Fixing Apache on CentOS/RHEL 5 for Drupal

While not strictly a requirement, in the interests of not having crazy URLs on your site it's recommended to set up your web server to support files. This will let you have URLs like "/products/cool/stuff" instead of "?q=products/cool/stuff" - obviously much nicer, and better for both usability and search engine optimization. Well unfortunately on 5 (RHEL) and 5 (which is basically the same as RHEL) the standard web server, , is set to ignore these files. So here's how to fix it.

Whether you're configuring the virtual host in a separate file or in the main httpd.conf, the change you'll want to make is the same:

Step 1: enabling .htaccess files:

• In the main httpd.conf file (should be at /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf) search for the string "AccessFileName",
• If the line is commented out (it starts with "#") uncomment the line by removing the "#" symbol,
• Update the line to say:
  • AccessFileName .htaccess
• Restart Apache, reload the site and.. enjoy the error message :-)
• On to the second part..

Step 2: allowing .htaccess files to override settings:

• Find the configuration for the Drupal site,
• There should be a <Directory> section within that block,
• If there isn't a line that starts with AllowOverride, add a new one within the <Directory> block,
• Set the AllowOverride line to the following:
  • AllowOverride Options Indexes Limit FileInfo
• Restart Apache again.
• Et voila.

This will allow the Drupal .htaccess file to run and make your URLs all nice & shiny!