what is .htaccess and how to setup a .htaccess file?

Hypertext Access, know as htaccess, is a configuration file which controls the directory it is placed in and all the subdirectories underneath it. It is used on apache web server to control many features of server. It’s just a small text file that can be edited via notepad or any text editor but make sure never save it as .txt or .htm , Its only name is .htaccess. It can be found in server’s root directory in public_html folder.

Some web host server never allow you to edit htaccess, but you can create your own .htaccess file via any text editor and saved it as .htaccess and place it in your web directory. It will control all subdirectory in it.

Basic use of htaccess –

Htaccess is used for redirection like temporary 302 , 301 permanent redirection. It can be used to redirect error pages for better visitor expierence.

Htaccess files are normally enabled by default. This is actually controlled
by the AllowOverride Directive in the httpd.conf file. With htaccess file we can block specific IP, websites, spam links etc. We can also block search engines to crawl our websites.

How to deny an IP –

#Deny List

order allow,deny

deny from 100.100.100.100 #specify a specific address

deny from 123.123.123.123/30 #specify a subnet range

deny from 123.123.* #specify an IP address wildcard

allow from all

How to allow an IP –

#Allow List              order allow,deny

allow from 123.123.123.123 #specify a specific address

allow from 123.123.123.123/30 #specify a subnet range

allow from 123.123.* #specify an IP address wildcard

deny from all

How to redirect via .htaccess?