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0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <title>Definitions of terms used to describe Apache
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen directives</title>
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3f08db06526d6901aa08c110b5bc7dde6bc39905nd Directives</h1>
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <p>Each Apache configuration directive is described using a
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen common format that looks like this:</p>
f086b4b402fa9a2fefc7dda85de2a3cc1cd0a654rjung <dd><a href="#Syntax" rel="Help"><strong>Syntax:</strong></a>
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <a href="#Default" rel="Help"><strong>Default:</strong></a>
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen <samp><em>directive-name default-value</em></samp><br />
9a58dc6a2b26ec128b1270cf48810e705f1a90dbsf <a href="#Context" rel="Help"><strong>Context:</strong></a>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <a href="#Status" rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a>
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <a href="#Module" rel="Help"><strong>Module:</strong></a>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <p>Each of the directive's attributes, complete with possible
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen values where possible, are described in this document.</p>
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen <p>This indicates the format of the directive as it would
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen appear in a configuration file. This syntax is extremely
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen directive-specific, and is described in detail in the
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen directive's definition. Generally, the directive name is
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen followed by a series of one or more space-separated arguments.
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen If an argument contains a space, the argument must be enclosed
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen in double quotes. Optional arguments are enclosed in square
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen brackets. Where an argument can take on more than one possible
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen value, the possible values are separated by vertical bars "|".
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen Literal text is presented in the default font, while
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen argument-types for which substitution is necessary are
83f3471f5de14ca3def6d7935cd1af1604874bfdrbowen <em>emphasized</em>. Directives which can take a variable
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen number of arguments will end in "..." indicating that the last
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen argument is repeated.</p>
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <p>Directives use a great number of different argument types. A
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen few common ones are defined below.</p>
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh <dd>A complete Uniform Resource Locator including a scheme,
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh hostname, and optional pathname as in
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <code>http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html</code></dd>
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <dd>The part of a <em>url</em> which follows the scheme and
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <em>url-path</em> represents a web-view of a resource, as
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen opposed to a file-system view.</dd>
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <dd>The path to a file in the local file-system beginning
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen with the root directory as in
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/file.html</code>.
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen Unless otherwise specified, a <em>file-path</em> which does
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen not begin with a slash will be treated as relative to the <a
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <dd>The path to a directory in the local file-system
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen beginning with the root directory as in
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <dd>The name of a file with no accompanying path information
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <dd>A regular expression, which is a way of describing a
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen pattern to match in text. The directive definition will
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen specify what the <em>regex</em> is matching against.</dd>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <dd>In general, this is the part of the <em>filename</em>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen which follows the last dot. However, Apache recognizes
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen multiple filename extensions, so if a <em>filename</em>
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen contains more than one dot, each dot-separated part of the
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen filename following the first dot is an <em>extension</em>.
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen For example, the <em>filename</em> <code>file.html.en</code>
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <code>.en</code>. For Apache directives, you may specify
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <em>extension</em>s with or without the leading dot. In
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen addition, <em>extension</em>s are not case sensitive.</dd>
95ab37c71e0d89443389909b290c98f8fc80ec5ehumbedooh <dd>A method of describing the format of a file which
95ab37c71e0d89443389909b290c98f8fc80ec5ehumbedooh consists of a major format type and a minor format type,
181523b7d40e95e62d1b041846436ce1e7348e88humbedooh separated by a slash as in <code>text/html</code>.</dd>
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen variable</a> defined in the Apache configuration process.
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen Note this is not necessarily the same as an operating system
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen environment variable. See the <a
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen href="/env.html">environment variable documentation</a> for
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen more details.</dd>
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen <p>If the directive has a default value (<em>i.e.</em>, if you
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen omit it from your configuration entirely, the Apache Web server
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen will behave as though you set it to a particular value), it is
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen described here. If there is no default value, this section
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen should say "<em>None</em>". Note that the default listed here
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen is not necessarily the same as the value the directive takes in
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen the default httpd.conf distributed with the server.</p>
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <p>This indicates where in the server's configuration files the
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen directive is legal. It's a comma-separated list of one or more
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen of the following values:</p>
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh <dd>This means that the directive may be used in the server
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh configuration files (<em>e.g.</em>, <samp>httpd.conf</samp>,
721755eb7ca9b3bf233f223d48e43edd7795c6ebrbowen <samp>srm.conf</samp>, and <samp>access.conf</samp>), but
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <samp><VirtualHost></samp> or <Directory>
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen containers. It is not allowed in <samp>.htaccess</samp> files
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen at all.</dd>
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <dd>This context means that the directive may appear inside
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <samp><VirtualHost></samp> containers in the server
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen configuration files.</dd>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <dd>A directive marked as being valid in this context may be
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen <samp><Location></samp>, and <samp><Files></samp>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen containers in the server configuration files, subject to the
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen restrictions outlined in <a href="/sections.html">How
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen Directory, Location and Files sections work</a>.</dd>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen <dd>If a directive is valid in this context, it means that it
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen <samp>.htaccess</samp> files. It may not be processed, though
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen <p>The directive is <em>only</em> allowed within the designated
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen context; if you try to use it elsewhere, you'll get a
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen configuration error that will either prevent the server from
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen handling requests in that context correctly, or will keep the
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen server from operating at all -- <em>i.e.</em>, the server won't
353e838f5716b394f2f9bf38549e1550a5e73570rbowen even start.</p>
95ab37c71e0d89443389909b290c98f8fc80ec5ehumbedooh <p>The valid locations for the directive are actually the
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh result of a Boolean OR of all of the listed contexts. In other
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh words, a directive that is marked as being valid in
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh "<samp>server config, .htaccess</samp>" can be used in the
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh <samp>httpd.conf</samp> file and in <samp>.htaccess</samp>
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh files, but not within any <Directory> or
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh <VirtualHost> containers.</p>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen <h2><a id="Override" name="Override">Override</a></h2>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen <p>This directive attribute indicates which configuration
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen override must be active in order for the directive to be
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen processed when it appears in a <samp>.htaccess</samp> file. If
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen the directive's <a href="#Context" rel="Help">context</a>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen doesn't permit it to appear in <samp>.htaccess</samp> files,
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen this attribute should say "<em>Not applicable</em>".</p>
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen href="core.html#allowoverride"
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen rel="Help"><samp>AllowOverride</samp></a> directive, and apply
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen to a particular scope (such as a directory) and all
dcfbe1c582e8e138f6f36ac7c4eb4d3f1e241346rbowen descendants, unless further modified by other
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <samp>AllowOverride</samp> directives at lower levels. The
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen documentation for that directive also lists the possible
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen override names available.</p>
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen <p>This indicates how tightly bound into the Apache Web server
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen the directive is; in other words, you may need to recompile the
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen server with an enhanced set of modules in order to gain access
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen to the directive and its functionality. Possible values for
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen this attribute are:</p>
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh <dd>If a directive is listed as having "Core" status, that
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh means it is part of the innermost portions of the Apache Web
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen server, and is always available.</dd>
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen <dd>A directive labeled as having "MPM" status is provided by
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen a <a href="/mpm.html">Multi-Processing Module</a>. This
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen type of directive will be available if and only if you are
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen using one of the MPMs listed on the <a
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen definition.</dd>
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen <dd>A directive labeled as having "Base" status is supported
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen by one of the standard Apache modules which is compiled into
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen the server by default, and is therefore normally available
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen unless you've taken steps to remove the module from your
488228a03efe42d9f0b03334a4753ce79a6dc5cchumbedooh configuration.</dd>
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen <dd>A directive with "Extension" status is provided by one of
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen the modules included with the Apache server kit, but the
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen module isn't normally compiled into the server. To enable the
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen directive and its functionality, you will need to change the
7897152e0fe2ecfb63ddad590e468fbf0b4419d7rbowen server build configuration files and re-compile Apache.</dd>
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen <dd>"Experimental" status indicates that the directive is
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen available as part of the Apache kit, but you're on your own
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen if you try to use it. The directive is being documented for
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen completeness, and is not necessarily supported. The module
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen which provides the directive may or may not be compiled in by
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen default; check the top of the page which describes the
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen directive and its module to see if it remarks on the
5583cc9f4d6d30122ee4c0bc47ebe1bd67dd80e6rbowen availability.</dd>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <p>This quite simply lists the name of the source module which
5c5ef751538ad31a6cef69f814996fe7453e383drbowen defines the directive.</p>
5c5ef751538ad31a6cef69f814996fe7453e383drbowen <p>If the directive wasn't part of the original Apache version
5c5ef751538ad31a6cef69f814996fe7453e383drbowen 1 distribution, the version in which it was introduced should
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen be listed here. If the directive has the same name as one from
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen the NCSA HTTPd server, any inconsistencies in behavior between
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen the two should also be mentioned. Otherwise, this attribute
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen <h2><a id="Deprecated" name="Deprecated">Deprecated</a></h2>
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen <p>If this directive is eliminated since the Apache version 1
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen distribution, the directive or option that replaces the
0a3142725875ea286597e083547d34d98f8c1f2drbowen behavior should be cited here. In general, directives,
cde7900bb5b14f5bd981ad98b0215c85b915bef7rbowen features, and options are only deprecated to minimize debugging
5c5ef751538ad31a6cef69f814996fe7453e383drbowen of conflicting features, or if the feature can only continue to
5c5ef751538ad31a6cef69f814996fe7453e383drbowen be supported in an alternate manner.</p>
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