This section describes how to set up a virtual host for eZ Publish using the Apache web-server. A virtual host setup is only needed if eZ Publish has been configured to use the host access method, which is the most secure method.

By making use of virtual hosts, it is possible to have several sites running on the same server. The sites are usually differentiated by the name they are accessed. Apache will look for a specified set of domains and use different configuration settings based on the domain that is accessed.

Generic virtual host setup

Virtual hosts are usually defined at the end of "httpd.conf", which is the main configuration file for Apache. Adding a virtual host for eZ Publish can be done by copying the following lines and replacing the text encapsulated by the square brackets with actual values. Please refer to the next section for a real life example of using virtual hosts.

NameVirtualHost [IP_ADDRESS]
 
<VirtualHost [IP_ADDRESS]:[PORT]>
    <Directory [PATH_TO_EZPUBLISH]>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None
    </Directory>
 
    <IfModule mod_php5.c>
        php_admin_flag safe_mode Off
        php_admin_value register_globals 0
        php_value magic_quotes_gpc 0
        php_value magic_quotes_runtime 0
        php_value allow_call_time_pass_reference 0
    </IfModule>
 
    DirectoryIndex index.php
 
    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteRule ^/([^/]+/)?content/treemenu.* /index_treemenu\.php [L]
        RewriteRule ^/var/([^/]+/)?storage/images(-versioned)?/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/var/([^/]+/)?cache/(texttoimage|public)/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/design/[^/]+/(stylesheets|images|javascript)/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/share/icons/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/extension/[^/]+/design/[^/]+/(stylesheets|flash|images|lib|javascripts?)/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/packages/styles/.+/(stylesheets|images|javascript)/[^/]+/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/packages/styles/.+/thumbnail/.* - [L]
        RewriteRule ^/var/storage/packages/.* - [L]
 
        #  Makes it possible to place your favicon at the root of your
        #  eZ Publish instance. It will then be served directly.
        RewriteRule ^/favicon\.ico - [L]
        # Uncomment the line below if you want your favicon to be served
        # from the standard design. You can customize the path to
        # favicon.ico by changing /design/standard/images/favicon\.ico
        #RewriteRule ^/favicon\.ico /design/standard/images/favicon\.ico [L]
        RewriteRule ^/design/standard/images/favicon\.ico - [L]
 
        # Give direct access to robots.txt for use by crawlers (Google,
        # Bing, Spammers..)
        RewriteRule ^/robots\.txt - [L]
 
        # Platform for Privacy Preferences Project ( P3P ) related files
        # for Internet Explorer
        # More info here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P3p
        RewriteRule ^/w3c/p3p\.xml - [L]
 
        # Uncomment the following lines when using popup style debug
        # RewriteRule ^/var/cache/debug\.html.* - [L]
        # RewriteRule ^/var/[^/]+/cache/debug\.html.* - [L]
 
        RewriteRule .* /index\.php
    </IfModule>
 
    DocumentRoot [PATH_TO_EZPUBLISH]
    ServerName [SERVER_NAME]
    ServerAlias [SERVER_ALIAS]
 
</VirtualHost>

Please note that the "mod_rewrite" module must be enabled in "httpd.conf" in order to use the Rewrite Rules.

NameVirtualHost

The "NameVirtualHost" setting might already exist in the default configuration. Defining a new one will result in a conflict. If Apache reports errors such as "NameVirtualHost [IP_ADDRESS] has no VirtualHosts" or "Mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported", try skipping the NameVirtualHost line. For more info about the NameVirtualHost directive, see http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/core.html#namevirtualhost.

SOAP and WebDAV

If you would like to use the SOAP and/or the WebDAV features of eZ Publish, you'll have to add the following lines in the virtual host configuration:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^webdav\..*
RewriteRule ^(.*) /webdav.php [L]
 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^soap\..*
RewriteRule ^(.*) /soap.php [L]
 
ServerAlias soap.example.com
ServerAlias webdav.example.com

Optional re-write rules to improve performance

    # Everything below is optional to improve performance by forcing
    # clients to cache image and design files, change the expires time
    # to suite project needs.
    <IfModule mod_expires.c>
        <LocationMatch "^/var/[^/]+/storage/images/.*">
        # eZ Publish appends the version number to image URL (ezimage
        # datatype) so when an image is updated, its URL changes to
            ExpiresActive on
            ExpiresDefault "now plus 10 years"
        </LocationMatch>
 
        <LocationMatch "^/extension/[^/]+/design/[^/]+/(stylesheets|images|javascripts?|flash)/.*">
        # A good optimization if you don't change your design often
            ExpiresActive on
            ExpiresDefault "now plus 5 days"
        </LocationMatch>
 
        <LocationMatch "^/extension/[^/]+/design/[^/]+/lib/.*">
        # Libraries get a new url (version number) on updates
            ExpiresActive on
            ExpiresDefault "now plus 90 days"
        </LocationMatch>
 
        <LocationMatch "^/design/[^/]+/(stylesheets|images|javascripts?|lib|flash)/.*">
        # Same as above for bundled eZ Publish designs
            ExpiresActive on
            ExpiresDefault "now plus 7 days"
        </LocationMatch>
 
        <LocationMatch "^/share/icons/.*">
        # Icons as used by admin interface, barly change
            ExpiresActive on
            ExpiresDefault "now plus 7 days"
        </LocationMatch>
 
        # When ezjscore.ini/[Packer]/AppendLastModifiedTime=enabled
        # so that file names change when source files are modified
        #<LocationMatch "^/var/[^/]+/cache/public/.*">
        # Force ezjscore packer js/css files to be cached 30 days
        # at client side
            #ExpiresActive on
            #ExpiresDefault "now plus 30 days"
        #</LocationMatch>
        </IfModule>