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Extended ExpressionEngine .htaccess/apache conf

ExpressionEngine .htaccess/Apache conf

Please use these at your own risk. I cannot be responsible for having no idea what I am doing and breaking your server.

This is a collection of Apache configuration settings that I use in my ExpressionEngine projects. Since I have always been a big fan of the HTML5 Boilerplate I took inspiration from their .htaccess file and tweaked my configuration with other settings I have used over the years.

This gist contains:

  • _EXTENDED.htaccess This is a general .htaccess file I rename and edit as needed for each site. Note: When I host a site on my prad/stage/dev servers I move most or all of these rules into the vhost.conf file
  • _SAMPLE.httpd.conf I use Ubuntu on my development, staging, and production servers so this is specific to Apache 2 on my setup. Essentially this file extends the apache2.conf (in my setup).
  • _SAMPLE.vhost.conf I rename this to "domain.tld.conf" and place site specific settings in here.
  • _SAMPLE.vhost-ssl.conf Essentially the same as "_SAMPLE.vhost.conf" but with some SSL settings enabled to provide baseline SSL support until a proper secure cert is in place.
# Extended ExpressionEngine Apache Configuration (.htaccess)
# httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/quickreference.html
# ------------------------------
# SECURITY: Secure "dot" files/directories
# ------------------------------
# Block access to "hidden" directories or files whose names begin with a
# period. This includes directories used by version control systems such as
# Subversion or Git.
# <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
# RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} -d [OR]
# RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} -f
# RewriteRule "(^|/)\." - [F]
# </IfModule>
# SECURITY: Don't show directories without an index file
# ------------------------------
# Options -Indexes
# SECURITY: Don't list files in index pages
# ------------------------------
# IndexIgnore *
# 404 ERRORS: Prevent 404 errors for non-existing redirected folders
# without -MultiViews, Apache will give a 404 for a rewrite if a folder of the
# same name does not exist.
# webmasterworld.com/apache/3808792.htm
# ------------------------------
# Options -MultiViews
# 404 ERRORS: EE 404 Page for Missing Pages
# "/pages/404" May differ depending on where your template is located.
# ------------------------------
ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?/pages/404
# 404 ERRORS: Simple 404 for missing files
# ------------------------------
# <FilesMatch "(\.jpe?g|gif|png|bmp|css|js|flv)$">
# ErrorDocument 404 "File Not Found"
# </FilesMatch>
# IE: Remove IE image toolbar
# ------------------------------
# <FilesMatch "\.(html|htm|php)$">
# Header set imagetoolbar "no"
# </FilesMatch>
# Rewrite Magic
# ------------------------------
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
# RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# INDEX: Standard ExpressionEngine Rewrite
# ------------------------------
RewriteCond $1 !\.(css|js|gif|jpe?g|png) [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php/$1 [NC,R=301,L]
# WWW: Remove the www from the URL
# ------------------------------
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [NC,R=301,L]
# WWW: Force the www
# ------------------------------
# RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\..+$ [NC]
# RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [NC,R=301,L]
# SLASHES: Remove the trailing slash to paths without an extension
# ------------------------------
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST [NC]
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /$ [NC]
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f [NC]
# RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d [NC]
# RewriteRule ^(.+)/$ /$1 [NC,R=301,L]
# SLASHES: Add a trailing slash to paths without an extension
# ------------------------------
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !=POST [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ /$1/ [NC,R=301,L]
# SSL: Entire Site
# ------------------------------
# RewriteCond %{ENV:HTTPS} !on [NC]
# RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [NC,R=301,L]
# SSL: Specific sections
# ------------------------------
# RewriteCond %{ENV:HTTPS} !on [NC]
# RewriteCond $1 ^(login|member|account|checkout|system) [NC]
# RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [NC,R=301,L]
# SSL: Prevent SSL cert warnings
# Rewrite secure requests properly to prevent SSL cert warnings, e.g. prevent
# https://www.DOMAIN.com when your cert only allows https://secure.DOMAIN.com
# ------------------------------
# RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} !^443
# RewriteRule ^ https://DOMAIN.com%{REQUEST_URI} [NC,R=301,L]
</IfModule>
# Apache configuration file
# httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/quickreference.html
# Note .htaccess files are an overhead, this logic should be in your Apache
# config if possible: httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/htaccess.html
# Techniques in here adapted from all over, including:
# Kroc Camen: camendesign.com/.htaccess
# perishablepress.com/press/2006/01/10/stupid-htaccess-tricks/
# Sample .htaccess file of CMS MODx: modxcms.com
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Better website experience for IE users
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Force the latest IE version, in various cases when it may fall back to IE7 mode
# github.com/rails/rails/commit/123eb25#commitcomment-118920
# Use ChromeFrame if it's installed for a better experience for the poor IE folk
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set X-UA-Compatible "IE=Edge,chrome=1"
# mod_headers can't match by content-type, but we don't want to send this header on *everything*...
<FilesMatch "\.(appcache|crx|css|eot|gif|htc|ico|jpe?g|js|m4a|m4v|manifest|mp4|oex|oga|ogg|ogv|otf|pdf|png|safariextz|svg|svgz|ttf|vcf|webm|webp|woff|xml|xpi)$">
Header unset X-UA-Compatible
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
# IE: Remove IE image toolbar
# ------------------------------
<FilesMatch "\.(html|htm|php)$">
Header set imagetoolbar "no"
</FilesMatch>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# CORS-enabled images (@crossorigin)
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Send CORS headers if browsers request them; enabled by default for images.
# developer.mozilla.org/en/CORS_Enabled_Image
# blog.chromium.org/2011/07/using-cross-domain-images-in-webgl-and.html
# hacks.mozilla.org/2011/11/using-cors-to-load-webgl-textures-from-cross-domain-images/
# wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Reviews/crossoriginAttribute
<IfModule mod_setenvif.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
# mod_headers, y u no match by Content-Type?!
<FilesMatch "\.(gif|ico|jpe?g|png|svg|svgz|webp)$">
SetEnvIf Origin ":" IS_CORS
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*" env=IS_CORS
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Webfont access
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Allow access from all domains for webfonts.
# Alternatively you could only whitelist your
# subdomains like "subdomain.example.com".
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
<FilesMatch "\.(eot|font.css|otf|ttc|ttf|woff)$">
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Proper MIME type for all files
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# JavaScript
# Normalize to standard type (it's sniffed in IE anyways)
# tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4329#section-7.2
AddType application/javascript js jsonp
AddType application/json json
# Audio
AddType audio/mp4 m4a f4a f4b
AddType audio/ogg oga ogg
# Video
AddType video/mp4 mp4 m4v f4v f4p
AddType video/ogg ogv
AddType video/webm webm
AddType video/x-flv flv
# SVG
# Required for svg webfonts on iPad
# twitter.com/FontSquirrel/status/14855840545
AddType image/svg+xml svg svgz
AddEncoding gzip svgz
# Webfonts
AddType application/vnd.ms-fontobject eot
AddType application/x-font-ttf ttf ttc
AddType application/x-font-woff woff
AddType font/opentype otf
# Assorted types
AddType application/octet-stream safariextz
AddType application/x-chrome-extension crx
AddType application/x-opera-extension oex
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash swf
AddType application/x-web-app-manifest+json webapp
AddType application/x-xpinstall xpi
AddType application/xml rss atom xml rdf
AddType image/webp webp
AddType image/x-icon ico
AddType text/cache-manifest appcache manifest
AddType text/vtt vtt
AddType text/x-component htc
AddType text/x-vcard vcf
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Gzip compression
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
# Force deflate for mangled headers developer.yahoo.com/blogs/ydn/posts/2010/12/pushing-beyond-gzipping/
<IfModule mod_setenvif.c>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
SetEnvIfNoCase ^(Accept-EncodXng|X-cept-Encoding|X{15}|~{15}|-{15})$ ^((gzip|deflate)\s*,?\s*)+|[X~-]{4,13}$ HAVE_Accept-Encoding
RequestHeader append Accept-Encoding "gzip,deflate" env=HAVE_Accept-Encoding
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
# Compress all output labeled with one of the following MIME-types
<IfModule mod_filter.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/atom+xml \
application/javascript \
application/json \
application/rss+xml \
application/vnd.ms-fontobject \
application/x-font-ttf \
application/xhtml+xml \
application/xml \
font/opentype \
image/svg+xml \
image/x-icon \
text/css \
text/html \
text/plain \
text/x-component \
text/xml
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Expires headers (for better cache control)
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# These are pretty far-future expires headers.
# They assume you control versioning with filename-based cache busting
# Additionally, consider that outdated proxies may miscache
# www.stevesouders.com/blog/2008/08/23/revving-filenames-dont-use-querystring/
# If you don't use filenames to version, lower the CSS and JS to something like
# "access plus 1 week".
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive on
# Perhaps better to whitelist expires rules? Perhaps.
ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 month"
# cache.appcache needs re-requests in FF 3.6 (thanks Remy ~Introducing HTML5)
ExpiresByType text/cache-manifest "access plus 0 seconds"
# Your document html
ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 0 seconds"
# Data
ExpiresByType application/json "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType application/xml "access plus 0 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/xml "access plus 0 seconds"
# Feed
ExpiresByType application/atom+xml "access plus 1 hour"
ExpiresByType application/rss+xml "access plus 1 hour"
# Favicon (cannot be renamed)
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 week"
# Media: images, video, audio
ExpiresByType audio/ogg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/mp4 "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/ogg "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType video/webm "access plus 1 month"
# HTC files (css3pie)
ExpiresByType text/x-component "access plus 1 month"
# Webfonts
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType font/opentype "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 month"
# CSS and JavaScript
ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# ETag removal
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# FileETag None is not enough for every server.
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header unset ETag
</IfModule>
# Since we're sending far-future expires, we don't need ETags for
# static content.
# developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html#etags
FileETag None
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Set Keep-Alive Header
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Keep-Alive allows the server to send multiple requests through one
# TCP-connection. Be aware of possible disadvantages of this setting. Turn on
# if you serve a lot of static content.
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set Connection Keep-Alive
# </IfModule>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Start rewrite engine
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Turning on the rewrite engine is necessary for the following rules and
# features. FollowSymLinks must be enabled for this to work.
# Some cloud hosting services require RewriteBase to be set: goo.gl/HOcPN
# If using the h5bp in a subdirectory, use `RewriteBase /foo` instead where
# 'foo' is your directory.
# If your web host doesn't allow the FollowSymlinks option, you may need to
# comment it out and use `Options +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch`, but be aware of the
# performance impact: http://goo.gl/Mluzd
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
Options +FollowSymlinks
# Options +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
RewriteEngine On
# RewriteBase /
</IfModule>
# 404 ERRORS: Simple 404 for missing files
# ------------------------------
<FilesMatch "(\.jpe?g|gif|png|bmp|css|js|flv)$">
ErrorDocument 404 "File Not Found"
</FilesMatch>
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Prevent 404 errors for non-existing redirected folders
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# without -MultiViews, Apache will give a 404 for a rewrite if a folder of the
# same name does not exist.
# webmasterworld.com/apache/3808792.htm
Options -MultiViews -Includes
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# UTF-8 encoding
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Use UTF-8 encoding for anything served text/plain or text/html
AddDefaultCharset utf-8
# Force UTF-8 for a number of file formats
AddCharset utf-8 .atom .css .js .json .rss .vtt .xml
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# A little more security
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# To avoid displaying the exact version number of Apache being used, add the
# following to httpd.conf (it will not work in .htaccess):
# ServerTokens Prod
# "-Indexes" will have Apache block users from browsing folders without a
# default document Usually you should leave this activated, because you
# shouldn't allow everybody to surf through every folder on your server (which
# includes rather private places like CMS system folders).
<IfModule mod_autoindex.c>
Options -Indexes
</IfModule>
# Block access to "hidden" directories or files whose names begin with a
# period. This includes directories used by version control systems such as
# Subversion or Git.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} -d [OR]
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} -f
RewriteRule "(^|/)\." - [F]
</IfModule>
# Block access to backup and source files. These files may be left by some
# text/html editors and pose a great security danger, when anyone can access
# them.
<FilesMatch "(\.(bak|config|dist|fla|inc|ini|log|psd|sh|sql|swp)|~)$">
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
Satisfy All
</FilesMatch>
# Increase cookie security
<IfModule mod_php5.c>
php_value session.cookie_httponly true
</IfModule>
# Extends: /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
# Domain: DOMAIN.COM
# Docroot: /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html
<VirtualHost *:80>
# Admin email, Server Name (domain name) and any aliases
# ------------------------------
ServerName DOMAIN.COM
ServerAlias www.DOMAIN.COM m.DOMAIN.COM
ServerAdmin webmaster@wearequickpixel.com
# Index file and Document Root (where the public files are located)
# ------------------------------
# DirectoryIndex index.html
# DirectoryIndex index.php
DocumentRoot /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html
# Custom log file locations
# ------------------------------
LogLevel debug
ErrorLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM.error.log
CustomLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM.access.log combined
# SSL Rewrite
# ------------------------------
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
# SSL Engine Switch
# ------------------------------
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/localcerts/server.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/localcerts/server.key
# Directory Settings
# ------------------------------
<Directory "/var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html">
AllowOverride All
# Options -Indexes -FollowSymLinks -Includes
IndexIgnore *
</Directory>
# Cross-domain AJAX requests
# Serve cross-domain Ajax requests, disabled by default.
# enable-cors.org
# code.google.com/p/html5security/wiki/CrossOriginRequestSecurity
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
# </IfModule>
# Prevent mobile network providers from modifying your site
# The following header prevents modification of your code over 3G on some
# European providers.
# This is the official 'bypass' suggested by O2 in the UK.
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set Cache-Control "no-transform"
# </IfModule>
# Stop screen flicker in IE on CSS rollovers
# The following directives stop screen flicker in IE on CSS rollovers - in
# combination with the "ExpiresByType" rules for images (see httpd.conf).
# ------------------------------
# BrowserMatch "MSIE" brokenvary=1
# BrowserMatch "Mozilla/4.[0-9]{2}" brokenvary=1
# BrowserMatch "Opera" !brokenvary
# SetEnvIf brokenvary 1 force-no-vary
# Cookie setting from iframes
# Allow cookies to be set from iframes (for IE only)
# If needed, specify a path or regex in the Location directive.
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set P3P "policyref=\"/w3c/p3p.xml\", CP=\"IDC DSP COR ADM DEVi TAIi PSA PSD IVAi IVDi CONi HIS OUR IND CNT\""
# </IfModule>
# Deflate Logs
# ------------------------------
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
DeflateFilterNote Input input_info
DeflateFilterNote Output output_info
DeflateFilterNote Ratio ratio_info
LogFormat '"%r" %{output_info}n/%{input_info}n (%{ratio_info}n%%)' deflate
CustomLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM-deflate.log deflate
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
# Extends: /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
# Domain: DOMAIN.COM
# Docroot: /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html
<VirtualHost *:80>
# Admin email, Server Name (domain name) and any aliases
# ------------------------------
ServerName DOMAIN.COM
ServerAlias www.DOMAIN.COM m.DOMAIN.COM
ServerAdmin webmaster@wearequickpixel.com
# Index file and Document Root (where the public files are located)
# ------------------------------
# DirectoryIndex index.html
# DirectoryIndex index.php
DocumentRoot /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html
# Custom log file locations
# ------------------------------
LogLevel debug
ErrorLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM.error.log
CustomLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM.access.log combined
# Directory Settings
# ------------------------------
<Directory "/var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/www/public_html">
AllowOverride All
# Options -Indexes -FollowSymLinks -Includes
IndexIgnore *
</Directory>
# Cross-domain AJAX requests
# Serve cross-domain Ajax requests, disabled by default.
# enable-cors.org
# code.google.com/p/html5security/wiki/CrossOriginRequestSecurity
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
# </IfModule>
# Prevent mobile network providers from modifying your site
# The following header prevents modification of your code over 3G on some
# European providers.
# This is the official 'bypass' suggested by O2 in the UK.
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set Cache-Control "no-transform"
# </IfModule>
# Stop screen flicker in IE on CSS rollovers
# The following directives stop screen flicker in IE on CSS rollovers - in
# combination with the "ExpiresByType" rules for images (see httpd.conf).
# ------------------------------
# BrowserMatch "MSIE" brokenvary=1
# BrowserMatch "Mozilla/4.[0-9]{2}" brokenvary=1
# BrowserMatch "Opera" !brokenvary
# SetEnvIf brokenvary 1 force-no-vary
# Cookie setting from iframes
# Allow cookies to be set from iframes (for IE only)
# If needed, specify a path or regex in the Location directive.
# ------------------------------
# <IfModule mod_headers.c>
# Header set P3P "policyref=\"/w3c/p3p.xml\", CP=\"IDC DSP COR ADM DEVi TAIi PSA PSD IVAi IVDi CONi HIS OUR IND CNT\""
# </IfModule>
# Deflate Logs
# ------------------------------
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
DeflateFilterNote Input input_info
DeflateFilterNote Output output_info
DeflateFilterNote Ratio ratio_info
LogFormat '"%r" %{output_info}n/%{input_info}n (%{ratio_info}n%%)' deflate
CustomLog /var/www/vhosts/DOMAIN.COM/logs/DOMAIN.COM-deflate.log deflate
</IfModule>
</VirtualHost>
@pauloelias
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Extended .htaccess I use in conjunction with performance settings (gzip/expires/etc.) in the conf.d/perf file

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