Apache: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

3.11. Options

Options option 
             option ...
Default: All
Server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess

The Options directive is unusually multipurpose and does not fit into any one site or strategic context, so we had better look at it on its own. It gives the webmaster some far-reaching control over what people get up to on their own sites.

All

All options are enabled except MultiViews (for historical reasons), IncludesNOEXEC, and SymLinksIfOwnerMatch (but the latter is redundant if FollowSymLinks is enabled).

ExecCGI

Execution of CGI scripts is permitted—and impossible if this is not set.

The server follows symbolic links (i.e., file links made with the Unix ln -s utility); server-side includes are permitted (see Chapter 10).

FollowSymLinks

See next section.

Includes

Server-side includes are permitted—and impossible if this is not set.

IncludesNOEXEC

Server-side includes are permitted, but #exec and #include of CGI scripts are disabled.

Indexes

If the customer requests a URL that maps to a directory, and there is no index.html there, this option allows the suite of indexing commands to be used, and a formatted listing is returned (see Chapter 7 ).

MultiViews

Content-negotiated MultiViews are supported. This includes AddLanguage and image negotiation (see Chapter 6).

SymLinksIfOwnerMatch

Symbolic links are followed and lead to files or directories owned by the same user (see next section).

The arguments can be preceded by ...