Links for pages other than / or /admin throw 404s

[derelektrischemoench]

Hi guys, I'm facing a weird issue here. I cannot access any other page than / or /admin; whenever I try another page I get a 404.

Interestingly though, I am able to get into the backend and edit my pages and whatnot without any problems. I'm using the standard htaccess bundled with processwire. Is there any solution to this? I have attached my htaccess below.

Thanks in advance, 
best wishes 

derelektrischemoench

 

Spoiler

#################################################################################################
# START PROCESSWIRE HTACCESS DIRECTIVES
# @version 3.0
# @indexVersion 300
#################################################################################################

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1. Don't show directory indexes, but do follow symbolic links 
# 500 NOTE: Some cloud hosting companies don't allow +FollowSymLinks. 
# Uncomment +SymLinksifOwnerMatch and comment +FollowSymLinks if you have 500 errors. 
# If that doesn't resolve the error, then set it back to +FollowSymLinks. 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Options -Indexes
Options +FollowSymLinks
# Options +SymLinksifOwnerMatch

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 2. Let ProcessWire handle 404s
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ErrorDocument 404 /index.php

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 3. Handle request for missing favicon.ico/robots.txt files (no ending quote for Apache 1.3)
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<Files favicon.ico>
  ErrorDocument 404 "The requested file favicon.ico was not found.
</Files>

<Files robots.txt>
  ErrorDocument 404 "The requested file robots.txt was not found.
</Files>

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 4. Protect from XSS with Apache headers
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
  # prevent site from being loaded in an iframe on another site
  # you will need to remove this one if you want to allow external iframes
  Header always append X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN 

  # to prevent cross site scripting (IE8+ proprietary)
  Header set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"

  # prevent mime-based attacks via content sniffing (IE+Chrome)
  # Header set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" 
</IfModule>

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 5. Protect ProcessWire system files 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<FilesMatch "\.(inc|info|info\.json|module|sh|sql)$|^\..*$|composer\.(json|lock)$">
  <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
    Require all denied
  </IfModule>
  <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
    Order allow,deny
  </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 6. Override a few PHP settings that can't be changed at runtime (not required)
# 500 NOTE: Try commenting out this entire section below if getting Apache 500 errors.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<IfModule mod_php5.c>
  php_flag magic_quotes_gpc       off
  php_flag magic_quotes_sybase    off
  php_flag register_globals       off
</IfModule>

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 7. Set default directory index files
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 8. ProcessWire requires mod_rewrite
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

  RewriteEngine On
  AddDefaultCharset UTF-8

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 9. If you only want to allow HTTPS, uncomment the RewriteCond and RewriteRule lines below.
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
  # RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
  
  # If using an AWS load balancer, use these two lines below instead of those above:
  # RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} =http 
  # RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 10. Set an environment variable so the installer can detect that mod_rewrite is active.
  # Note that some web hosts don't support this. If you get a 500 error, you might try 
  # commenting out this SetEnv line below. 
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  <IfModule mod_env.c>
    SetEnv HTTP_MOD_REWRITE On
  </IfModule>

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 11. OPTIONAL: Set a rewrite base if rewrites aren't working properly on your server.
  # And if your site directory starts with a "~" you will most likely have to use this.
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  # RewriteBase /
  # RewriteBase /pw/
  # RewriteBase /~user/

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 12. Access Restrictions: Keep web users out of dirs that begin with a period,
  # but let services like Lets Encrypt use the webroot authentication method.
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  RewriteRule "(^|/)\.(?!well-known)" - [F]

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 13. OPTIONAL: Redirect users to the 'www.' version of the site (uncomment to enable).
  # For example: http://processwire.com/ would be redirected to http://www.processwire.com/
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  # RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
  # RewriteRule ^ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # 14. OPTIONAL: Send URLs with non-ASCII name-format characters to 404 page (optimization)
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} "[^-_.a-zA-Z0-9/~]"
  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  # RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?it=/http404/ [L,QSA]

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 15. Access Restrictions: Protect ProcessWire system files
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  # Allow screenshot files (for install.php only: this 1 line below may be removed after install)
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(^|/)site-[^/]+/install/[^/]+\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$
  # Block access to any htaccess files
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)\.htaccess$ [NC,OR]
  # Block access to protected assets directories
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/assets/(cache|logs|backups|sessions|config|install|tmp)($|/.*$) [OR]
  # Block acceess to the /site/install/ directory
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/install($|/.*$) [OR]
  # Block dirs in /site/assets/ dirs that start with a hyphen
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/assets.*/-.+/.* [OR]
  # Block access to /wire/config.php, /site/config.php, /site/config-dev.php, and /wire/index.config.php
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(wire|site|site-[^/]+)/(config|index\.config|config-dev)\.php$ [OR]
  # Block access to any PHP-based files in /templates-admin/
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(wire|site|site-[^/]+)/templates-admin($|/|/.*\.(php|html?|tpl|inc))$ [OR]
  # Block access to any PHP or markup files in /site/templates/
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/templates($|/|/.*\.(php|html?|tpl|inc))$ [OR]
  # Block access to any PHP files in /site/assets/
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/assets($|/|/.*\.php)$ [OR]
  # Block access to any PHP files in core or core module directories
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)wire/(core|modules)/.*\.(php|inc|tpl|module|info\.json)$ [OR]
  # Block access to any PHP files in /site/modules/
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(site|site-[^/]+)/modules/.*\.(php|inc|tpl|module|info\.json)$ [OR]
  # Block access to any software identifying txt files
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)(COPYRIGHT|INSTALL|README|htaccess)\.(txt|md|textile)$ [OR]
  # Block all http access to the default/uninstalled site-default directory
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (^|/)site-default/
  # If any conditions above match, issue a 403 forbidden
  RewriteRule ^.*$ - [F,L]

  # PW-PAGENAME
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # 16a. Ensure that the URL follows the name-format specification required by PW
  # See also directive 16b below, you should choose and use either 16a or 16b. 
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} "^/~?[-_.a-zA-Z0-9/]*$"
  
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # 16b. Alternative name-format specification for UTF8 page name support.
  # If used, comment out section 16a above and uncomment the directive below. If you have updated 
  # your $config->pageNameWhitelist make the characters below consistent with that. 
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  
  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} "^/~?[-_./a-zA-Z0-9æåäßöüđжхцчшщюяàáâèéëêěìíïîõòóôøùúûůñçčćďĺľńňŕřšťýžабвгдеёзийклмнопрстуфыэęąśłżź]*$"
  
  # END-PW-PAGENAME
  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 17. If the request is for a file or directory that physically exists on the server,
  # then don't give control to ProcessWire, and instead load the file
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !(favicon\.ico|robots\.txt)

  # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # 18. OPTIONAL: Prevent ProcessWire from attempting to serve images or anything in /site/assets/. 
  # Both of these lines are optional, but can help to reduce server load. However, they
  # are not compatible with the $config->pagefileSecure option (if enabled) and they 
  # may produce an Apache 404 rather than your regular 404. You may uncomment the two lines
  # below if you don't need to use the $config->pagefileSecure option. After uncommenting, test
  # a URL like domain.com/site/assets/files/test.jpg to make sure you are getting a 404 and not
  # your homepage. If getting your homepage, then either: do not use this option, or comment out 
  # section #2 above that makes ProcessWire the 404 handler. 
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png|ico)$ [NC]
  # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !(^|/)site/assets/

  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # 19. Pass control to ProcessWire if all the above directives allow us to this point.
  # For regular VirtualHosts (most installs)
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?it=$1 [L,QSA]

  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # 20. If using VirtualDocumentRoot (500 NOTE): comment out the one above and use this one instead
  # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  # RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?it=$1 [L,QSA]

</IfModule>

#################################################################################################
# END PROCESSWIRE HTACCESS DIRECTIVES
#################################################################################################

 

[wbmnfktr]

Whenever I experienced this issue it was somehow related to mod_rewrite. 

At first I'd make sure mod_rewrite is installed and enabled - which I guess it is, as you can access the admin.

If possible restart Apache. Delete whatever cache (template cache, markup cache, WireCache, ProCache, FileCompiler) you use. Even the cache in your browser.

Try to set the rewrite base - you will find it in your .htaccess under number 11. 

A little warning: use another browser or use it in Private Mode while testing your changes. Browsers sometimes cache way too much for way too long. ? 

And of course: change only one thing at the time.

[derelektrischemoench]

Hi wbfmnfktr,

thanks for your input. I tried activating the rewritebase as you suggested. Interestingly, when I activate rewriteBase / and rewriteBase/pw/ I get a 500 with and this apache2 error:

AH00124: Request exceeded the limit of 10 internal redirects due to probable configuration error. Use 'LimitInternalRecursion' to increase the limit if necessary. Use 'LogLevel debug' to get a backtrace., referer: http://processwire.localhost/

If I only activate RewriteBase/ I get a 404. So I assume the 500 is preferable in this case, since it shows some kind of debug message, right? ? 

[derelektrischemoench]

Ugh I found the solution; turns out I'm just too stupid. I created the template in the admin but the template file was missing. Which of course returned a 404. Created the template; baaam. Everything works.

[wbmnfktr]

Well... at least you had some exercises in debugging now. ?