.htaccess validator

Why your site shows a 500 error after editing .htaccess

Apache reads .htaccess on every request, and when it hits an error it refuses to process the request — visitors see “500 Internal Server Error”. The validator finds the most common causes before you upload the file to the server.

What we check

• Unclosed or incorrectly nested <IfModule>, <Files> and <FilesMatch> sections.
• Sections not allowed in .htaccess: <Directory>, <VirtualHost>, <Location>.
• RewriteRule and RewriteCond syntax: regular expressions, flags, number of arguments, and the presence of RewriteEngine On.
• Codes and paths in Redirect and ErrorDocument, and Options values.
• Outdated Apache 2.2 syntax (Order, Allow, Deny) and php_value directives that break sites on PHP-FPM.

A new file with typical settings is easy to put together in the .htaccess generator.