github.com/krum110487/go-htaccess@v0.0.0-20240316004156-60641c8e7598/tests/data/apache_2_2_34/manual/sections.html.en (about)

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    10  <title>Configuration Sections - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2</title>
    11  <link href="./style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" />
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    16  
    17  <link href="./images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /><link href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/sections.html" rel="canonical" /></head>
    18  <body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header">
    19  <p class="menu"><a href="./mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="./mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/FAQ">FAQ</a> | <a href="./glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="./sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p>
    20  <p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2</p>
    21  <img alt="" src="./images/feather.gif" /></div>
    22  <div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="&lt;-" alt="&lt;-" src="./images/left.gif" /></a></div>
    23  <div id="path">
    24  <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/">Documentation</a> &gt; <a href="./">Version 2.2</a></div><div id="page-content"><div class="retired"><h4>Please note</h4>
    25              <p> This document refers to a legacy release (<strong>2.2</strong>) of Apache httpd. The active release (<strong>2.4</strong>) is documented <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current">here</a>. If you have not already upgraded, please follow <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/upgrading.html">this link</a> for more information.</p>
    26          <p>You may follow <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/sections.html">this link</a> to go to the current version of this document.</p></div><div id="preamble"><h1>Configuration Sections</h1>
    27  <div class="toplang">
    28  <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="./en/sections.html" title="English">&nbsp;en&nbsp;</a> |
    29  <a href="./fr/sections.html" hreflang="fr" rel="alternate" title="Français">&nbsp;fr&nbsp;</a> |
    30  <a href="./ja/sections.html" hreflang="ja" rel="alternate" title="Japanese">&nbsp;ja&nbsp;</a> |
    31  <a href="./ko/sections.html" hreflang="ko" rel="alternate" title="Korean">&nbsp;ko&nbsp;</a> |
    32  <a href="./tr/sections.html" hreflang="tr" rel="alternate" title="Türkçe">&nbsp;tr&nbsp;</a></p>
    33  </div>
    34   <p>Directives in the <a href="configuring.html">configuration files</a> may apply to the
    35  entire server, or they may be restricted to apply only to particular
    36  directories, files, hosts, or URLs.  This document describes how to
    37  use configuration section containers or <code>.htaccess</code> files
    38  to change the scope of other configuration directives.</p>
    39  </div>
    40  <div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#types">Types of Configuration Section Containers</a></li>
    41  <li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#file-and-web">Filesystem and Webspace</a></li>
    42  <li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#virtualhost">Virtual Hosts</a></li>
    43  <li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#proxy">Proxy</a></li>
    44  <li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#whatwhere">What Directives are Allowed?</a></li>
    45  <li><img alt="" src="./images/down.gif" /> <a href="#mergin">How the sections are merged</a></li>
    46  </ul><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="#comments_section">Comments</a></li></ul></div>
    47  <div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
    48  <div class="section">
    49  <h2><a name="types" id="types">Types of Configuration Section Containers</a></h2>
    50  
    51  <table class="related"><tr><th>Related Modules</th><th>Related Directives</th></tr><tr><td><ul><li><code class="module"><a href="./mod/core.html">core</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_version.html">mod_version</a></code></li><li><code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html">mod_proxy</a></code></li></ul></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#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_version.html#ifversion">&lt;IfVersion&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/mod_proxy.html#proxy">&lt;Proxy&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxymatch">&lt;ProxyMatch&gt;</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#virtualhost">&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</a></code></li></ul></td></tr></table>
    52  
    53  <p>There are two basic types of containers.  Most containers are
    54  evaluated for each request.  The enclosed directives are applied only
    55  for those requests that match the containers.  The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code>, and
    56  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_version.html#ifversion">&lt;IfVersion&gt;</a></code>
    57  containers, on the other hand, are evaluated only at server startup
    58  and restart.  If their conditions are true at startup, then the
    59  enclosed directives will apply to all requests.  If the conditions are
    60  not true, the enclosed directives will be ignored.</p>
    61  
    62  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code> directive
    63  encloses directives that will only be applied if an appropriate
    64  parameter is defined on the <code class="program"><a href="./programs/httpd.html">httpd</a></code> command line.  For example,
    65  with the following configuration, all requests will be redirected
    66  to another site only if the server is started using
    67  <code>httpd -DClosedForNow</code>:</p>
    68  
    69  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;IfDefine ClosedForNow&gt;
    70      Redirect / http://otherserver.example.com/
    71  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;</pre>
    72  
    73  
    74  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code>
    75  directive is very similar, except it encloses directives that will
    76  only be applied if a particular module is available in the server.
    77  The module must either be statically compiled in the server, or it
    78  must be dynamically compiled and its <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_so.html#loadmodule">LoadModule</a></code> line must be earlier in the
    79  configuration file.  This directive should only be used if you need
    80  your configuration file to work whether or not certain modules are
    81  installed.  It should not be used to enclose directives that you want
    82  to work all the time, because it can suppress useful error messages
    83  about missing modules.</p>
    84  
    85  <p>In the following example, the <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_mime_magic.html#mimemagicfile">MimeMagicFile</a></code> directive will be
    86  applied only if <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_mime_magic.html">mod_mime_magic</a></code> is available.</p>
    87  
    88  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;IfModule mod_mime_magic.c&gt;
    89      MimeMagicFile conf/magic
    90  &lt;/IfModule&gt;</pre>
    91  
    92  
    93  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_version.html#ifversion">&lt;IfVersion&gt;</a></code>
    94  directive is very similar to <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code> and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code>, except it encloses directives that will
    95  only be applied if a particular version of the server is executing.  This
    96  module is designed for the use in test suites and large networks which have to
    97  deal with different httpd versions and different configurations.</p>
    98  
    99  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;IfVersion &gt;= 2.1&gt;
   100      # this happens only in versions greater or
   101      # equal 2.1.0.
   102  &lt;/IfVersion&gt;</pre>
   103  
   104  
   105  <p><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifdefine">&lt;IfDefine&gt;</a></code>,
   106  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#ifmodule">&lt;IfModule&gt;</a></code>, and the
   107  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_version.html#ifversion">&lt;IfVersion&gt;</a></code>
   108  can apply negative conditions by preceding their test with "!".
   109  Also, these sections can be nested to achieve more complex
   110  restrictions.</p>
   111  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
   112  <div class="section">
   113  <h2><a name="file-and-web" id="file-and-web">Filesystem and Webspace</a></h2>
   114  
   115  <p>The most commonly used configuration section containers are the
   116  ones that change the configuration of particular places in the
   117  filesystem or webspace.  First, it is important to understand the
   118  difference between the two.  The filesystem is the view of your disks
   119  as seen by your operating system.  For example, in a default install,
   120  Apache resides at <code>/usr/local/apache2</code> in the Unix
   121  filesystem or <code>"c:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2"</code> in
   122  the Windows filesystem.  (Note that forward slashes should always be
   123  used as the path separator in Apache, even for Windows.)  In contrast,
   124  the webspace is the view of your site as delivered by the web server
   125  and seen by the client.  So the path <code>/dir/</code> in the
   126  webspace corresponds to the path
   127  <code>/usr/local/apache2/htdocs/dir/</code> in the filesystem of a
   128  default Apache install on Unix.  The webspace need not map directly to
   129  the filesystem, since webpages may be generated dynamically
   130  from databases or other locations.</p>
   131  
   132  <h3><a name="filesystem" id="filesystem">Filesystem Containers</a></h3>
   133  
   134  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>
   135  and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>
   136  directives, along with their <a class="glossarylink" href="./glossary.html#regex" title="see glossary">regex</a>
   137  counterparts, apply directives to
   138  parts of the filesystem.  Directives enclosed in a <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> section apply to
   139  the named filesystem directory and all subdirectories of that
   140  directory (as well as the files in those directories).  
   141  The same effect can be obtained using <a href="howto/htaccess.html">.htaccess files</a>.  For example, in the
   142  following configuration, directory indexes will be enabled for the
   143  <code>/var/web/dir1</code> directory and all subdirectories.</p>
   144  
   145  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Directory /var/web/dir1&gt;
   146      Options +Indexes
   147  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   148  
   149  
   150  <p>Directives enclosed in a <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code> section apply to any file with
   151  the specified name, regardless of what directory it lies in.
   152  So for example, the following configuration directives will,
   153  when placed in the main section of the configuration file,
   154  deny access to any file named <code>private.html</code> regardless
   155  of where it is found.</p>
   156  
   157  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Files private.html&gt;
   158      Order allow,deny
   159      Deny from all
   160  &lt;/Files&gt;</pre>
   161  
   162  
   163  <p>To address files found in a particular part of the filesystem, the
   164  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code> and
   165  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> sections
   166  can be combined.  For example, the following configuration will deny
   167  access to <code>/var/web/dir1/private.html</code>,
   168  <code>/var/web/dir1/subdir2/private.html</code>,
   169  <code>/var/web/dir1/subdir3/private.html</code>, and any other instance
   170  of <code>private.html</code> found under the <code>/var/web/dir1/</code>
   171  directory.</p>
   172  
   173  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Directory /var/web/dir1&gt;
   174      &lt;Files private.html&gt;
   175          Order allow,deny
   176          Deny from all
   177      &lt;/Files&gt;
   178  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   179  
   180  
   181  
   182  <h3><a name="webspace" id="webspace">Webspace Containers</a></h3>
   183  
   184  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>
   185  directive and its <a class="glossarylink" href="./glossary.html#regex" title="see glossary">regex</a> counterpart, on the
   186  other hand, change the
   187  configuration for content in the webspace.  For example, the following
   188  configuration prevents access to any URL-path that begins in /private.
   189  In particular, it will apply to requests for
   190  <code>http://yoursite.example.com/private</code>,
   191  <code>http://yoursite.example.com/private123</code>, and
   192  <code>http://yoursite.example.com/private/dir/file.html</code> as well
   193  as any other requests starting with the <code>/private</code> string.</p>
   194  
   195  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;LocationMatch ^/private&gt;
   196      Order Allow,Deny
   197      Deny from all
   198  &lt;/LocationMatch&gt;</pre>
   199  
   200  
   201  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>
   202  directive need not have anything to do with the filesystem.
   203  For example, the following example shows how to map a particular
   204  URL to an internal Apache handler provided by <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_status.html">mod_status</a></code>.
   205  No file called <code>server-status</code> needs to exist in the
   206  filesystem.</p>
   207  
   208  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Location /server-status&gt;
   209      SetHandler server-status
   210  &lt;/Location&gt;</pre>
   211  
   212  
   213  
   214  <h3><a name="wildcards" id="wildcards">Wildcards and Regular Expressions</a></h3>
   215  
   216  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>,
   217  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>, and
   218  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>
   219  directives can each use shell-style wildcard characters as in
   220  <code>fnmatch</code> from the C standard library.  The character "*"
   221  matches any sequence of characters, "?" matches any single character,
   222  and "[<em>seq</em>]" matches any character in <em>seq</em>.  The "/"
   223  character will not be matched by any wildcard; it must be specified
   224  explicitly.</p>
   225  
   226  <p>If even more flexible matching is required, each
   227  container has a regular expression (regex) counterpart <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directorymatch">&lt;DirectoryMatch&gt;</a></code>, <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code>, and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#locationmatch">&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</a></code> that allow
   228  perl-compatible
   229  <a class="glossarylink" href="./glossary.html#regex" title="see glossary">regular expressions</a>
   230  to be used in choosing the matches.  But see the section below on
   231  configuration merging to find out how using regex sections will change
   232  how directives are applied.</p>
   233  
   234  <p>A non-regex wildcard section that changes the configuration of
   235  all user directories could look as follows:</p>
   236  
   237  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Directory /home/*/public_html&gt;
   238      Options Indexes
   239  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   240  
   241  
   242  <p>Using regex sections, we can deny access to many types of image files
   243  at once:</p>
   244  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;FilesMatch \.(?i:gif|jpe?g|png)$&gt;
   245      Order allow,deny
   246      Deny from all
   247  &lt;/FilesMatch&gt;</pre>
   248  
   249  
   250  
   251  
   252  <h3><a name="whichwhen" id="whichwhen">What to use When</a></h3>
   253  
   254  <p>Choosing between filesystem containers and webspace containers is
   255  actually quite easy.  When applying directives to objects that reside
   256  in the filesystem always use <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> or <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>.  When applying directives to objects
   257  that do not reside in the filesystem (such as a webpage generated from
   258  a database), use <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>.</p>
   259  
   260  <p>It is important to never use <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code> when trying to restrict
   261  access to objects in the filesystem.  This is because many
   262  different webspace locations (URLs) could map to the same filesystem
   263  location, allowing your restrictions to be circumvented.
   264  For example, consider the following configuration:</p>
   265  
   266  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Location /dir/&gt;
   267      Order allow,deny
   268      Deny from all
   269  &lt;/Location&gt;</pre>
   270  
   271  
   272  <p>This works fine if the request is for
   273  <code>http://yoursite.example.com/dir/</code>.  But what if you are on
   274  a case-insensitive filesystem?  Then your restriction could be easily
   275  circumvented by requesting
   276  <code>http://yoursite.example.com/DIR/</code>.  The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> directive, in
   277  contrast, will apply to any content served from that location,
   278  regardless of how it is called.  (An exception is filesystem links.
   279  The same directory can be placed in more than one part of the
   280  filesystem using symbolic links.  The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> directive will follow the symbolic
   281  link without resetting the pathname.  Therefore, for the highest level
   282  of security, symbolic links should be disabled with the appropriate
   283  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#options">Options</a></code> directive.)</p>
   284  
   285  <p>If you are, perhaps, thinking that none of this applies to you
   286  because you use a case-sensitive filesystem, remember that there are
   287  many other ways to map multiple webspace locations to the same
   288  filesystem location.  Therefore you should always use the filesystem
   289  containers when you can.  There is, however, one exception to this
   290  rule.  Putting configuration restrictions in a <code>&lt;Location
   291  /&gt;</code> section is perfectly safe because this section will apply
   292  to all requests regardless of the specific URL.</p>
   293  
   294  
   295  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
   296  <div class="section">
   297  <h2><a name="virtualhost" id="virtualhost">Virtual Hosts</a></h2>
   298  
   299  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#virtualhost">&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</a></code>
   300  container encloses directives that apply to specific hosts.
   301  This is useful when serving multiple hosts from the same machine
   302  with a different configuration for each.  For more information,
   303  see the <a href="vhosts/">Virtual Host Documentation</a>.</p>
   304  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
   305  <div class="section">
   306  <h2><a name="proxy" id="proxy">Proxy</a></h2>
   307  
   308  <p>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxy">&lt;Proxy&gt;</a></code>
   309  and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxymatch">&lt;ProxyMatch&gt;</a></code>
   310  containers apply enclosed configuration directives only
   311  to sites accessed through <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html">mod_proxy</a></code>'s proxy server
   312  that match the specified URL. For example, the following configuration
   313  will allow only a subset of clients to access the
   314  <code>www.example.com</code> website using the proxy server:</p>
   315  
   316  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Proxy "http://www.example.com/*"&gt;
   317      Order allow,deny
   318      Allow from 192.168.1.104 192.168.1.205
   319      Deny from all
   320  &lt;/Proxy&gt;</pre>
   321  
   322  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
   323  <div class="section">
   324  <h2><a name="whatwhere" id="whatwhere">What Directives are Allowed?</a></h2>
   325  
   326  <p>To find out what directives are allowed in what types of
   327  configuration sections, check the <a href="mod/directive-dict.html#Context">Context</a> of the directive.
   328  Everything that is allowed in 
   329  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>
   330  sections is also syntactically allowed in
   331  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directorymatch">&lt;DirectoryMatch&gt;</a></code>,
   332  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>,
   333  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code>,
   334  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>,
   335  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#locationmatch">&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</a></code>,
   336  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxy">&lt;Proxy&gt;</a></code>,
   337  and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxymatch">&lt;ProxyMatch&gt;</a></code>
   338  sections.  There are some exceptions, however:</p>
   339  
   340  <ul>
   341  <li>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> directive
   342  works only in <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>
   343  sections.</li>
   344  
   345  <li>The <code>FollowSymLinks</code> and
   346  <code>SymLinksIfOwnerMatch</code> <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#options">Options</a></code> work only in <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> sections or
   347  <code>.htaccess</code> files.</li>
   348  
   349  <li>The <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#options">Options</a></code> directive cannot
   350  be used in <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code>
   351  and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code>
   352  sections.</li>
   353  </ul>
   354  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="./images/up.gif" /></a></div>
   355  <div class="section">
   356  <h2><a name="mergin" id="mergin">How the sections are merged</a></h2>
   357  
   358  <p>The configuration sections are applied in a very particular order.
   359  Since this can have important effects on how configuration directives
   360  are interpreted, it is important to understand how this works.</p>
   361  
   362      <p>The order of merging is:</p>
   363  
   364      <ol>
   365        <li> <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> (except regular expressions)
   366        and <code>.htaccess</code> done simultaneously (with
   367        <code>.htaccess</code>, if allowed, overriding
   368        <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>)</li>
   369  
   370        <li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directorymatch">&lt;DirectoryMatch&gt;</a></code>
   371        (and <code>&lt;Directory ~&gt;</code>)</li>
   372  
   373        <li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#files">&lt;Files&gt;</a></code> and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#filesmatch">&lt;FilesMatch&gt;</a></code> done
   374        simultaneously</li>
   375  
   376        <li><code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code>
   377        and <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#locationmatch">&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</a></code> done simultaneously</li>
   378      </ol>
   379  
   380      <p>Apart from <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code>, each group is processed in
   381      the order that they appear in the configuration files.  <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> (group 1 above)
   382      is processed in the order shortest directory component to longest.
   383      So for example, <code>&lt;Directory /var/web/dir&gt;</code> will
   384      be processed before <code>&lt;Directory
   385      /var/web/dir/subdir&gt;</code>.  If multiple <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> sections apply
   386      to the same directory they are processed in the configuration file
   387      order. Configurations included via the <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#include">Include</a></code> directive will be treated as if
   388      they were inside the including file at the location of the
   389      <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#include">Include</a></code> directive.</p>
   390  
   391      <p>Sections inside <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#virtualhost">&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</a></code> sections
   392      are applied <em>after</em> the corresponding sections outside
   393      the virtual host definition. This allows virtual hosts to
   394      override the main server configuration.</p>
   395  
   396      <p>When the request is served by <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html">mod_proxy</a></code>, the
   397      <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_proxy.html#proxy">&lt;Proxy&gt;</a></code>
   398      container takes the place of the <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> container in the processing
   399      order.</p>
   400  
   401      <div class="note"><h3>Technical Note</h3>
   402        There is actually a
   403        <code>&lt;Location&gt;</code>/<code>&lt;LocationMatch&gt;</code>
   404        sequence performed just before the name translation phase
   405        (where <code>Aliases</code> and <code>DocumentRoots</code>
   406        are used to map URLs to filenames). The results of this
   407        sequence are completely thrown away after the translation has
   408        completed.
   409      </div>
   410  
   411  <h3><a name="relationship-module-configuration" id="relationship-module-configuration">Relationship between modules and configuration sections</a></h3>
   412      <p>One question that often arises after reading how configuration sections are
   413      merged is related to how and when directives of specific modules like <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_rewrite.html">mod_rewrite</a></code>
   414      are processed. The answer is not trivial and needs a bit of background. 
   415      Each httpd module manages its own configuration, and each of its directives in httpd.conf specify one piece 
   416      of configuration in a particular context. httpd does not execute a command as it is read.</p>
   417      <p>At runtime, the core of httpd iterates over the defined configuration sections in the order
   418      described above to determine which ones apply to the current request. When the first section matches, 
   419      it is considered the current configuration for this request. If a subsequent section matches too, 
   420      then each module with a directive in either of the sections is given a chance to merge its configuration between the two sections. The result is a third configuration, and the process goes on until all the configuration sections
   421      are evaluated.</p>
   422      <p>After the above step, the "real" processing of the HTTP request begins: each module has a chance to run 
   423      and perform whatever tasks they like. They can retrieve their own final merged configuration from the core
   424      of the httpd to determine how they should act.</p>
   425      <p>An example can help to visualize the whole process. The following configuration uses the 
   426          <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html#header">Header</a></code> directive of <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html">mod_headers</a></code> to set
   427          a specific HTTP header. What value will httpd set in the <code>CustomHeaderName</code> header for a request to
   428          <code>/example/index.html</code> ?
   429      </p>
   430      <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Directory "/"&gt;
   431      Header set CustomHeaderName one
   432      &lt;FilesMatch ".*"&gt;
   433          Header set CustomHeaderName three
   434      &lt;/FilesMatch&gt;
   435  &lt;/Directory&gt;
   436  
   437  &lt;Directory "/example"&gt;
   438      Header set CustomHeaderName two
   439  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   440      
   441      <ul>
   442          <li><code class="directive">Directory</code> "/" matches and an initial configuration to set the <code>CustomHeaderName</code> header with the value <code>one</code> is created.</li>
   443          <li><code class="directive">Directory</code> "/example" matches, and since <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html">mod_headers</a></code> specifies in its code to override in case of a merge, a new configuration is created to set the <code>CustomHeaderName</code> header with the value <code>two</code>.</li>
   444          <li><code class="directive">FilesMatch</code> ".*" matches and another merge opportunity arises, causing the <code>CustomHeaderName</code> header to be set with the value <code>three</code>.</li>
   445          <li>Eventually during the next steps of the HTTP request processing <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html">mod_headers</a></code> will be called and it will receive the configuration to set the <code>CustomHeaderName</code> header with the value <code>three</code>. <code class="module"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html">mod_headers</a></code> normally uses this configuration to perfom its job, namely setting the foo header. This does not mean that a module can't perform a more complex action like discarding directives because not needed or deprecated, etc..</li>
   446      </ul>
   447  
   448      <p>This is true for .htaccess too since they have the same priority as <code class="directive">Directory</code> in the merge order. The important concept to understand is that configuration sections like  <code class="directive">Directory</code> and <code class="directive">FilesMatch</code> are not comparable to module specific directives like <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_headers.html#header">Header</a></code> or <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule">RewriteRule</a></code> because they operate on different levels.
   449      </p>
   450  
   451  
   452  <h3><a name="merge-examples" id="merge-examples">Some Examples</a></h3>
   453  
   454  <p>Below is an artificial example to show the order of
   455  merging. Assuming they all apply to the request, the directives in
   456  this example will be applied in the order A &gt; B &gt; C &gt; D &gt;
   457  E.</p>
   458  
   459  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Location "/"&gt;
   460      E
   461  &lt;/Location&gt;
   462  
   463  &lt;Files "f.html"&gt;
   464      D
   465  &lt;/Files&gt;
   466  
   467  &lt;VirtualHost *&gt;
   468  &lt;Directory "/a/b"&gt;
   469      B
   470  &lt;/Directory&gt;
   471  &lt;/VirtualHost&gt;
   472  
   473  &lt;DirectoryMatch "^.*b$"&gt;
   474      C
   475  &lt;/DirectoryMatch&gt;
   476  
   477  &lt;Directory "/a/b"&gt;
   478      A
   479  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   480  
   481  
   482  <p>For a more concrete example, consider the following.  Regardless of
   483  any access restrictions placed in <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#directory">&lt;Directory&gt;</a></code> sections, the <code class="directive"><a href="./mod/core.html#location">&lt;Location&gt;</a></code> section will be
   484  evaluated last and will allow unrestricted access to the server.  In
   485  other words, order of merging is important, so be careful!</p>
   486  
   487  <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">&lt;Location "/"&gt;
   488      Require all granted
   489  &lt;/Location&gt;
   490  
   491  # Woops!  This &lt;Directory&gt; section will have no effect
   492  &lt;Directory "/"&gt;
   493      &lt;RequireAll&gt;
   494          Require all granted
   495          Require not host badguy.example.com
   496      &lt;/RequireAll&gt;
   497  &lt;/Directory&gt;</pre>
   498  
   499  
   500  
   501  
   502  </div></div>
   503  <div class="bottomlang">
   504  <p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="./en/sections.html" title="English">&nbsp;en&nbsp;</a> |
   505  <a href="./fr/sections.html" hreflang="fr" rel="alternate" title="Français">&nbsp;fr&nbsp;</a> |
   506  <a href="./ja/sections.html" hreflang="ja" rel="alternate" title="Japanese">&nbsp;ja&nbsp;</a> |
   507  <a href="./ko/sections.html" hreflang="ko" rel="alternate" title="Korean">&nbsp;ko&nbsp;</a> |
   508  <a href="./tr/sections.html" hreflang="tr" rel="alternate" title="Türkçe">&nbsp;tr&nbsp;</a></p>
   509  </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img src="./images/up.gif" alt="top" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a id="comments_section" name="comments_section">Comments</a></h2><div class="warning"><strong>Notice:</strong><br />This is not a Q&amp;A section. Comments placed here should be pointed towards suggestions on improving the documentation or server, and may be removed again by our moderators if they are either implemented or considered invalid/off-topic. Questions on how to manage the Apache HTTP Server should be directed at either our IRC channel, #httpd, on Freenode, or sent to our <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/lists.html">mailing lists</a>.</div>
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