Friendly URLs on lighttpd

lighttpd does not use Apache-style .htaccess files. Friendly URL rewrites belong in lighttpd.conf (often /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf on Linux).

This setup is uncommon for MODX hosting. Prefer Apache or nginx when you can. After rewrites work, finish the MODX steps in Using Friendly URLs.

Enable mod_rewrite¶

1. Open lighttpd.conf.
2. Find server.modules.
3. Ensure mod_rewrite is listed and not commented out.
4. Reload lighttpd after saving.

Add rewrite rules¶

Find the host / document-root block for the site, for example:

$SERVER["socket"] == ":80" {
  $HTTP["host"] =~ "example.com" {
    server.document-root = "/var/www/example.com"
    server.name = "example.com"

Add rules under that host so existing files and the assets, manager, core, and connectors trees are not rewritten:

    url.rewrite-once = (
        "^/(assets|manager|core|connectors)(.*)$" => "/$1/$2",
        "^/(?!index(?:-ajax)?\.php)(.*)\?(.*)$" => "/index.php?q=$1&$2",
        "^/(?!index(?:-ajax)?\.php)(.*)$" => "/index.php?q=$1"
    )

Exclude more paths¶

lighttpd only skips paths you list. To protect another web-accessible directory, extend the first pattern with |dirname, for example (assets|manager|core|connectors|media).

Reload lighttpd, then enable Friendly URLs in the Manager and clear the cache.