Apache: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition

Examples

For simple name-based virtual hosts, you might use the following directives in your server-configuration file:

UseCanonicalName Off
VirtualDocumentRoot /usr/local/apache/vhosts/%0

A request for http://www.example.com/directory/file.html will be satisfied by the file /usr/local/apache/vhosts/www.example.com/directory/file.html.

On .../site.dynamic we have implemented a version of the familiar Buttterthlies site, with a password-protected salesperson’s department. The first Config file, .../conf/httpd1.conf, is as follows:

User webuser
Group webgroup

ServerName my586

UseCanonicalName Off
VirtualDocumentRoot /usr/www/APACHE3/site.dynamic/htdocs/%0 
<Directory /usr/www/APACHE3/site.dynamic/htdocs/sales.butterthlies.com>
AuthType Basic
AuthName Darkness
AuthUserFile /usr/www/APACHE3/ok_users/sales
AuthGroupFile /usr/www/APACHE3/ok_users/groups
Require group cleaners
</Directory>

Launch it with go 1; it responds nicely to http://www.butterthlies.com and http://sales.butterthlies.com.

There is an equivalent VirtualScriptAlias directive, but it insists on URLs containing ../cgi-bin/... — for instance, www.butterthlies.com/cgi-bin/mycgi. In view of the reputed horror some search engines have for “cgi-bin”, you might prefer not to use it and to keep “cgi-bin” out of your URLs with this:

ScriptAliasMatch /(.*) /usr/www/APACHE3/cgi-bin/handler/$1

The effect should be that any visitor to <http://yourURL>/fredwill call the script .../cgi-bin/handler and pass “fred” to it in the PATH_INFO ...