Having problems with a 301 redirect

Returns a 404

[carfac]

I am doing some shuffling on my site, and for various reasons I have moved a couple directories (and all their subpages) in my directory structure. To be kind to Goog and others, I have tried to run a 301 in Apache, thus:

RewriteRule ^old_path/Directory/(.*)$ new_path/_NEW_ Directory/$1 [L,R=301]

First, when I tested, I got 200's... and I realized I need to erase the old directory. SO I did. Now when I test, I get 404's....

As a variation, I tried:

Redirect 301 ^old_path/Directory/(.*)$ http:// www.mysite.com/ new_path/_NEW_ Directory/$1

Still 404ing...

Thanks for your input!

Dave

[g1smd]

RewriteRule ^old_path/Directory/(.*)$ http://www.example.com/new_path/_NEW_Directory/$1 [R=301,L]

The above code should work.

Clear your browser cache before testing.

[jdMorgan]

Where is this code located?

Jim

[carfac]

Hi Jim:

in httpd.conf

Dave

[carfac]

Weird.... now it works. Thanks. Don't think it was cache, as I was using a "service" to check the header codes.... Anyway, I am seeing a 301 now...

[carfac]

OK, found the problem. so simple... so stupid...

Not: RewriteRule ^old_path/Directory/(.*)$

But: RewriteRule ^/old_path/Directory/(.*)$

The slash must be in there it looks like...

[phranque]

The slash must be in there it looks like...

if the rule is used in the server config file (httpd.conf) then the path will contain the leading slash indicating the root directory.
if the rule is used in the per-directory config files (.htaccess) then the leading directory path information will be stripped before pattern matching.

Note: Pattern matching in per-directory context [httpd.apache.org]

Never forget that Pattern is applied to a complete URL in per-server configuration files. However, in per-directory configuration files, the per-directory prefix (which always is the same for a specific directory) is automatically removed for the pattern matching and automatically added after the substitution has been done. This feature is essential for many sorts of rewriting - without this, you would always have to match the parent directory which is not always possible.

[jdMorgan]

In addition, if the rule is enclosed in a <Directory> container in a server config file, then the path specified by that container will also be removed from the path 'seen' by the RewriteRule.

Jim