Apache and .htaccess Support

Opterius runs Nginx by default for all domains — it is fast, memory-efficient, and handles the vast majority of PHP applications without any Apache-specific configuration. For sites that rely on .htaccess files (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, legacy cPanel migrations), you can enable Apache as the PHP backend on a per-domain basis.

How It Works#

When .htaccess support is enabled for a domain, Opterius switches that domain to a Nginx + Apache dual-stack setup:

Nginx serves images, CSS, JavaScript, fonts, and other static assets directly (faster than routing them through Apache). All other requests — PHP files and anything that might be controlled by .htaccess — are proxied to Apache. Apache reads the .htaccess file in the document root and applies its rules before running the PHP script.

Both layers share the same PHP-FPM socket, so there is no second PHP process and no performance penalty for the PHP execution itself.

Enabling .htaccess Support#

1. Go to Domains in the sidebar.
2. Find the domain you want to enable it for.
3. Click the .htaccess support toggle — it switches from Disabled (grey) to Enabled (orange).

The panel reconfigures Nginx and Apache for that domain and reloads both services. The change takes effect immediately — no downtime.

[!NOTE] Subdomains have their own .htaccess toggle independent of the parent domain.

Disabling .htaccess Support#

Click the toggle again to switch the domain back to pure Nginx mode. Apache is removed from the request path and Nginx handles PHP directly via PHP-FPM. The Apache vhost for the domain is deleted.

What .htaccess Can Do#

With Apache enabled, the full Apache feature set is available in .htaccess:

• mod_rewrite — URL rewriting and redirects (RewriteEngine On, RewriteRule, RewriteCond)
• mod_headers — custom HTTP response headers
• mod_expires — browser cache control (ExpiresActive On)
• mod_deflate — gzip compression per-directory
• Options directives — FollowSymLinks, -Indexes
• Password protection via AuthType Basic / htpasswd
• Custom error pages (ErrorDocument)
• PHP ini overrides (php_value, php_flag)

Migrating from cPanel#

If you imported a cPanel backup, the .htaccess files from the original server are already in your document root. Enable .htaccess support for the domain and they will be read automatically — no conversion or editing required.

The most common cPanel .htaccess contents (WordPress permalink rewrites, Joomla SEF URLs, Magento URL rewrites) all work without modification.

When to Keep Nginx-Only Mode#

If your application does not use .htaccess, leave the toggle off. Nginx-only mode is:

• Faster — no proxy hop between Nginx and Apache
• Lower memory — no Apache worker processes for that domain
• Simpler — one less service involved in the request path

Laravel, Symfony, custom PHP applications, and Node.js apps do not use .htaccess and should remain in Nginx-only mode.

Troubleshooting#

Site returns 502 Bad Gateway after enabling Apache may have failed to start or the vhost has a syntax error. Check systemctl status apache2 (or httpd) and journalctl -u apache2 -n 50.

.htaccess rules are not being applied Confirm the toggle shows Enabled (orange). If enabled but rules still don't work, check that the .htaccess file is in the correct document root directory and that the syntax is valid.

Redirect loop A common issue when .htaccess rewrites check HTTPS or SERVER_PORT. Apache sits behind Nginx and always sees HTTP internally. Use the X-Forwarded-Proto header instead:

RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Password protection (htpasswd) not working Make sure Apache has mod_auth_basic enabled. The .htpasswd file path in .htaccess should be an absolute server path, e.g.:

AuthUserFile /home/myuser/example.com/.htpasswd

Related#

• Custom Nginx Directives
• Deploying with Git
• Installing WordPress