Apache HTTP Server Cheat Sheet

Essential Apache HTTPD configuration directives for virtual hosts, modules, rewrites, and reverse proxying.

2 PagesIntermediateFeb 12, 2026

Virtual Host

Serve a domain with a dedicated document root.

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>    ServerName example.com    ServerAlias www.example.com    DocumentRoot /var/www/example.com    <Directory /var/www/example.com>        AllowOverride All        Require all granted    </Directory>    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example-error.log    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/example-access.log combined</VirtualHost>

Reverse Proxy

Proxy requests to a backend app using mod_proxy.

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>    ServerName api.example.com    ProxyPreserveHost On    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:3000/    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:3000/</VirtualHost># Requires: a2enmod proxy proxy_http

URL Rewriting

Redirect and rewrite URLs with mod_rewrite.

apache

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>    RewriteEngine On    # Force HTTPS    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]    # Route non-file requests to index.php    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f    RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]</IfModule>

CLI & Module Management

Debian/Ubuntu-style module and site management tools.

a2enmod / a2dismod- Enable/disable an Apache module (e.g. a2enmod ssl)
a2ensite / a2dissite- Enable/disable a virtual host config in sites-available
apachectl configtest- Validate configuration syntax before reloading (same as apache2ctl -t)
systemctl reload apache2- Graceful reload picking up config changes without dropping connections
mod_ssl- Provides TLS termination via SSLCertificateFile/SSLCertificateKeyFile directives
mod_headers- Adds/modifies HTTP response headers (e.g. security headers)

Pro Tip

Run 'apachectl configtest' before every reload, and prefer 'AllowOverride None' with directives moved into the vhost config instead of .htaccess for better performance, since Apache re-reads .htaccess on every request.

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