How to debug .htaccess RewriteRule not working

Question

I have a RewriteRule in a .htaccess file that isn't doing anything. How do I troubleshoot this?

• How can I verify if the .htaccess file is even being read and obeyed by Apache? Can I write an echo "it is working" message, if I do write it, where would that line be echoed out?
• If the .htaccess file isn't being used, how can I make Apache use it?
• If the .htaccess is being used but my RewriteRule still isn't having an effect, what more can I do to debug?

Answer 1

Enter some junk value into your .htaccess e.g. foo bar, sakjnaskljdnas any keyword not recognized by htaccess and visit your URL. If it is working, you should get a

500 Internal Server Error

Internal Server Error

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

I suggest you to put it soon after RewriteEngine on.

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Since you are on your machine. I presume you have access to apache .conf file.

open the .conf file, and look for a line similar to:

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

If it is commented(#), uncomment and restart apache.

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To log rewrite

RewriteEngine On
RewriteLog "/path/to/rewrite.log"
RewriteLogLevel 9

Put the above 3 lines in your virtualhost. restart the httpd.

RewriteLogLevel 9 Using a high value for Level will slow down your Apache server dramatically! Use the rewriting logfile at a Level greater than 2 only for debugging! Level 9 will log almost every rewritelog detail.

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UPDATE

Things have changed in Apache 2.4:

FROM Upgrading to 2.4 from 2.2

The RewriteLog and RewriteLogLevel directives have been removed. This functionality is now provided by configuring the appropriate level of logging for the mod_rewrite module using the LogLevel directive. See also the mod_rewrite logging section.

For more on LogLevel, refer LogLevel Directive

you can accomplish

RewriteLog "/path/to/rewrite.log"

in this manner now

LogLevel debug rewrite_module:debug