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10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <TITLE>Definitions of terms used to describe Apache directives
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10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Terms Used to Describe Apache Directives</H1>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog Each Apache configuration directive is described using a common format
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog that looks like this:
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Syntax"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Syntax:</STRONG></A> <EM>directive-name</EM> <EM>some args</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Default"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <SAMP><EM>directive-name default-value</EM></SAMP>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Context"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Context:</STRONG></A> <EM>context-list</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Override"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Override:</STRONG></A> <EM>override</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Status"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Module"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Module:</STRONG></A> <EM>module-name</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Compatibility"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Compatibility:</STRONG></A> <EM>compatibility notes</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Depricated"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog ><STRONG>Depricated:</STRONG></A> <EM>see other</EM>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog Each of the directive's attributes, complete with possible values
6a55cc6751be1162fa737fa656ffae0729c2e2a0Krzysztof Kosiński where possible, are described in this document.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <LI><A HREF="#Compatibility">Compatibility</A>
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński This indicates the format of the directive as it would appear in a
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński configuration file. This syntax is extremely directive-specific,
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński and is described in detail in the directive's definition.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog Generally, the directive name is followed by a series of one or
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński more space-separated arguments. If an argument contains a space,
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński the argument must be enclosed in double quotes. Optional arguments
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński are enclosed in square brackets. Where an argument can take on more
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński than one possible value, the possible values are separated by
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński vertical bars "|". Literal text is presented in the default font,
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński while argument-types for which substitution is necessary are
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <em>emphasized</em>. Directives which can take a variable number of
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński arguments will end in "..." indicating that the last argument is
9a8ade3834e2a67c1d95bcfc900ab36be37a03a5David Mathog Directives use a great number of different argument types.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński A few common ones are defined below.</p>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>A complete Uniform Resource Locator including a scheme, hostname,
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogand optional pathname as in
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<code>http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html</code></dd>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>The part of a <em>url</em> which follows the scheme and hostname
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogas in <code>/path/to/file.html</code>. The <em>url-path</em>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogrepresents a web-view of a resource, as opposed to a file-system
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>The path to a file in the local file-system beginning with the
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathogroot directory as in
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog<code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/file.html</code>. Unless
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathogotherwise specified, a <em>file-path</em> which does not begin with a
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogslash will be treated as relative to the <a
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathoghref="core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a>.</dd>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>The path to a directory in the local file-system beginning with
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogthe root directory as in
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>The name of a file with no accompanying path information as in
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński<dd>A <a href="/misc/FAQ.html#regex">regular expression</a>, which
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathogis a way of describing a pattern to match in text. The directive
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathogdefinition will specify what the <em>regex</em> is matching
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński<dd>In general, this is the part of the <em>filename</em> which
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosińskifollows the last dot. However, Apache recognizes multiple filename
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosińskiextensions, so if a <em>filename</em> contains more than one dot, each
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosińskidot-separated part of the filename following the first dot is an
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<em>extension</em>. For example, the <em>filename</em>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<code>file.html.en</code> contains two extensions: <code>.html</code>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogand <code>.en</code>. For Apache directives, you may specify
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<em>extension</em>s with or without the leading dot. In addition,
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<em>extension</em>s are not case sensitive.</dd>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>A method of describing the format of a file which consists of a
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosińskimajor format type and a minor format type, separated by a slash
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog<dd>The name of an <a href="/env.html">environment variable</a>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogdefined in the Apache configuration process. Note this is not
aefaed7646cce60b4b2d4b2f7411234949539482~suvnecessarily the same as an operating system environment variable. See
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathogthe <a href="/env.html">environment variable documentation</a> for
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathogmore details.</dd>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog If the directive has a default value (<EM>i.e.</EM>, if you omit it
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński from your configuration entirely, the Apache Web server will behave as
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński though you set it to a particular value), it is described here. If
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog there is no default value, this section should say
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog "<EM>None</EM>". Note that the default listed here is not
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog necessarily the same as the value the directive takes in the
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński default httpd.conf distributed with the server.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog This indicates where in the server's configuration files the directive
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński is legal. It's a comma-separated list of one or more of the following
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <DD>This means that the directive may be used in the server
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog configuration files (<EM>e.g.</EM>, <SAMP>httpd.conf</SAMP>,
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <SAMP>srm.conf</SAMP>, and <SAMP>access.conf</SAMP>), but
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <STRONG>not</STRONG> within any <SAMP><VirtualHost></SAMP> or
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <Directory> containers. It is not allowed in
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>This context means that the directive may appear inside
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <SAMP><VirtualHost></SAMP> containers in the server
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog configuration files.
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog <DD>A directive marked as being valid in this context may be used
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <SAMP><Location></SAMP>, and <SAMP><Files></SAMP>
9a8ade3834e2a67c1d95bcfc900ab36be37a03a5David Mathog containers in the server configuration files, subject to the
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog restrictions outlined in <A HREF="/sections.html">How Directory,
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog Location and Files sections work</A>.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>If a directive is valid in this context, it means that it can
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński appear inside <EM>per</EM>-directory <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński It may not be processed, though depending upon the
9a8ade3834e2a67c1d95bcfc900ab36be37a03a5David Mathog HREF="#Override"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog >overrides</A>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog currently active.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog The directive is <EM>only</EM> allowed within the designated context;
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński if you try to use it elsewhere, you'll get a configuration error that
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog will either prevent the server from handling requests in that context
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog correctly, or will keep the server from operating at all --
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński The valid locations for the directive are actually the result of a
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog Boolean OR of all of the listed contexts. In other words, a directive
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog that is marked as being valid in "<SAMP>server config,
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński .htaccess</SAMP>" can be used in the <SAMP>httpd.conf</SAMP> file
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog and in <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files, but not within any
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <Directory> or <VirtualHost> containers.
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog This directive attribute indicates which configuration override must
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog be active in order for the directive to be processed when it appears
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog in a <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> file. If the directive's
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="#Context"
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog >context</A>
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński doesn't permit it to appear in <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files, this
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog attribute should say "<EM>Not applicable</EM>".
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog Overrides are activated by the
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog HREF="core.html#allowoverride"
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński directive, and apply to a particular scope (such as a directory) and
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog all descendants, unless further modified by other
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <SAMP>AllowOverride</SAMP> directives at lower levels. The
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński documentation for that directive also lists the possible override
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński names available.
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog This indicates how tightly bound into the Apache Web server the
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog directive is; in other words, you may need to recompile the server
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński with an enhanced set of modules in order to gain access to the
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog directive and its functionality. Possible values for this attribute
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>If a directive is listed as having "Core" status, that
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński means it is part of the innermost portions of the Apache Web server,
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog and is always available.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <DD>A directive labeled as having "MPM" status is
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog provided by a <a href="/mpm.html">Multi-Processing Module</a>.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog This type of directive will be available if and only if you are
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog using one of the MPMs lised on the <a href="#Module">Module</a>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog line of the directive definition.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>A directive labeled as having "Base" status is
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński supported by one of the standard Apache modules which is compiled
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog into the server by default, and is therefore normally available
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński unless you've taken steps to remove the module from your configuration.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>A directive with "Extension" status is provided by one
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog of the modules included with the Apache server kit, but the module
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog isn't normally compiled into the server. To enable the directive
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog and its functionality, you will need to change the server build
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog configuration files and re-compile Apache.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog <DD>"Experimental" status indicates that the directive is
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński available as part of the Apache kit, but you're on your own if you
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog try to use it. The directive is being documented for completeness,
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog and is not necessarily supported. The module which provides the
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog directive may or may not be compiled in by default; check the top of
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog the page which describes the directive and its module to see if it
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog remarks on the availability.
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog This quite simply lists the name of the source module which defines
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog the directive.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <H2><A NAME="Compatibility">Compatibility</A></H2>
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński If the directive wasn't part of the original Apache version 1
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński distribution, the version in which it was introduced should be listed
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński here. If the directive has the same name as one from the NCSA HTTPd
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog server, any inconsistencies in behaviour between the two should also
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog be mentioned. Otherwise, this attribute should say "<EM>No
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński compatibility issues.</EM>"
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński <H2><A NAME="Depricated">Depricated</A></H2>
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog If this directive is eliminated since the Apache version 1 distribution,
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński the directive or option that replaces the behavior should be cited here.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński In general, directives, features, and options are only depreciated to
10b77f97a176647caa068363224704062325ec4aDavid Mathog minimize debugging of conflicting features, or features that can only
5530d4cb2db040e48228f2f4a525e3dabb15b057David Mathog be supported in an alternate manner.
1710c8729db34263e50b443e7fcf541d3cffa005Krzysztof Kosiński<!--#include virtual="footer.html" -->