Title: Weird mod_rewrite problem
Last modified: August 19, 2016
---
# Weird mod_rewrite problem
* [desertwebdesigns](https://wordpress.org/support/users/desertwebdesigns/)
* (@desertwebdesigns)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/)
* I’m having a weird mod_rewrite problem. I’ve enabled permalinks (mod_rewrite)
and it is working for every page except for index.php.
* Working link: [http://www.poundbangwhack.com/about](http://www.poundbangwhack.com/about)
* Nonworking link: [http://www.poundbangwhack.com](http://www.poundbangwhack.com)
* .htaccess file:
* ```
# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress
```
* Excerpt from httpd.conf file:
* ```
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
```
* Excerpt from httpd error logs:
* > Options FollowSymLinks or SymLinksIfOwnerMatch is off which implies that RewriteRule
> directive is forbidden: /var/www/vhosts/poundbangwhack.com/httpdocs/
* The strangeness is that the server only throws the 403 forbidden error on the
index.php page. I have a feeling this may not be necessarily a WordPress related
issue, but it is where I cam currently experiencing the problem and need this
to work.
* Before people point out the obvious, I have been all over the internet searching
for this. As you can see above, the .htaccess is setup correctly and I have enabled
the ‘Options FollowSymLinks’ in my httpd.conf file. Permissions are also set
correctly as well. I work in the server support department of a major internet
hosting provider and hate asking for help, but I have literally checked everything
I can think of and tried multiple “fixes” found online, all with no luck. Please
don’t answer with ‘the usual suspects’ type of fixes as I have gone through them
all. I’m hoping someone else has had this problem before and can provide a solution.
Thanks.
Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
* [Samuel B](https://wordpress.org/support/users/samboll/)
* (@samboll)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057875)
* try forcing a rewrite
delete the .htaccess entirely access site – does it work
now? reset permalinks
* Thread Starter [desertwebdesigns](https://wordpress.org/support/users/desertwebdesigns/)
* (@desertwebdesigns)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057877)
* [@samboll](https://wordpress.org/support/users/samboll/)
Same thing. I had tried
a couple times changing permalinks, renaming .htaccess, etc. I deleted it, and
the index page worked, but of course the permalinks didn’t (no mod_rewrite).
Saved permalinks configuration and back to the same issue: permalinks work, index
doesn’t
* [Samuel B](https://wordpress.org/support/users/samboll/)
* (@samboll)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057879)
* I have never seen that to be honest – hopefully someone has
* Thread Starter [desertwebdesigns](https://wordpress.org/support/users/desertwebdesigns/)
* (@desertwebdesigns)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057880)
* [@samboll](https://wordpress.org/support/users/samboll/): Thanks for looking
into it.
* Follow-up:
I enabled RewriteLog and set it to Level 9. The rewrite rules are
processing properly. For instance, the ‘about’ page meets the ‘!-f’ and ‘!-d’
criteria so it redirects to ‘/index.php’. The ‘index.php’ file does not meet
the ‘!-f’ so it allows to pass through and loads ok. I also tested another file
I have on the server ‘linux.php’ and it was allowed to pass through as well because
it failed the ‘!-f’ condition.
* However, when accessing the root domain ‘[http://www.poundbangwhack.com/’](http://www.poundbangwhack.com/’);
it does not trigger the mod_rewrite and nothing is logged. It should trigger
the rewrite rules and allow it to just pass through, but it does not even check
the request against the rewrite rules. If I access it with the index.php added‘
[http://www.poundbangwhack.com/index.php’](http://www.poundbangwhack.com/index.php’);,
it triggers the mod_rewrite and does not match the ‘!-f’ rule and allows to pass
through succesfully. Yet I still end up with the 403 forbidden and it logs the
error mentioned in my original post.
* It looks like it is trying to call mod_rewrite on the root directory when it
shouldn’t be. That’s why I get a 403 forbidden. Because of the way WordPress
is configured, when accessed with the index.php, it will automatically redirect
to my site url, thus triggering the forbidden mod_rewrite error.
* I kind of knew all that, but was able to verify that is what is happening with
the help of ‘RewriteLog’. Like I said, not a wordpress issue, but that’s where
it’s giving me a headache currently.
* Thread Starter [desertwebdesigns](https://wordpress.org/support/users/desertwebdesigns/)
* (@desertwebdesigns)
* [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057950)
* So I got this resolved. I have NO idea what caused it. Instead, I backed everything
up and reprovisioned my server. It was obviously either an Apache or mod_rewrite
error and I’m not sure what specifically. But the reprovision and fresh install
of both got it working.
Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
The topic ‘Weird mod_rewrite problem’ is closed to new replies.
## Tags
* [htaccess](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/htaccess/)
* [mod_rewrite](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/mod_rewrite/)
* [permalinks](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/permalinks/)
* In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
* 5 replies
* 2 participants
* Last reply from: [desertwebdesigns](https://wordpress.org/support/users/desertwebdesigns/)
* Last activity: [17 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/weird-mod_rewrite-problem/#post-1057950)
* Status: not resolved
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