Short Notes on Apache
Contents
Note - serving of local files
Note: Often the initial installation of Apache has <Directory /> directive (directive for the root of the filesystem) set to "Allow from All", in [Apache config dir]/sites-available/default! This means that server can server any file from the file system, not just the files in the htdocs document folder, which you typically want!
To avoid this, simply change this to "Deny from All".
Self-Signed SSL Certificate
They might not pass as customer-friendly - in fact, if you need https/ssl for customer communication, you should always use signed certificates, as those do induce trust - but often you have private sections/domains/sites where self-signed is just fine... or you might just wanna test the ssl while waiting for the signed certificate.
Here are only listed steps to get to your certificate; for details and explanations, see e.g. akadia.com.
# openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024 # openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr # cp server.key server.key.org # openssl rsa -in server.key.org -out server.key # openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt # cp server.crt /etc/apache2/cert/ssl.crt # cp server.key /etc/apache2/cert/ssl.key # chmod 400 /etc/apache2/cert/ssl.crt /etc/apache2/cert/ssl.key
Enable SSL/HTTPS in Apache
HowTo: Use the following virtual host definition:
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerName ssl-name
DocumentRoot /var/www/ssl/root
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/server.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/apache2/server.key
SetEnvIf User-Agent ".*MSIE.*" nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown
</VirtualHost>
where certificate file and the certificate key file are either authority-signed or self-signed certificate files (see above), and add
NameVirtualHost *:443 Listen 443
to /etc/apache2/ports.conf and restart Apache.
.htaccess and mod_rewrite Tricks
Mostly based on 17 Useful .htaccess Tricks and Tips
General
1. Set Timezone
SetEnv TZ Australia/Melbourne
2. SEO Friendly 301 Permanent Redirects
Modern search engines have the capability to detect 301 Permanent Redirects and update its existing records.
Redirect 301 http://www.domain.com/home http://www.domain.com/
3. Skip the Download Dialogue
The following defines given types as octet-stream, thus making it "only to download"; clicking the link to such resource will skip "open / save" dialog and will start download immediately.
AddType application/octet-stream .pdf AddType application/octet-stream .zip AddType application/octet-stream .mov
4. Skip or Force www.
One of the SEO guidelines is, make sure there is only one URL pointing to your website.
To force URL's without www.:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =off
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\..+$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
To force www. in the URL, with the exception of subdom.domain.com:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =off
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^subdom\.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
5. Custom Error Pages
ErrorDocument 401 /error/401.php ErrorDocument 403 /error/403.php ErrorDocument 404 /error/404.php ErrorDocument 500 /error/500.php
6. Compress Files
You need to have deflate module installed and enabled.
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
7. Cache Files
The following example sets caching of multimedia files to 30 days:
<FilesMatch ".(flv|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|ico|swf|js|css|pdf)$"> Header set Cache-Control "max-age=2592000" </FilesMatch>
8. Disable Caching for Certain File Type
The following example disables caching of scripts:
<FilesMatch ".(pl|php|cgi|spl|scgi|fcgi)$"> Header unset Cache-Control </FilesMatch>
9. Redirect (Sections) to https://
The following forces /login and /signup sections of your site to use https.
Of course, it's recommendable that you have a signed SSL certificate.
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =off
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /login [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /signup [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
10. Simple MVC using .htaccess
You can redirect all requests to a single script file, and serve content based on REQUEST_URI:
RewriteEngine On RewriteRule !robots\.txt|\.(js|ico|gif|jpg|png|css|flv|swf)$ index.php
11. Provide Different Page Versions based on User Agent
You can provide different versions of your site for different browsers (e.g. links as a text-based browser, and for mobile devices):
RewriteEngine On
# MSIE
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla/4(.*)MSIE
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ /index.ie.html [L]
# Netscape / Mozilla
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Mozilla/5(.*)Gecko
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ /index.full.html [L]
# Lynx, text based
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Lynx/
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ /index.light.html [L]
# Mobile version of your site
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(iPad|iPhone).*$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://ipad.domain.com [R=301]
# All other
RewriteRule ^index\.html$ /index.medium.html [L]
Security
1. Hotlinking Protection with .htaccess
Block all multimedia file requests that do not come from direct link or from your site:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .(gif|jpg|swf|flv|png)$ /no-hotlink.html [R=302,L]
2. Prevent Hacks
Block some common malicious URL hacks:
RewriteEngine On
# proc/self/environ? no way!
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} proc/self/environ [OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|\%3D) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
# Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
# Send all blocked request to page with 403 Forbidden error!
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ no-way.html [F,L]
3. Block Access to Your .htaccess File
# secure .htaccess file <Files .htaccess> Order Allow,Deny Deny from All </Files> # prevent viewing of a specific file <Files secretfile.jpg> Order Allow,Deny Deny from All </Files> # multiple files / file types <FilesMatch ".(htaccess|htpasswd|ini|phps|fla|psd|log|sh)$"> Order Allow,Deny Deny from All </FilesMatch>
4. Rename .htaccess Files
AccessFileName htacc.ess
5. Disable Directory Browsing
# disable directory browsing Options All -Indexes # enable directory browsing Options All +Indexes
6. Change Default Index Page
DirectoryIndex my-home.html
7. Block Unwanted Visitor based on Referring Domain
# block visitors referred from indicated domains
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} scumbag.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} wormhole.com [NC,OR]
RewriteRule .* - [F]
8. Blocking Request based on User-Agent Header
# block certain bots and spiders SetEnvIfNoCase ^User-Agent$ .*(craftbot|download|extract|stripper|sucker|ninja|clshttp|webspider|leacher|collector|grabber|webpictures) HTTP_SAFE_BADBOT SetEnvIfNoCase ^User-Agent$ .*(libwww-perl|aesop_com_spiderman) HTTP_SAFE_BADBOT Deny from env=HTTP_SAFE_BADBOT
9. Secure Directories by Disabling Execution of Scripts
AddHandler cgi-script .php .pl .py .jsp .asp .htm .shtml .sh .cgi Options -ExecCGI
