Apache htaccess being processed after proxy directives

Question

I'm running Apache 2.4 on Linux. I have a working .htaccess file.

As a test I'm doing the redirecting /ws/xyz123 to https://www.google.com.

So I request http://example.com/ws/xyz123 and I get redirected correctly to google.

The problem arises when I put in a reverse proxy for the /ws directory as follows:

ProxyPass /ws http://192.168.25.2:7003/ws retry=0 ProxyPassReverse /ws http://192.168.25.2:7003/ws 

The proxying works fine but the .htaccess is now ignored. If I comment out the proxy lines the .htaccess is back working again. I need both working. Is there a way to allow the .htaccess work with the proxy in place.

Answer 1

The ProxyPass /ws http://192.168.25.2:7003/ws is just an alternative syntax for the ProxyPass, equivalent to

<Location "/ws"> ProxyPass "http://192.168.25.2:7003/ws" </Location> 

When you use the mod_proxy inside <Location>, Apache never looks into the directory (with the same path relative to DocumentRoot), omitting all the directives in your .htaccess file.

You should move the directives to your server configuration i.e. use them in <Location> or <VirtualHost> contexts instead of .htaccess context.