Apache mod_rewrite Introduction

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This document supplements the mod_rewrite reference documentation. It describes the basic concepts necessary for use of mod_rewrite. Other documents go into greater detail, but this doc should help the beginner get their feet wet.

Introduction
Regular Expressions
RewriteRule Basics
Rewrite Flags
Rewrite Conditions
Rewrite maps
.htaccess files

Introduction

The Apache module mod_rewrite is a very powerful and sophisticated module which provides a way to do URL manipulations. With it, you can do nearly all types of URL rewriting that you may need. It is, however, somewhat complex, and may be intimidating to the beginner. There is also a tendency to treat rewrite rules as magic incantation, using them without actually understanding what they do.

This document attempts to give sufficient background so that what follows is understood, rather than just copied blindly.

Remember that many common URL-manipulation tasks don't require the full power and complexity of mod_rewrite. For simple tasks, see mod_alias and the documentation on mapping URLs to the filesystem.

Finally, before proceeding, be sure to configure mod_rewrite's log level to one of the trace levels using the

Apache mod_rewrite Introduction

See also

Introduction