Thanks to Yoshiki, we seem to have an (at least temporary) solution to our

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"

    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

  <head>

    <meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org" />

    <title>Definitions of terms used to describe Apache

    directives</title>

  </head>

  <!-- Background white, links blue (unvisited), navy (visited), red (active) -->

  <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF"

  vlink="#000080" alink="#FF0000">

    <!--#include virtual="header.html" -->

    <h1 align="CENTER">Terms Used to Describe Apache

    Directives</h1>

    <p>Each Apache configuration directive is described using a

    common format that looks like this:</p>

    <dl>

      <dd><a href="#Syntax" rel="Help"><strong>Syntax:</strong></a>

      <em>directive-name</em> <em>some args</em><br />

       <a href="#Default" rel="Help"><strong>Default:</strong></a>

      <samp><em>directive-name default-value</em></samp><br />

       <a href="#Context" rel="Help"><strong>Context:</strong></a>

      <em>context-list</em><br />

       <a href="#Override"

      rel="Help"><strong>Override:</strong></a>

      <em>override</em><br />

       <a href="#Status" rel="Help"><strong>Status:</strong></a>

      <em>status</em><br />

       <a href="#Module" rel="Help"><strong>Module:</strong></a>

      <em>module-name</em><br />

       <a href="#Compatibility"

      rel="Help"><strong>Compatibility:</strong></a>

      <em>compatibility notes</em><br />

       <a href="#Deprecated"

      rel="Help"><strong>Deprecated:</strong></a> <em>see

      other</em></dd>

    </dl>

    <p>Each of the directive's attributes, complete with possible

    values where possible, are described in this document.</p>

    <h2>Directive Terms</h2>

    <ul>

      <li><a href="#Syntax">Syntax</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Default">Default</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Context">Context</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Override">Override</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Status">Status</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Module">Module</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></li>

      <li><a href="#Deprecated">Deprecated</a></li>

    </ul>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Syntax" name="Syntax">Syntax</a></h2>

    <p>This indicates the format of the directive as it would

    appear in a configuration file. This syntax is extremely

    directive-specific, and is described in detail in the

    directive's definition. Generally, the directive name is

    followed by a series of one or more space-separated arguments.

    If an argument contains a space, the argument must be enclosed

    in double quotes. Optional arguments are enclosed in square

    brackets. Where an argument can take on more than one possible

    value, the possible values are separated by vertical bars "|".

    Literal text is presented in the default font, while

    argument-types for which substitution is necessary are

    <em>emphasized</em>. Directives which can take a variable

    number of arguments will end in "..." indicating that the last

    argument is repeated.</p>

    <p>Directives use a great number of different argument types. A

    few common ones are defined below.</p>

    <dl>

      <dt><em>URL</em></dt>

      <dd>A complete Uniform Resource Locator including a scheme,

      hostname, and optional pathname as in

      <code>http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html</code></dd>

      <dt><em>URL-path</em></dt>

      <dd>The part of a <em>url</em> which follows the scheme and

      hostname as in <code>/path/to/file.html</code>. The

      <em>url-path</em> represents a web-view of a resource, as

      opposed to a file-system view.</dd>

      <dt><em>file-path</em></dt>

      <dd>The path to a file in the local file-system beginning

      with the root directory as in

      <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/file.html</code>.

      Unless otherwise specified, a <em>file-path</em> which does

      not begin with a slash will be treated as relative to the <a

      href="core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a>.</dd>

      <dt><em>directory-path</em></dt>

      <dd>The path to a directory in the local file-system

      beginning with the root directory as in

      <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/</code>.</dd>

      <dt><em>filename</em></dt>

      <dd>The name of a file with no accompanying path information

      as in <code>file.html</code>.</dd>

      <dt><em>regex</em></dt>

      <dd>A regular expression, which is a way of describing a

      pattern to match in text. The directive definition will

      specify what the <em>regex</em> is matching against.</dd>

      <dt><em>extension</em></dt>

      <dd>In general, this is the part of the <em>filename</em>

      which follows the last dot. However, Apache recognizes

      multiple filename extensions, so if a <em>filename</em>

      contains more than one dot, each dot-separated part of the

      filename following the first dot is an <em>extension</em>.

      For example, the <em>filename</em> <code>file.html.en</code>

      contains two extensions: <code>.html</code> and

      <code>.en</code>. For Apache directives, you may specify

      <em>extension</em>s with or without the leading dot. In

      addition, <em>extension</em>s are not case sensitive.</dd>

      <dt><em>MIME-type</em></dt>

      <dd>A method of describing the format of a file which

      consists of a major format type and a minor format type,

      separated by a slash as in <code>text/html</code>.</dd>

      <dt><em>env-variable</em></dt>

      <dd>The name of an <a href="../env.html">environment

      variable</a> defined in the Apache configuration process.

      Note this is not necessarily the same as an operating system

      environment variable. See the <a

      href="../env.html">environment variable documentation</a> for

      more details.</dd>

    </dl>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Default" name="Default">Default</a></h2>

    <p>If the directive has a default value (<em>i.e.</em>, if you

    omit it from your configuration entirely, the Apache Web server

    will behave as though you set it to a particular value), it is

    described here. If there is no default value, this section

    should say "<em>None</em>". Note that the default listed here

    is not necessarily the same as the value the directive takes in

    the default httpd.conf distributed with the server.</p>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Context" name="Context">Context</a></h2>

    <p>This indicates where in the server's configuration files the

    directive is legal. It's a comma-separated list of one or more

    of the following values:</p>

    <dl>

      <dt><strong>server config</strong></dt>

      <dd>This means that the directive may be used in the server

      configuration files (<em>e.g.</em>, <samp>httpd.conf</samp>,

      <samp>srm.conf</samp>, and <samp>access.conf</samp>), but

      <strong>not</strong> within any

      <samp>&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</samp> or &lt;Directory&gt;

      containers. It is not allowed in <samp>.htaccess</samp> files

      at all.</dd>

      <dt><strong>virtual host</strong></dt>

      <dd>This context means that the directive may appear inside

      <samp>&lt;VirtualHost&gt;</samp> containers in the server

      configuration files.</dd>

      <dt><strong>directory</strong></dt>

      <dd>A directive marked as being valid in this context may be

      used inside <samp>&lt;Directory&gt;</samp>,

      <samp>&lt;Location&gt;</samp>, and <samp>&lt;Files&gt;</samp>

      containers in the server configuration files, subject to the

      restrictions outlined in <a href="../sections.html">How

      Directory, Location and Files sections work</a>.</dd>

      <dt><strong>.htaccess</strong></dt>

      <dd>If a directive is valid in this context, it means that it

      can appear inside <em>per</em>-directory

      <samp>.htaccess</samp> files. It may not be processed, though

      depending upon the <a href="#Override"

      rel="Help">overrides</a> currently active.</dd>

    </dl>

    <p>The directive is <em>only</em> allowed within the designated

    context; if you try to use it elsewhere, you'll get a

    configuration error that will either prevent the server from

    handling requests in that context correctly, or will keep the

    server from operating at all -- <em>i.e.</em>, the server won't

    even start.</p>

    <p>The valid locations for the directive are actually the

    result of a Boolean OR of all of the listed contexts. In other

    words, a directive that is marked as being valid in

    "<samp>server config, .htaccess</samp>" can be used in the

    <samp>httpd.conf</samp> file and in <samp>.htaccess</samp>

    files, but not within any <Directory> or

    &lt;VirtualHost&gt; containers.</p>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Override" name="Override">Override</a></h2>

    <p>This directive attribute indicates which configuration

    override must be active in order for the directive to be

    processed when it appears in a <samp>.htaccess</samp> file. If

    the directive's <a href="#Context" rel="Help">context</a>

    doesn't permit it to appear in <samp>.htaccess</samp> files,

    this attribute should say "<em>Not applicable</em>".</p>

    <p>Overrides are activated by the <a

    href="core.html#allowoverride"

    rel="Help"><samp>AllowOverride</samp></a> directive, and apply

    to a particular scope (such as a directory) and all

    descendants, unless further modified by other

    <samp>AllowOverride</samp> directives at lower levels. The

    documentation for that directive also lists the possible

    override names available.</p>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Status" name="Status">Status</a></h2>

    <p>This indicates how tightly bound into the Apache Web server

    the directive is; in other words, you may need to recompile the

    server with an enhanced set of modules in order to gain access

    to the directive and its functionality. Possible values for

    this attribute are:</p>

    <dl>

      <dt><strong>Core</strong></dt>

      <dd>If a directive is listed as having "Core" status, that

      means it is part of the innermost portions of the Apache Web

      server, and is always available.</dd>

      <dt><strong>MPM</strong></dt>

      <dd>A directive labeled as having "MPM" status is provided by

      a <a href="../mpm.html">Multi-Processing Module</a>. This

      type of directive will be available if and only if you are

      using one of the MPMs listed on the <a

      href="#Module">Module</a> line of the directive

      definition.</dd>

      <dt><strong>Base</strong></dt>

      <dd>A directive labeled as having "Base" status is supported

      by one of the standard Apache modules which is compiled into

      the server by default, and is therefore normally available

      unless you've taken steps to remove the module from your

      configuration.</dd>

      <dt><strong>Extension</strong></dt>

      <dd>A directive with "Extension" status is provided by one of

      the modules included with the Apache server kit, but the

      module isn't normally compiled into the server. To enable the

      directive and its functionality, you will need to change the

      server build configuration files and re-compile Apache.</dd>

      <dt><strong>Experimental</strong></dt>

      <dd>"Experimental" status indicates that the directive is

      available as part of the Apache kit, but you're on your own

      if you try to use it. The directive is being documented for

      completeness, and is not necessarily supported. The module

      which provides the directive may or may not be compiled in by

      default; check the top of the page which describes the

      directive and its module to see if it remarks on the

      availability.</dd>

    </dl>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Module" name="Module">Module</a></h2>

    <p>This quite simply lists the name of the source module which

    defines the directive.</p>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Compatibility"

    name="Compatibility">Compatibility</a></h2>

    <p>If the directive wasn't part of the original Apache version

    1 distribution, the version in which it was introduced should

    be listed here. If the directive has the same name as one from

    the NCSA HTTPd server, any inconsistencies in behavior between

    the two should also be mentioned. Otherwise, this attribute

    should say "<em>No compatibility issues.</em>"</p>

    <hr />

    <h2><a id="Deprecated" name="Deprecated">Deprecated</a></h2>

    <p>If this directive is eliminated since the Apache version 1

    distribution, the directive or option that replaces the

    behavior should be cited here. In general, directives,

    features, and options are only deprecated to minimize debugging

    of conflicting features, or if the feature can only continue to

    be supported in an alternate manner.</p>

    <!--#include virtual="footer.html" -->

  </body>

</html>

    <hr />

    <h3 align="CENTER">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0</h3>

    <a href="./"><img src="../images/index.gif" alt="Index" /></a>

    <a href="../"><img src="../images/home.gif" alt="Home" /></a>