Apache URL Mod_Rewrite

Question

Why does the following .htaccess file generate 300 errors, when this URL is called?

The website redirects to the correct php page, but 300 is returned 2 times

URL: hxxp://subdomain.domainame.com/keyword/

IndexIgnore *

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)/?$ /index.php?p=$1

Error log: (300)
File does not exist: /home/admin/public_html/subdomain/keyword (no trailing slash)

Additional Questions

Do I need to expand the rewrite rule to pick up the following in the URL:

/index.php?p=keyword 

The URL being called is /keyword/ . Is it returning 300 - Multiple choices status because the following are possible?

 /index.php?p=keyword
 /keyword
 /keyword/ 

Answer 1

try

RewriteRule ^([^/]*)/$ /index.php?p=$1 [L]

you need the L flag to stop rewriting once the rule has hit. (otherwise you get an endless loop)

Answer 2

I believe the problem is actually the lack of a forward slash at the beginning of your regular expression. Still, c10k Consulting's suggestion to use the "Last" flag is a great idea. Try this:

RewriteRule ^/([a-z]+)/?$ /index.php?p=$1 [L]

Depending upon the rest of your Apache configuration and url patterns, you may want to expand on your rewrite rules a bit, like so:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule %{REQUEST_URI} !.php
RewriteRule ^/(\w+)/?$ /index.php?p=$1 [L]

The first rule prevents rewriting of requests to PHP files, and the second uses the "word" regular expression token. Again, it requires the REQUEST_URI to start with a forward slash, followed by a word, which is then concluded, or followed by a forward slash, then concluded.

Hope that helps! Good luck and be persistent with mod_rewrite. Its a reliable and thoughtfully crafted tool.

Answer 3

This works for me on apache 2.2.16:

RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)/?$ /index.php?p=$1 

Here is the rewrite log:

init rewrite engine with requested uri /keyword/
pass through /keyword/
[perdir /var/www/html/] add path info postfix: /var/www/html/keyword -> /var/www/html/keyword/
[perdir /var/www/html/] strip per-dir prefix: /var/www/html/keyword/ -> keyword/
[perdir /var/www/html/] applying pattern '^([a-z]+)/?$' to uri 'keyword/'
[perdir /var/www/html/] rewrite 'keyword/' -> '/index.php?p=keyword'
split uri=/index.php?p=keyword -> uri=/index.php, args=p=keyword
[perdir /var/www/html/] internal redirect with /index.php [INTERNAL REDIRECT]

I'll take this opportunity to correct some of the other answers.

you need the L flag to stop rewriting once the rule has hit. (otherwise you get an endless loop)

This is wrong for two reasons: (1) index.php does not match '^([a-z]+)/?$' and (2) even if it did [L] wouldn't stop the processing because this per-dir rewrite results in an internal redirect (see log) (as they often do) which [L] doesn't stop.

I believe the problem is actually the lack of a forward slash at the beginning of your regular expression.

No, the per-dir rewrite in strips of the initial slash (see log).

RewriteRule %{REQUEST_URI} !.php

This is probably a typo and should be RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !.php

I have no solution but I recommend cranking up the RewriteLogLevel until you can see what is going on.

Edit: I don't think it is mod_rewrite. There is something else in your apache config causing the problem.