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i have a very simple rewrite rule, however it is not working.

i have the following: 

#old see edits for newer versions
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER}           ^localhost:8080(/|$)
RewriteRule ^/downloads/.*  /somePackage/index.php?id=5  [NC,C]
RewriteRule ^/downloads   /somePackage/index.php?id=2  [NC,L]

it seems that it doesn't pass the RewriteCond, why is this the case?

when i try this: 

RewriteRule downloads/?    /somePackage/index.php?id=2 [NC,L]

it seems to work for localhost:8080/downloads

but when i try:

RewriteRule downloads/.*/?    /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]

it doesn't work, why does this not work? what should i do instead?

edit:

i this is the current code which only works for localhost:8080/downloads and localhost:8080/downloads/ but not when i add something after the slash

RewriteRule downloads/somedownload/?  /somePackage/index.php?id=5  [NC,L]
RewriteRule downloads/?   /somePackage/index.php?id=2  [NC,L]

edit 2:

here is the .htaccess code using for this.

# Only the URLs /downloads and /downloads/ (with and without trailing slash)
RewriteRule ^downloads/?$ /somePackage/index.php?id=2 [NC,L]

#gives 404 - Category not found
RewriteRule ^downloads/ignis_desktop$ /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]

# Everything else that starts /downloads/<something>
RewriteRule ^downloads/. /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]

i can't seem to find the solution to the 404.

however with [r=301] it seems to redirect correctly to the page but it breaks the purpose of the rewrite: making the url fancy.

Kevin Kloet
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    Possible duplicate of [Redirect, Change URLs or Redirect HTTP to HTTPS in Apache - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mod\_Rewrite Rules but Were Afraid to Ask](http://serverfault.com/questions/214512/redirect-change-urls-or-redirect-http-to-https-in-apache-everything-you-ever) – MadHatter Oct 31 '16 at 13:13

2 Answers2

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HTTP_REFERER (if set) is an absolute URL starting with a scheme. eg.

http://localhost:8080/....

So, a CondPattern such as ^localhost:8080(/|$) would never match.

Note also that RewriteCond directives only apply to the single RewriteRule that follows, not all of them, as your first code sample seems to be suggesting.

RewriteRule ^/downloads   /somePackage/index.php?id=2  [NC,L]

A RewriteRule pattern such as ^/downloads (ie. the URL path starting with a slash) will never match in per-directory .htaccess files. In .htaccess files the directory-prefix is first removed from the URL-path before pattern matching. So, this would need to be ^downloads to match all URLs that start with /downloads.

RewriteRule downloads/.*/?    /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]

This will not match localhost:8080/downloads since the pattern requires a trailing slash.

UPDATE:

I want localhost:8080/downloads to go to id=2 and localhost:8080/downloads/somedownload to go to id=5 and localhost:8080/downloads/anotherdownload to go to id=6 however for the question I have compacted it to /downloads/<everything-else> go to id=5

I assume /downloads is not a physical directory on the filesystem. In which case you should use an end of string anchor ($) on the RewriteRule pattern, or be careful about the order in which you place these directives (ie. most specific first).

Try the following:

# Only the URLs /downloads and /downloads/ (with and without trailing slash)
RewriteRule ^downloads/?$ /somePackage/index.php?id=2 [NC,L]

# Everything else that starts /downloads/<something>
RewriteRule ^downloads/. /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]

It's debatable whether you should be catching both /downloads and /downloads/ - ideally, it should be one or the other.

To trap a specific URL (eg. /downloads/somedownload), then this would need to go before the "Everything else..." rule:

RewriteRule ^downloads/somedownload$ /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]
MrWhite
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  • ok that was me being smart... but still without the condition it works for `downloads` but not for `downloads/example` in this case i don't even need a condition i think – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 09:47
  • I've updated my answer. Your `RewriteRule downloads/? ....` would match both of those URLs. But what exactly are you trying to do - what URLs are you trying to match? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 10:20
  • i want to achieve when the url is `localhost:8080/downloads` the user get's the `localhost:8080/somepackage/index.php?id=2` in this i have url's to for example: `localhost:8080/downloads/somedownload` however when i do rewrite the rule it gives a `404 - Category not found` but when i do `localhost:8080/downloads/` it redirects to the rewrite rule of `RewriteRule downloads/.*/? /somePackage/index.php?id=5 [NC,L]`. how would i get this to work for `downloads/somedownload`? – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 10:24
  • It's still not clear from your comment... what should `localhost:8080/downloads/somedownload` rewrite to? Do these all rewrite to different URLs? Should `/downloads` go to `id=2` and `/downloads/` go to `id=5`? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 11:10
  • basically i want `localhost:8080/downloads` to go to `id=2` and `localhost:8080/downloads/somedownload` to go to `id=5` and `localhost:8080/downloads/anotherdownload` to go to `id=6` however for the question i have compacted it to `/downloads/` go to `id=5` – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 11:18
  • this seems to give me the same problem, i have put your code in the .htaccess, agian the `/downloads` works but the `/downloads/somedownload` still gives `404 - Category not found`, the `id=5` exists because i tried changing the `/download` to this and this worked. but why does the `/download/somedownload` not work? what am i doing wrong? i can't seem to figure it out. – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 12:16
  • If `/somePackage/index.php?id=5` is a valid URL, and works when accessed directly (or by changing `2` to `5` in the first rule, as you seem to have tried) then it would seem `/downloads/somedownload` is not matching the required `RewriteRule` _pattern_. What is the _exact_ URL and directive you are using? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 12:21
  • i'm using this url to get to the page: `http://localhost:8080/downloads/ignis_desktop` also accessing the url directly works. also i'll add the .htaccess code in the question. – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 12:26
  • It does look as if it should work. Try (temporarily) making this into an _external redirect_ by changing the flags on that directive from `[NC,L]` to `[R,NC,L]`. Are you redirected? ie. Do you see `http://localhost:8080/somePackage/index.php?id=5` in the browser's address bar? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 12:32
  • Are you redirected? `no`. Do you see `http://localhost:8080/somePackage/index.php?id=5` in the browser's address bar? `no`. it seems like the it doesn't get in the rewriteurl, but why? – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 12:36
  • Just to clarify, `/downloads` is not a physical directory on the filesystem is it? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 12:38
  • no `/downloads` is not a physical directory, however `/somePackage/download` is one, but that one is never called in the .htaccess. – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 12:44
  • update: after clearing cache the redirect seems to work with the `[r=301]` flag. the url is indeed `http://localhost:8080/somePackage/index.php?id=5` and the content of this page is correct, but why doesn't it work without the `[r=301]` flag? – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 12:50
  • Don't use `r=301` (ie. a _permanent_ redirect) to test this, it should simply be `R` (or `R=302`). Permanent redirects are cached by the browser, which could have caused problems earlier. If the redirect is working, then the rewrite should also now work - but you will need to clear all client-side and intermediary caches before testing if you have used a `301`. – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 14:24
  • changed to `[r] ` cleared all caches, the redirect works but the rewrite doesn't, it still gives me `404 - category not found` – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 14:28
  • That's a bit of a mystery - it doesn't really make sense. When you added the `R` flag, did you keep the other flags, ie. `[R,NC,L]` - importantly the `L` flag? Since `[r]` is quite different to simply adding `R`. Without the `L` flag the rewriting process would continue onto the next directive. – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 15:28
  • yes i kept those in like this: `[R,NC,L]` i don't know what is the cause of the 404 – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 15:30
  • Presumably, if you comment out that directive then the following "Everything else" directive gets triggered (which also goes to the same category `id=5`)... does this "work" or give the same 404? – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 15:36
  • the "everything else" rule also gives me the 404 message, is there any chance that the .htaccess file thinks that the `^downloads/` is not a valid url and gives me the 404? what else could be the cause of this problem? – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 15:40
  • That is very probable - although not .htaccess. Your site code would seem to be what's generating the 404 - not .htaccess. (I had previously discounted this as the URL `/downloads` appeared to work OK - although this is perhaps a "valid" URL which allows it to "work"?) – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 15:46
  • `/downloads` is an url specified to rewrite in the .htaccess to the `somePackage/index.php?id=2` page is this the cause of the error? i don't think it would cause this because we specify `downloads/` – Kevin Kloet Oct 31 '16 at 15:50
  • That can't cause this error. (But you tried changing the `2` in that substitution to `5` and that "worked" OK?) – MrWhite Oct 31 '16 at 16:02
  • when i change it to 2 i get an empty page instead of the `/download` page, i also have `id=6` and that also gives me `404 - Category not found` although when i directly access it the page works great and when i try with the `[r]` flag it also works great. but not without the redirect thus breaking the whole purpose of the `rewriterule` – Kevin Kloet Nov 01 '16 at 07:08
  • I have found the solution to my problem, – Kevin Kloet Nov 01 '16 at 07:24
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i have found the solution to my problem,

i have changed the rewrite to this: 

RewriteRule ^downloads/somedownload$ /somepackage/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5

although in my menu i can refer to the pages like this: 

localhost:8080/home

and it would rewrite it to:

RewriteRule ^home/?    /somepackage/index.php?id=1   [L,NC]
Kevin Kloet
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