/client1.
I've read this is possible with apache rewrite.
My case is a little bit more complex than a simple rewrite, I'm guessing. What I'm trying to achieve is this:
User goes to | Has to redirect to
client1.application.com | main.application.com/v/client1
client1.application.com/register | main.application.com/v/client1/register
client1.application.com/dashboard | main.application.com/dashboard
client1.application.com/... | main.application.com/...
As you can see, the only time I want to redirect with the /v/client1 appended to my domain, is when somebody is trying to register or trying to reach the login page for their environment. In all other scenarios, I just want to take what's behind the URL and append it to main.application.com (which is where the main app runs). I also don't want the users to notice the redirect, but that the URL in the address bar stays the same.
I've tried to come up with a bit of pseudocode that explains what I want to do:
If subdomain.application.com/ or subdomain.application.com/register
--> take subdomain and paste it like this:
main.application.com/v/SUBDOMAIN/ or main.application.com/v/SUBDOMAIN/register
Else
--> Redirect to main.application.com/URL
e.g. client1.application.com/dashboard --> main.application.com/dashboard
But I'm completely lost on how I should write it with a Rewrite.
Has anybody got experience in this matter that would be able to help me out with those rewrites here? I'm new to this and I cannot find documentation for my specific case.
Assuming that all requests to those host names ("sub domains") are handled by the same http host (by means of a ServerAlias or simply using the default fallback host) this should be pretty straight forward...
do not rewrite any requests directly to example.com or www.example.com
rewrite requests to other hosts that do not specify any path
rewrite requests to other hosts that specify the /register path
no treatment for other paths required if your http host uses the same file system layout (DOCUMENT_ROOT) for all these hosts ("sub domains")
That leaves is with this:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.example\.com$
RewriteRule ^ - [END]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^.]+)\.example\.com$
RewriteRule ^/?$ /v/%1 [END]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^.]+)\.example\.com$
RewriteRule ^/?register/?$ /v/%1/register [END]
In case you receive an internal server error (http status 500) using the rule above then chances are that you operate a very old version of the apache http server. You will see a definite hint to an unsupported [END] flag in your http servers error log file in that case. You can either try to upgrade or use the older [L] flag, it probably will work the same in this situation, though that depends a bit on your setup.
This implementation will work likewise in the http servers host configuration or inside a dynamic configuration file (".htaccess" file). Obviously the rewriting module needs to be loaded inside the http server and enabled in the http host. In case you use a dynamic configuration file you need to take care that it's interpretation is enabled at all in the host configuration and that it is located in the host's DOCUMENT_ROOT folder.
And a general remark: you should always prefer to place such rules in the http servers host configuration instead of using dynamic configuration files (".htaccess"). Those dynamic configuration files add complexity, are often a cause of unexpected behavior, hard to debug and they really slow down the http server. They are only provided as a last option for situations where you do not have access to the real http servers host configuration (read: really cheap service providers) or for applications insisting on writing their own rules (which is an obvious security nightmare).
I would like to redirect urls like:
https://www.example.com/blog/en/xyz
to:
https://www.example.com/en-blog.php?article=xyz
using htaccess. How is that possible?
Thank you!
You need to capture the artivle slug from the query string using a RewriteCond, since you cannot access it in a RewriteRule:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (?:^|&)?article=(.*)(?:&|$)
RewriteRule ^/?en-blog\.php$ /blog/en/%1 [R]
That rule should work likewise in the http servers host configuration or inside a dynamic configuration file (".htaccess" file). Obviously the rewriting module needs to be loaded inside the http server and enabled in the http host. In case you use a dynamic configuration file you need to take care that it's interpretation is enabled at all in the host configuration and that it is located in the host's DOCUMENT_ROOT folder.
And a general remark: you should always prefer to place such rules in the http servers host configuration instead of using dynamic configuration files (".htaccess"). Those dynamic configuration files add complexity, are often a cause of unexpected behavior, hard to debug and they really slow down the http server. They are only provided as a last option for situations where you do not have access to the real http servers host configuration (read: really cheap service providers) or for applications insisting on writing their own rules (which is an obvious security nightmare).