.htaccess Semantics and the New Web Server

On February 26, we began running a new web server on www.cs.washington.edu. There is a difference in how certain constructs in .htaccess files are handled between the new and old servers that will require some users to edit their .htaccess files.

If access to your documents generates a "permission denied" error with the new server, but not with the old, it is likely that you need to edit your .htaccess file according to the instuctions below.

One directive that can be specified in a .htaccess file is "options". That's used to override certain systemwide policies that are established in the server configuration file.

In a .htaccess file as in the system configuration file, the options directive is specified by putting the word "options" as the first token on a line, followed by a set of values. Only the last options line is processed.

As an example, for our server, that line reads

Options FollowSymLinks IncludesNOEXEC

Instructions for Fixing Your .htaccess File

1. If your .htaccess file contains an options line, you need to specify "FollowSymLinks". This value is not inherited from the system configuration with the new server.
2. If your .htaccess file contain multiple Options lines, collapse them to a single line. For example, convert

   Options FollowSymLinks Options Includes

   to

   Options FollowSymLinks Includes

   Questions and comments to rose@cs.