.htaccess rewrite subdomain to directory

Question

Is it possible to use .htaccess to rewrite a sub domain to a directory?

Example:

• http://sub.domain.example/

shows the content of

• http://domain.example/subdomains/sub/

Combine

Answer 1

Try putting this in your .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^sub.domain.example
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /subdomains/sub/$1 [L,NC,QSA]

For a more general rule (that works with any subdomain, not just sub) replace the last two lines with this:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(.*)\.domain\.example
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ subdomains/%1/$1 [L,NC,QSA]

Cilo

Ansari's solution will work, however, it when I navigate to http://test.domain.com, the URL redirects me to http://test.domain.com/subdomains/test/. Is it possible without showing the /subdomains/test/ at the end? – Combine

You mean it redirects to http://domain.com/subdomains/test? And you want the redirection to be invisible? – Cilo

In that case, I believe you will have to look into using mod_proxy and specify a P flag in addition to the L. – Cilo

No, it redirects to http://test.domain.com/subdomains/test/, when I only want it to show http://test.domain.com/ – Combine

I can't see how it redirects to test.domain.com/subdomains/test - maybe there is something else going on here. Can you add RewriteBase / right after RewriteEngine on? Also, if you want to keep it showing test.domain.com you will have to use mod_proxy and the [P] flag. – Cilo

How do I implement the mod_proxy? Also, adding RewriteBase / breaks the script and makes it display the index page of the root folder. – Combine

I need a portable solution without explicit domain name. – Chanteuse

@TomášZato make a new question :) – Cilo

See Lee Kowalkowski's answer above if you want to keep just the subdomain visible and not display the whole path in the browser. – Ferric

I was able to get it to work using @anubhava's answer here: https://mcmap.net/q/242590/-htaccess-rewrite-subdomain-to-directory-and-keep-subdomain-in-url – Posh

It was redirecting to */subdomains/test because of this RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com/subdomains/%1/$1 [L,NC,QSA]. You could replace it by RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com/$1 [L,NC,QSA] – Onerous

It could be a version error, perhaps, but ditto @anubhava's answer (see Micah's comment above). Worked for me when this answer did not. – Frosty

can i mask the url in this way, i need this answer, but it redirects to the folder path, i want to preserve the subdomain url in address bar, any way ???? – Chianti

It redirects because the RewriteRule target contains "http://". You need to remove the domain. This means http://example.com/subdomains/%1/$1 should be subdomains/%1/$1. Look here: https://mcmap.net/q/242591/-rewrite-condition-redirects-instead-of-rewriting – Bullfrog

Answer 2

I'm not a mod_rewrite expert and often struggle with it, but I have done this on one of my sites. It might need other flags, etc., depending on your circumstances. I'm using this:

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^subdomain\.example\.com$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/subdomains/subdomain
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /subdomains/subdomain/$1 [L]

Any other rewrite rules for the rest of the site must go afterwards to prevent them from interfering with your subdomain rewrites.

Jongjongleur

I would say so. I found this setting is the right one as the same as my answer here. – Blacktop

Just as a reference, in case someone beginning with .htaccess comes to this page (like I did), besides creating the actual .htaccess file, for it to become effective, you need to set AllowOverride in your VirtualHost settings (https://mcmap.net/q/242593/-htaccess-is-not-working-in-linux-debian-apache2), enable Apache's rewrite module and then restart Apache (https://mcmap.net/q/73485/-how-to-enable-mod_rewrite-for-apache-2-2) – Intermix

This wont work if you use www to visit subdomain. @Minh solution will work in all cases. – Lawrence

@RohanKhude, do you mean if you want www.example.com and example.com to serve different content? Because usually, for SEO, you would have www.example.com to issue a permanent redirect to example.com or vice versa. – Jongjongleur

No, I just meant to say above htaccess snippet is not working when i visit www.subdomain.example.com. – Lawrence

@RohanKhude www as a subdomain of a subdomain is also something you'd also have to get to work at the DNS level, isn't it? I think your expectation that it should work for any arbitrary subdomain is incorrect. Minh's answer (https://mcmap.net/q/236047/-htaccess-rewrite-subdomain-to-directory) assumes your .htaccess configuration supports 1 and only 1 subdomain, so is less robust in that aspect. My solution supports as many subdomains as you need, but yes, you need to explicitly define every supported subdomain, but an optional www. prefix is probably best supported via a redirect than a rewrite. – Jongjongleur

Answer 3

You can use the following rule in .htaccess to rewrite a subdomain to a subfolder:

RewriteEngine On

 # If the host is "sub.domain.example"
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^sub.domain.example$ [NC]
 # Then rewrite any request to /folder
 RewriteRule ^((?!folder).*)$ /folder/$1 [NC,L]

Line-by-line explanation:

  RewriteEngine on

The line above tells the server to turn on the engine for rewriting URLs.

  RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^sub.domain.example$ [NC]

This line is a condition for the RewriteRule where we match against the HTTP host using a regex pattern. The condition says that if the host is sub.domain.example then execute the rule.

 RewriteRule ^((?!folder).*)$ /folder/$1 [NC,L]

The rule matches http://sub.domain.example/foo and internally redirects it to http://sub.domain.example/folder/foo.

Replace sub.domain.example with your subdomain and folder with name of the folder you want to point your subdomain to.

Disavowal

This is the correct answer for me - explanation of how I got here as follows. Arrived here looking for an age old problem with subdomain redirect that broke apparently when I installed SSL on the main site TLD. The redirect was initially still trying to use the main site TLD still and breaking security rules. What I needed was the keep the subdomain (that was on a completely different TLD) on the same host but away from the main site. Adding a rewrite rule as above enabled me to forward the complete subdomain to the folder hosted under the main TLD site. – Pontifical

Answer 4

I had the same problem, and found a detailed explanation in http://www.webmasterworld.com/apache/3163397.htm

My solution (the subdomains contents should be in a folder called sd_subdomain:

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} subdomain\.domain\.example
RewriteCond $1 !^sd_
RewriteRule (.*) /sd_subdomain/$1 [L]

Stereo

It doesn't work for me, must I configure something in the dns zone of the domain ? – Chasseur

@Chasseur you should create an * A record or an A record per subdomain, pointing to the same server. – Stereo

Answer 5

This redirects to the same folder to a subdomain:

.httaccess

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^\.]+)\.domain\.example$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain\.example/subdomains/%1

Amazement

Answer 6

Try to putting this .htaccess file in the subdomain folder:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteRule ^(.*)?$ ./subdomains/sub/$1

It redirects to http://example.org/subdomains/sub/, when you only want it to show http://sub.example.org/.

Doglike

The question was asked in 2012 and has 8 answers. Does your answer add value at this point? – Lolitaloll

This solution will work even if you use www to visit subdomain – Lawrence

Answer 7

Redirect subdomain directory:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^.]+)\.(archive\.example\.com)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^ http://%2/%1%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Shreeves

Answer 8

For any sub domain request, use this:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.band\.s\.example
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(.*)\.band\.s\.example
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/([a-zA-Z0-9-z\-]+)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /%1/$1 [L]

Just make some folder same as sub domain name you need. Folder must be exist like this: domain.example/sub for sub.domain.example.

Turbot

This works for me but it doesn't keep the file. For example sub.domain.com/index.php throw 404 – Epa

Answer 9

Edit file .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On 
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off 
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Ruffian

While this code may provide a solution to the question, it's better to add context as to why/how it works. This can help future users learn and eventually apply that knowledge to their own code. You are also likely to have positive-feedback/upvotes from users, when the code is explained. – Disavowal

An explanation would be in order. – Ritualize

This doesn't answer the question. This is an HTTP to HTTPS (same host) redirect, which has nothing to do with the question. – Interrogator