Htaccess: Redirect

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.htaccess: Introduction | Site error documents | Prevent Directory Listing | Redirect | Preventing hot linking |

.htaccess - Apache directory-level configuration file

Redirect

The Redirect .htaccess command is very powerful. You can redirect files or complete directories. Why would you want to do this? A typical example would be that you have changed the structure of your site but want to have old links (saved by a user) still function and be redirected to your new page location, or even a new page name.

Redirect format

The redirect command must be on a single line with each element separated by a space. It has the following format:

Redirect old_path new_path

File Redirect format

Let's look at this in a little more detail using this example:

Redirect /olddirectory/oldfile.html http://yoursite.com/newdirectory/newfile.html

  1. Redirect
    • This is the Apache command followed by a space
  2. /olddirectory/oldfile.html
    • This is the path to the old file you want redirected
    • It is stated in a relative file format
    • Followed again by a space
  3. http://yoursite.com/newdirectory/newfile.html
    • This is the full (URL) path of the location you want the request redirected to

You would place a Redirect command in the root .htaccess file for each file you want to redirect.

Directory (Folder) Redirect

Suppose that all you have done is to rename a directory (and possibly moved it to another location); however all the files still have their original names. Redirecting a directory is similar to the above; for example:

Redirect /olddirectory http://yoursite.com/newdirectory

  1. Redirect
    • This is the Apache command followed by a space
  2. /olddirectory
    • This is the path to the old directory you want redirected
    • It is stated in a relative file format
    • Followed again by a space
  3. http://yoursite.com/newdirectory
    • This is the full (URL) path of the location you want the request redirected to

Directory example 1

Using our errors directory, make a copy of it and rename it to moved.

Comment Code
  1. Navigate to the root directory www.
  2. Open the .htaccess file
  3. Add the command shown on the right last line.
  4. Save the file
 
# This file provides security to the server limiting access to the localhost only.
# Comment to deactivate.

Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 127.0.0.1
Allow from ::1

# To allow execution of cgi scripts in this directory uncomment next two lines.

AddHandler cgi-script .pl .cgi
Options +ExecCGI

# To unlock your server, comment the next 4 lines.
# Defaults: Username = admin; Password = userver

#AuthName "Uniform Server - Secure Server Access"
#AuthType Basic
#AuthUserFile /htpasswd/www/.htpasswd
#Require valid-user

Redirect /old http://localhost/moved

Testing

  1. (Re)start the server.
  2. In the browser address bar, type http:/localhost/old
  3. You will be redirected to the directory http://localhost/moved/

Directory example 2

Open the file not_found.html contained in the directory that was moved and add some more text to distinguish it from the original.

Testing

  1. (Re)start the server.
  2. In the browser address bar type http:/localhost/old/not_found.html
  3. You will be redirected to the file http://localhost/moved/not_found.html

And so forth. Experiment with files; it is similar to the directory example.

Practical Example

After UniCenter had been around for nearly two years, it started to become unmanageable, hence the move over to the Wiki. Many web sites linked to various pages on UniCenter, so to avoid the frustration of not finding an article, users were redirected to the appropriate page on the Wiki.

Below is a small extract from a UniCenter .htaccess file, where you will see the use of page redirection: 

Redirect /us_35_apps/joomla/joomla_install_1.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/Installing_Joomla
Redirect /us_35_apps/joomla/joomla_install_2.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/Joomla_Portability

Redirect /u35_mod_ssl_2/4_hmailserver.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/SSL_Part_2:_Installing_hMailServer
Redirect /u35_mod_ssl_2/5_hmailserver.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/SSL_Part_2:_Configure_hMailServer

Redirect /new_users/new_users_index.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/New_Users:_Home
Redirect /new_users/new_users_install_1.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/New_Users:_Quick_Install_Guide
Redirect /new_users/problems_1.html http://wiki.uniformserver.com/index.php/New_Users:_Problems_Section

Tip: I first published the Wiki pages. Then I used a browser to view a page and copy the link into .htaccess. The process is similar to obtaining the redirected page.

Errors

Any typos in the .htaccess file will cause Apache to spit out the following error message: 

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Remember to always make small changes to .htaccess and then test. This makes it easier to isolate and resolve any problems.

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