Long before anything like web.config or web.xml was used/invented, Apache had this wonderful file “.htaccess”

This file as you would expect, is a file to control the Web Application’s behaviour. The possibilities with this file are endless… from Password Protected Directories to Complex URL Rewrites, All can be done using this file.

.htaccess

The file’s extension is “htaccess” and has no initial filename. This comes from the *nix’s legacy system of having all the hidden files starting with a period “.”

This file could be placed in any directory of your web application. Lets say your DocumentRoot is /domains/ruturaj.net. Now if you place the .htaccess file in the main DocumentRoot, Any configurations that are present in the .htaccess file are available in all the subfolders of ruturaj.net

So if I put the fol. code in the .htaccess file,

DirectoryIndex rutu-default.php

All the sub directories or folders in directory ruturaj.net will have rutu-default.php page as the default index page.

But to ensure that the .htaccess file is read and implemented, you need to tell Apache.
To tell Apache which is the standard Configuration file, you need to modify the entry in the httpd.conf file. AccessFileName is the parameter which specifies which file is the “.htaccess” file, by default, the value of the parameter is set to “.htaccess”

AccessFileName .htaccess

There is also another parameter, AllowOverride, which tells Apache whether to read and implement the AccessFileName. You need to make the foll. settings in your VirtualHost or Directory mapping as

AllowOverride All

This will enable the implementation of the .htaccess file.