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Apache mod_rewrite and Examples

What is mod_rewrite?

HostGator uses Apache, the open source HTTP server software, to host your website. Apache can be customized via modules, and the mod_rewrite module is available for you to use yourself. mod_rewrite can redirect one URL to another URL, rewrite requested URLs, limit access to your site and much more.

A rewrite rule can be invoked by placing it in your .htaccess file. Below are examples of how you can use these rules to customize your hosting experience.

Note: Please remember we do not offer support to code this, nor do we promise to make your code work. Some of these codes work in combination with others, but some do not.

mod_rewrite Examples

Here are examples of rules that allow you to do the following:

Set Default Homepage

#Specify a default home page (index page)
DirectoryIndex home.html

Specify IP Access

#Allow only specified IPs to access your site
deny from all
allow from 64.95.219.140
allow from 210.23.45.67

Redirect All Website Pages

# Redirect all pages from olddomain.com
# to newdomain.com
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.olddomain.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Prevent Sub-folder Access

#Prevent subfolder loading. This goes
# in htaccess for the primary domain
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^primary.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.primary.com$
RewriteRule ^addon.com/?(.*)$ "http://www.addon.com/$1" [R=301,L]

Prevent Sub-domain Access

#Prevent subdomain name loading.
#This goes in htaccess for the primary domain
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^subname.primary.com$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.subname.primary.com$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ "http://www.addon.com/$1" [R=301,L]

Force Non-www Domain Access

# Never use www in the domain
# Replace 'example.com' with your domain name
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.(([a-z0-9_]+.)?example.com)$ [NC]
RewriteRule .? http://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

Force www Domain Access

# Always use www in the domain
# Replace 'example.com' with your domain name
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([a-z.]+)?example.com$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www. [NC]
RewriteRule .? http://www.%1example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

Set Default Home Folder

# Set a default home directory, (this subfolder always loads)
# Replace 'folder' with your subfolder name
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^$ /folder/ [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

Redirect Folder Access

# Rename a directory and force visitors to the new name
# Replace 'old' with your old folder name
# Replace 'new' with your new folder name
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/?old([a-z/.]*)$ /new$1 [R=301,L]

Force HTTPS Access

# Always use https for secure connections
# Replace 'www.example.com' with your domain name
# (as it appears on your SSL certificate)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Block Multiple Referrers Traffic

# Block traffic from multiple referrers
RewriteEngine on
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} badsite.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} badforum.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} badsearchengine.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F]

Deny File Type Access

#Do not allow these file types to be called
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule .*.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|bmp|exe|swf)$ - [F,NC]

Remove Index

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews -indexes
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# remove index
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} /index(.php)?[s?/] [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*?)index(/|$) /$1 [L,R=301,NC,NE]

Remove .php

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews -indexes
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# remove .php; use THE_REQUEST to prevent infinite loops
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^GET (.*).php HTTP
RewriteRule (.*).php$ $1 [L,R=301]

Remove Index and /

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews -indexes
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# remove index
RewriteRule (.*)/index$ $1/ [R=302]
# remove slash if not directory
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /$
RewriteRule (.*)/ $1 [R=301,L]

Add .php To Access a File Without Redirecting

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews -indexes
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# add .php to access file, but don't redirect
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/$
RewriteRule (.*) $1.php [L]

Additional Resources for .htaccess Coding

The following articles are for reference only. Please note that HostGator cannot offer direct support for the information provided below.

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