Question

Apache rewrite rule for specific subdomain and file types

Hi lads,

I’m in need of some help with a tricky Apache rewrite situation I’m facing. I have multiple subdomains and subdirectories with various access requirements, and I want to create a rewrite rule that satisfies a couple of conditions.

Basically, if :

  • the request comes from the subdomain subdomain.example.com
  • the requested URL path starts with /files/.
  • the file extension is .pdf or .jpg.
  • the filename starts with a public_ prefix.

If all the above conditions are met, the request should be redirected to a separate domain https://public-files.example.net/.

I’ve tried the following rewrite rule:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^subdomain\.example\.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/files/public_.*\.(pdf|jpg)$
RewriteRule ^/files/public_(.*)\.(pdf|jpg)$ https://public-files.example.net/$1.$2 [R=301,L]

ofcourse with my domains but it doesn’t work. I believe it might be conflicting with other rewrite rules in my configuration.

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KFSys
Site Moderator
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• May 1, 2023
Accepted Answer

Heya,

I’ve looked into your rewrite rule, and it seems mostly correct. However, there are a couple of things that could be improved to make it work as expected. Here’s an updated version of the rule:

  1. RewriteEngine On

  2. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^subdomain\.example\.com$

  3. RewriteRule ^/files/public_(.+)\.(pdf|jpg)$ https://public-files.example.net/public_$1.$2 [R=301,L]

I removed the RewriteCond for the %{REQUEST_URI} because it’s not necessary since the RewriteRule pattern will only match if the conditions are already met. I also simplified the RewriteRule pattern and included the public_ prefix in the replacement URL.

I’ve tested it on my end and it works as you’ve described but do let me know how it goes with you

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