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880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder --><title>Configuration Files - Apache HTTP Server</title><link href="/style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" /><link href="/style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" /><link href="/style/css/manual-print.css" rel="stylesheet" media="print" type="text/css" /><link href="/images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head><body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header"><p class="menu"><a href="/mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="/mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="/faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="/glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="/sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p><p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0</p><img alt="" src="/images/feather.gif" /></div><div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="&lt;-" alt="&lt;-" src="/images/left.gif" /></a></div><div id="path"><a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> &gt; <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> &gt; <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/">Documentation</a> &gt; <a href="./">Version 2.0</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Configuration Files</h1>
ad1df93673cf323534cdfe18981ad5daae4c90c0Jonathan von Schroeder<p>This document describes the files used to configure the Apache
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von SchroederHTTP server.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder</div><div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#main">Main Configuration Files</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#syntax">Syntax of the Configuration Files</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#modules">Modules</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#scope">Scope of Directives</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#htaccess">.htaccess Files</a></li></ul></div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="main" id="main">Main Configuration Files</a></h2>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td><ul><li><code class="module"><a href="/mod/mod_mime.html">mod_mime</a></code></li></ul></td><td><ul><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#include">Include</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_mime.html#typesconfig">TypesConfig</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>Apache is configured by placing <a href="mod/directives.html">directives</a> in plain text
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder configuration files. The main configuration file is usually called
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <code>httpd.conf</code>. The location of this file is set at
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder compile-time, but may be overridden with the <code>-f</code>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder command line flag. In addition, other configuration files may be
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder added using the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#include">Include</a></code>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder directive, and wildcards can be used to include many configuration
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder files. Any directive may be placed in any of these configuration
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder files. Changes to the main configuration files are only
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder recognized by Apache when it is started or restarted.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>The server also reads a file containing mime document types;
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder the filename is set by the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_mime.html#typesconfig">TypesConfig</a></code> directive,
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder and is <code>mime.types</code> by default.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="syntax" id="syntax">Syntax of the Configuration Files</a></h2>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>Apache configuration files contain one directive per line.
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder The back-slash "\" may be used as the last character on a line
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder to indicate that the directive continues onto the next line.
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder There must be no other characters or white space between the
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder back-slash and the end of the line.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>Directives in the configuration files are case-insensitive,
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder but arguments to directives are often case sensitive. Lines
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder that begin with the hash character "#" are considered
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder comments, and are ignored. Comments may <strong>not</strong> be
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder included on a line after a configuration directive. Blank lines
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder and white space occurring before a directive are ignored, so
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder you may indent directives for clarity.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>You can check your configuration files for syntax errors
fee6e355c164d9248e0512436812a476ad0c2e99Jonathan von Schroeder without starting the server by using <code>apachectl
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder configtest</code> or the <code>-t</code> command line
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder option.</p>
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="modules" id="modules">Modules</a></h2>
3d3889e0cefcdce9b3f43c53aaa201943ac2e895Jonathan von Schroeder
3d3889e0cefcdce9b3f43c53aaa201943ac2e895Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td><ul><li><code class="module"><a href="/mod/mod_so.html">mod_so</a></code></li></ul></td><td><ul><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_so.html#loadmodule">LoadModule</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table>
3d3889e0cefcdce9b3f43c53aaa201943ac2e895Jonathan von Schroeder
880945fae9c3f61341f1cd94439c802b7a0af194Jonathan von Schroeder <p>Apache is a modular server. This implies that only the most
3d3889e0cefcdce9b3f43c53aaa201943ac2e895Jonathan von Schroeder basic functionality is included in the core server. Extended
features are available through <a href="mod/">modules</a> which can be loaded
into Apache. By default, a <a href="mod/module-dict.html#Status">base</a> set of modules is
included in the server at compile-time. If the server is
compiled to use <a href="dso.html">dynamically loaded</a>
modules, then modules can be compiled separately and added at
any time using the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_so.html#loadmodule">LoadModule</a></code>
directive.
Otherwise, Apache must be recompiled to add or remove modules.
Configuration directives may be included conditional on a
presence of a particular module by enclosing them in an<code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code> block.</p>
<p>To see which modules are currently compiled into the server,
you can use the <code>-l</code> command line option.</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="scope" id="scope">Scope of Directives</a></h2>
<table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td /><td><ul><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#directorymatch">&lt;DirectoryMatch&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#locationmatch">&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#virtualhost">&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table>
<p>Directives placed in the main configuration files apply to
the entire server. If you wish to change the configuration for
only a part of the server, you can scope your directives by
placing them in <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#directorymatch">&lt;DirectoryMatch&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>, and <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#locationmatch">&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</a></code>
sections. These sections limit the application of the
directives which they enclose to particular filesystem
locations or URLs. They can also be nested, allowing for very
fine grained configuration.</p>
<p>Apache has the capability to serve many different websites
simultaneously. This is called <a href="vhosts/">Virtual
Hosting</a>. Directives can also be scoped by placing them
inside <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#virtualhost">&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</a></code>
sections, so that they will only apply to requests for a
particular website.</p>
<p>Although most directives can be placed in any of these
sections, some directives do not make sense in some contexts.
For example, directives controlling process creation can only
be placed in the main server context. To find which directives
can be placed in which sections, check the <a href="mod/directive-dict.html#Context">Context</a> of the
directive. For further information, we provide details on <a href="sections.html">How Directory, Location and Files sections
work</a>.</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="htaccess" id="htaccess">.htaccess Files</a></h2>
<table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td /><td><ul><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#accessfilename">AccessFileName</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table>
<p>Apache allows for decentralized management of configuration
via special files placed inside the web tree. The special files
are usually called <code>.htaccess</code>, but any name can be
specified in the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#accessfilename">AccessFileName</a></code>
directive. Directives placed in <code>.htaccess</code> files
apply to the directory where you place the file, and all
sub-directories. The <code>.htaccess</code> files follow the
same syntax as the main configuration files. Since
<code>.htaccess</code> files are read on every request, changes
made in these files take immediate effect.</p>
<p>To find which directives can be placed in
<code>.htaccess</code> files, check the <a href="mod/directive-dict.html#Context">Context</a> of the
directive. The server administrator further controls what
directives may be placed in <code>.htaccess</code> files by
configuring the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code>
directive in the main configuration files.</p>
<p>For more information on <code>.htaccess</code> files, see
the <a href="howto/htaccess.html">.htaccess tutorial</a>.</p>
</div></div><div id="footer"><p class="apache">Maintained by the <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/">Apache HTTP Server Documentation Project</a></p><p class="menu"><a href="/mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="/mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="/faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="/glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="/sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p></div></body></html>