OS 6.1.4 apache2 mod_rewrite .htaccess problem

OK, so i sorted it a little bit. Back to the points:

1. ReadyNAS frontview, that means web administration and addons, are in

   /etc/frontview/

   Files in this folder are (or was) persistent through restart/upgrade, so it is (or was) used as hack for keep settings.
   The main apache configuration files are in

   /etc/apache2/

   and while experimenting with settings, there is no need to go to /etc/frontview.


2. Still the same result (403 Forbidden) when edit

   /etc/apache2/sites_enabled/000-fv-http

   Changed
   

   <Directory />
   --Options FollowSymLinks
   ++Options All
   --AllowOverride None
   ++AllowOverride All
   </Directory>

   
   Incriminated .htaccess
   

   # Apache configuration file (see httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/quickreference.html)
   
   # disable directory listing
   Options -Indexes
   
   # enable cool URL
   <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
   	RewriteEngine On
   	# RewriteBase /
   
   	# prevents files starting with dot to be viewed by browser
   	RewriteRule /\.|^\. - [F]
   
   	# front controller
   	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   	RewriteRule !\.(pdf|js|ico|gif|jpg|png|css|rar|zip|tar\.gz)$ index.php [L]
   </IfModule>
   
   # enable gzip compression
   <IfModule mod_deflate.c>
   	AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml text/css application/x-javascript text/javascript application/javascript application/json
   </IfModule>

   
   


3. Tutorials related with VirtualHosts are mostly about clean domain names → redirect/translate from www.example.com to www.readynas.com/webshare/... so if I need put mod_rewrite into operation, there is no need fiddle with VirtualHosts, right?


4. Paths in configuration files are regular system paths, I got it now :oops:


5. Still confused here, dont know if it's even related with my problem.

why not creating you own conf file for your http site without touching /etc/apache2/sites_enabled/000-fv-http which could be rewritted after a fw upgrade ?

why not creating you own conf file for your http site without touching /etc/apache2/sites_enabled/000-fv-http which could be rewritted after a fw upgrade ?

I created separed apache configuration file for my project

/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/010-nette

That file has following content

root@nas-35-05-E7:/data/www/nette/www# cat /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/010-nette
<Directory /data/www/nette/>
        AllowOverride All
        Options +Indexes
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
</Directory>

That file put my .htaccess into action, but it leads to 403 / forbidden. Now playing with permission.

Files in web shared folder must be owned by webserver user. Variables

$[APACHE_RUN_USER]
$[APACHE_RUN_GROUP]

are defined in /etc/apache2/envars so

cat /etc/apache2/envars

tells, that webserver user:group pair on OS6 is admin:admin. Can also be verified by checking running apache2 process

ps -aux | grep apache2

I decided to change webserver user from admin to www-data, so I changed envars from admin to www-data and restarted apache. Files and folders in web shared folder had mixed ownership and permissions, so to be sure, that ewerything is owned by the same user with propper permission, I ran

chown -R www-data
chmod -R 0755

on folder /data/www/nette/, where I need mod_rewrite enable. Still getting 403 / Forbidden

Returning envars back to admin. Chown user back to admin:admin. The problem is probably not related with file permission. By some security reason, the rewrite engine is premitted to work only on enabled virtual hosts.

Changed /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/010-nett to

root@nas-35-05-E7:/# cat /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/010-nette
<VirtualHost *:80>
        DocumentRoot /data/www/nette/www/


<Directory /data/www/nette/www>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        RewriteEngine On
        AllowOverride All
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
</Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Page works, no more forbidde, but RewriteEngine is off, not sure if .htaccess is doing something.

Finished my Apache2 excourse. PROBLEM SOLVED,
will sumarize solution and tips for the others.

1. Firstly, the problem was not related with file permission. Ownership was set propperly to admin:admin, which is what you need for web access as well as for local network sharing. There's no need to fiddle with permissions in most cases.
2. You need create your configuration in

   /etc/apache2/sites-enabled

   You should create separed file for your configuration. Since all files in that folder are included by apache in order by filename, it is good convention to start your configuration file with number higher than alredy existing files. There are configuration files for frontview (ReadyNAS administration page), that begins with 000- and apps configuration files begins with 090-, I named my configuration file like 099-.
3. You could put your config file directly in sites-enabled folder or you can put it in sites-available, which will make that site available, but not enabled yet. You can than enable that config file with command

   a2ensite <your_config_name>

   It is usefull, if you want sometimes shutdown that site with command

   a2dissite <your_config_name>

   but as far as I know, otherwise from this purpose, it doesn't matter.
4. Because of some security reason, the rewriteEngine is only permitted to operated under configured virtual host. I firstly configured only <Directory>, which led to 403 : forbidden. In the end, I use this config

   
   <VirtualHost *:80>
           ServerName <your_server_name>
           DocumentRoot <your_path_to_DocumentRoot>
   
           <Directory <your_path_to_DocumentRoot> >
                   Options FollowSymLinks
                   AllowOverride FileInfo Options
                   Order allow,deny
                   allow from all
           </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>
   

   Apache documentation recommends leave all directory paths without last slash and you can ommit double quotes, but I saw config files with that in place and it seem to operate normally.


5. In <Directory> section, I allowed to override FileInfo and Options, which is perfect minimum for RewriteEngine to work. You must also enable FollowSymLinks in options!


6. Than you have to link <your_server_name> to your NAS, that means modify hosts file on your machine. I use Win7, so I modified

   Windows/system32/driver/etc/hosts

   added new line

   <your_NAS_IP>    <your_server_name>

   I use serverName without top level domain (country code), so it'll not conflict with some existing page.


7. Once its all configured, you can enter <your_server_name> into address bar of your web browser and it should redirect you to your web shared folder with rewriteEngine on. Beware of your browser, sometimes it perform search your_server_name on search engine, instead of access it. It is crucial to acces your folder through <your_server_name>. I accessed them differently before and that also led to error 403 : forbidden.


8. Dont forget to run

   service apache2 reload

   after changes to take effect.