How to configure Apache to do nothing

Sometimes you want to configure Apache to really do nothing. No server scripts and just use it as a purely static file server. An example of this would be when you have a Downloads folder and you want to share without there being issues due to how Apache functions.

The first thing we are going to do is make sure mod_header is enabled which can be done with the command

sudo a2enmod headers

and after that is done and the config is changed you should restart Apache with

sudo systemctl restart apache2

and we are ready for what config to be set.

Now we have the config which you should put in some file that Apache includes for example I have mine in /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf but you can put yours anywhere really. There are quite a few quirks in general we must defeat in order for Apache to just serve files as is without executing any of them by accident. This is the actual config I use to share some downloads between computers that as you can see very commented and explained.

<Directory /var/www/html/aria/finished>
	# Various fixes
	# Make sure everything is granted by default
	#  as certain file types might be limited by other config
	<FilesMatch ".*">
		Require all granted
	</FilesMatch>
	# .htaccess should not be read
	AllowOverride None
	# No symlinks here as they might lead to odd things unless you want them here ofc
	Options -FollowSymLinks
	Options -SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
	# Turn off the feature of trying to correct faulty filenames to similar ones
	Options -MultiViews

	# Executable code
	# No cgi scripts should be executed here
	Options -ExecCGI
	# Disable server side includes .shtml
	Options -Includes
	Options -IncludesNOEXEC
	# Turn off php in this directory in a way that no .htaccess can turn them on again
	<IfModule mod_php.c>
		php_admin_flag engine off
	</IfModule>

	# Directory listings
	Options +Indexes
	# Good options for directory listing
	IndexOptions +FancyIndexing +IgnoreCase +ShowForbidden
	# Descending Date is good as the newest files 
	#  will be in the top so you do not have to scroll
	IndexOrderDefault Descending Date
	# the README.html should not be automatically be read and shown as part of the listing
	ReadmeName /
	# The same but the HEADER.html that appears on top
	HeaderName /
	# Prevent index.html or similar from displaying and hiding the directory listing
	DirectoryIndex disabled

	# Content-Type
	# Prevent text/html as that can run code we do not want to
	# Many browsers will assume text/html if no Content-Type is found so we need to be explicit
	# If there is no Content-Type header set to text/plain for viewing rather than download
	Header set Content-Type "text/plain" "expr=-z %{CONTENT_TYPE}"
	# If it is not a directory since those always end with slash
	<FilesMatch "[^/]$"> 
		# Set Content-Type to text/plain if it is set to text/html
		# This means that only directory listings can output html
		Header set Content-Type "text/plain" "expr=%{CONTENT_TYPE} =~ m|text/html|"
	</FilesMatch>
</Directory>
# So there is a certain problem where IndexIgnoreReset does not work in a Directory
#  section therefore defining a Location section instead is needed.
# If you wonder why there just cannot be a single Location section it is
# that FilesMatch and LocationMatch sections are forbidden inside Directory sections.
<Location "/aria/finished">
	# Reset the index ignore so everything gets listed
	IndexIgnoreReset ON
	# Set the ignore to an impossible file to not ignore anything
	IndexIgnore /
</Location>

Now we have finally defeated the web server and it will no longer do anything unexpected or strange hopefully.

*Mweeoops*

YeenDeer softness blog (programming and electronics)

Ellie the Yeen is a soft YeenDeer that mweeoops and does programming

How to configure Apache to do nothing

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