Redirect to Apache built-in 404 page with mod_rewrite?

Question

Is there a way to actively serve Apache's default, built-in 404 page for a number of URLs using mod_rewrite? Not a custom error document, but a rule like

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/dirname/pagename
RewriteRule -- serve 404 page -----

I know how to build a PHP page that sends the 404 header and have mod_rewrite redirect all the URLs there but I would prefer a solution that is based on mod_rewrite only.

I just had the idea of redirecting to a non-existent address:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/dirname/pagename
RewriteRule .* /sflkadsölfkasdfölkasdflökasdf

but that would give the user the message "/sflkadsölfkasdfölkasdflökasdf does not exist" on the error page, which looks a bit unprofessional.

Voter to close: mod_rewrite questions are officially all right on SO. http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/39063/mod-rewrite-questions-getting-migrated-to-sf — Pekka, Mar 15 '10 at 12:44

score 58 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 13 '12 at 12:03

58

You can use the R flag on the RewriteRule to force a redirect with a given status code:

While this is typically used for redirects, any valid status code can be given here. If the status code is outside the redirect range (300-399), then the Substitution string is dropped and rewriting is stopped as if the L flag was used.

So this:

RewriteRule ^/?page\.html$ - [R=404]

would return the default 404 page for /page.html. Since this is a regexp, remember the escaping \. and anchoring $.

- is ignored (i.e. "the Substitution string is dropped"), but there still needs to be something there to keep the rule well-formed.

edited Sep 13 '12 at 12:03

tuomassalo

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answered Mar 15 '10 at 13:19

mercator

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Mmm not sure whether that would trigger the default error page, would it? Because I would have to put some value to `whatever` and it would redirect there wouldn't it? I may be wrong though, I'll try it out and report. – Pekka Mar 15 '10 at 13:23
No, as the quote says, it ignores the Substitution string (i.e. the "whatever" in my example). – mercator Mar 15 '10 at 13:25
@mercator works like a charm, only the `/` in `RewriteRule ^/page.html` needs to be removed. – Pekka Mar 18 '10 at 23:46
@Pekka, excellent! And fixed. I kinda neglected everything other than the `[R=404]`. The rest works the same as usual anyway. – mercator Mar 19 '10 at 00:16
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The presence or absence of a leading "/" depends on whether the rewrite rule is in the global configuration (where it exists) or an .htaccess (where it's stripped by the [filename-to-URL mapping](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/rewrite/rewrite_tech.html)). Use `/?` for a subpattern that will work in either context. – outis Feb 04 '11 at 21:06

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '10 at 16:43

13

The best way to do that is to set the R flag with the status code 404:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/dirname/pagename
RewriteRule ^ - [L,R=404]

But this is only available since Apache 2.

answered Mar 15 '10 at 16:43

Gumbo

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or for clarity, spell it out as [redirect=404]. – Mark Stosberg Jun 22 '12 at 14:56
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often, NC is another good ingredient. Remember that normales filesmatch-Forbid from All might be safer, if RewriteEngine could potentially be off. – Frank Nocke Feb 02 '13 at 11:27

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 07 '13 at 14:13

I confirm that

RewriteRule ^ - [L,R=404]

or

RewriteRule ^ - [L,redirect=404]

won't work. Here is the explanation from the official Apache website:

However, if a status code is outside the redirect range (300-399) then the substitution string is dropped entirely, and rewriting is stopped as if the L were used.

So the best solution is to redirect to a 404.php file with the 404 header as explained later.

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 15 '10 at 13:08

2

This should work:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/page.html /error404.html [L]

That won't give the 404 header though. You could try chaning to flag to [L,R=404] but I doubt that will work (it's supposed to be for redirects only).

Your idea of doing so in PHP would work. If all your "error pages" pages are server-side (i.e. PHP) then you could simply use this code:

<?php
header( 'HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found' );
include 'error404.html';

answered Mar 15 '10 at 13:08

DisgruntledGoat

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Yup, this is probably what I'm going to end up with. I'm curious though whether there is a way to trigger Apache's built-in error page (without having to create one myself.) Something like a rewrite rule "trigger internal 404 handling if this URL matches." – Pekka Mar 15 '10 at 13:13

Redirect to Apache built-in 404 page with mod_rewrite?

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