Apache Redirect Configuration Guide

Apache redirects are primarily configured through .htaccess files and the mod_rewrite module. This is especially useful on shared hosting where you don't have access to the main server config.

.htaccess basics

.htaccess is Apache's per-directory configuration file. Place it in your site root and Apache will read it automatically. The filename starts with a dot — it's a hidden file on Unix systems.

Enable mod_rewrite

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

# CentOS/RHEL — uncomment in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

Allow .htaccess overrides

<Directory /var/www/html>
    AllowOverride All
</Directory>

Redirect directive

The simplest approach — no regex required:

# 301 permanent
Redirect 301 /old-page.html https://example.com/new-page.html

# 302 temporary
Redirect 302 /sale https://example.com/promo

# Whole-site redirect to new domain
Redirect 301 / https://new-domain.com/

RewriteRule

RewriteEngine On

# HTTP → HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

# non-www → www
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Common flags

• [R=301] — 301 permanent redirect
• [R=302] — 302 temporary redirect
• [L] — Last rule, stop processing
• [NC] — Case-insensitive match
• [QSA] — Append original query string

RewriteCond

Conditions that must be true before the following RewriteRule fires:

# Redirect mobile users
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} "android|iphone|ipad" [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://m.example.com/$1 [R=302,L]

# Redirect based on query string
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^id=([0-9]+)$
RewriteRule ^article$ /post/%1? [R=301,L]

Common scenarios

Force HTTPS + www

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Remove .html extension

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.html -f
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ $1.html [L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]+\ /(.+)\.html
RewriteRule ^ /%1 [R=301,L]

WordPress permalinks

# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress

Common pitfalls

500 Internal Server Error

Almost always a syntax error in .htaccess. Check the Apache error log:

tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Redirect loop

# ❌ Loop — no condition to stop re-matching
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/ [R=301,L]

# ✅ Add HTTPS condition
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/ [R=301,L]

Lost query strings

# ❌ Query string dropped
RewriteRule ^old-page$ /new-page [R=301,L]

# ✅ Preserve with QSA flag
RewriteRule ^old-page$ /new-page [R=301,L,QSA]

Debugging

# Enable rewrite logging (Apache 2.4)
LogLevel alert rewrite:trace3

# Test with curl
curl -I http://example.com/old-page
curl -IL http://example.com/old-page

Or use 301check.com to visualize the full redirect chain.