---
title: How to configure an .htaccess file on Web Hosting Classic
description: Learn how to configure an .htaccess file on Scaleway Web Hosting Classic.
tags: htaccess error-message directory authentication php html
dates:
  validation: 2025-08-21
  posted: 2021-08-05
---
import WebhostingOnline from '@macros/webhosting/webhosting-online.mdx'


<WebhostingOnline />

`.htaccess` is a simple text file containing commands for configuring the Apache web server. It allows you to customize the server dynamically and per folder.

<Message type="important">
  - When transferring your `.htaccess` file, ensure the FTP transfer mode is set to "ASCII/TEXT" and not "BINARY". Transferring the file in binary mode will cause an HTTP error 500, blocking access to your websites. Also, ensure your `.htaccess` file ends with an empty line to prevent this error. Double-check the file syntax before transferring it in text mode.
  - You can create the `.htaccess` file on Windows only using **Notepad**.
</Message>

### How to configure personalized error messages

You can replace the default **404 error (Not Found)** message with a more user-friendly text or a redirection to another URL, either local or external.

1. Use the `ErrorDocument` command to configure personalized messages. Here are some examples:
    ```
    ErrorDocument 404 /myfile404.html
    ErrorDocument 404 http://URLexample.tld
    ErrorDocument 403 /accessrefused.html
    ```
2. Place this command in an `.htaccess` file in the directory where you want to redirect the error messages. Typically, this is the root of your website.

### How to disable directory listing

1. Create an `.htaccess` file by opening your text editor.
2. Add the following line:
    ```
    Options -Indexes
    ```
3. Upload the file using FTP, place it in the desired directory, and rename it to `.htaccess`.

### How to prevent access to a directory

1. Open your text editor and create a file with the following lines:
    ```
    # We authorize access from the IP 213.228.62.50
    Allow from 213.228.62.50
    # We authorize access from the IP 213.228.62.51
    Allow from 213.228.62.51
    # We deny access from all other IPs
    Deny from All
    ```
2. Upload the file using FTP, place it in the desired directory, and rename it to `.htaccess`.

### How to secure a directory with HTTP authentication

1. Create a user table with usernames and encrypted passwords. Here is an example:
    ```
    martin:$apr1$tQqqRlvz$70soamNFTNl54OnSV.RWr.
    jean:$apr1$yMWZ093W$DKAVAi5.XRx1ofwF5T..E0
    sophie:$apr1$92x5vRxN$vivxTZtZfcqRmRBvL1ASF/
    ```

    <Message type="note">
      - The first part is the username, and the second part after ":" is the encrypted password. You can use this [website](https://hostingcanada.org/htpasswd-generator/) to encrypt your passwords if needed.
    </Message>
2. Name this file **passlist.txt**.
3. Create an `.htaccess` file in the directory you want to protect, with the following content:
    ```
    AuthUserFile /flex/domain/DOMAIN.TLD/site/www/secret/password/mylist.txt
    AuthName "Access Restricted"
    AuthType Basic
    require valid-user
    ```

    <Message type="important">
      - Replace `PATH` with `/flex/domain/DOMAIN.TLD/site/www/`.
      - Replace `DOMAIN.TLD` with your domain name.
    </Message>
4. Upload the file using FTP, place it in the desired directory, and name it `.htaccess`. For more details, refer to the [Apache user guide](https://httpd.apache.org/docs/).

<Message type="important">
  - It is not possible to create an `.htaccess` file directly on Windows. Create the file with another name (e.g., `htaccess.txt`) and rename it after uploading to your server.
  - Transfer the file in ASCII mode to preserve 'line break' characters.
  - Protect your password list by storing it in a subdirectory and securing it with an `.htaccess` file.
</Message>

### How to configure HTTP redirections

1. Create an `.htaccess` file with the following content:
    ```
    # Redirection to the site Scaleway.com
    RedirectPermanent / https://www.scaleway.com/en/
    ```
2. Upload the file using FTP to the folder of the concerned subdomain (e.g., `www` for `www.URLexample`, `blog` for `blog.URLexample`) and rename it to `.htaccess`.
    <Message type="tip">
      For more information, refer to the [Apache documentation](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_alias.html).
    </Message>

### How to configure an HTML redirection

<Message type="note">
  This method is simpler but less efficient. It uses the HTML document itself to indicate the redirection and should be used only when HTTP redirects are not possible.
</Message>

Here is an example of redirecting `http://old.address.fr/dossier1/URLexample/page1.html` to `http://new.address.fr/dossier2/URLexample/page2.html`:

```html
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=http://new.address.fr/dossier2/URLexample/page2.html" />
    <title>Redirection</title>
    <meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <p><a href="http://new.address.fr/dossier2/URLexample/page2.html">Redirection</a></p>
  </body>
</html>
```

### How to configure PHP redirections

Create a PHP file with the following content to redirect `http://URLexample/index.php/` to `http://newsite.com/`:

```php
<?php
  header("Location: http://newsite.com/");
?>
```

<Message type="note">
  - By default, the redirection returns the HTTP 301 status code. Modify it if required.
</Message>

### How to configure rewrite rules

<Message type="important">
  - The Apache module `mod_rewrite` is activated on our web hosting servers and works by default with `.htaccess` files.
  - The directive `FollowSymlinks` is activated and must not be modified, as doing so will result in an HTTP 500 error.
</Message>

For example, to rewrite the URL `http://www.URLexample/index.php/` with the page name as an argument:

1. Create an `.htaccess` file with the following content:
    ```
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)\.html /index.php?page=$1 [L]
    ```
2. Upload the file using FTP to the folder of the concerned subdomain (e.g., `www` for `www.URLexample`, `blog` for `blog.URLexample`) and rename it `.htaccess`.
3. Open the `http://www.URLexample/test.html/` file in your web browser. The `index.php` file will be executed with the argument “test”.