mod_userdir
User-specific directories
Base
mod_userdir.c
userdir_module

This module allows user-specific directories to be accessed using the `http://example.com/~user/` syntax.

Mapping URLs to the Filesystem
public_html tutorial
UserDir
Location of the user-specific directories
UserDir directory-filename
UserDir public_html
server config
virtual host

The UserDir directive sets the real directory in a user's home directory to use when a request for a document for a user is received. Directory-filename is one of the following:

- The name of a directory or a pattern such as those shown below.
- The keyword `disabled`. This turns off all username-to-directory translations except those explicitly named with the `enabled` keyword (see below).
- The keyword `disabled` followed by a space-delimited list of usernames. Usernames that appear in such a list will never have directory translation performed, even if they appear in an `enabled` clause.
- The keyword `enabled` followed by a space-delimited list of usernames. These usernames will have directory translation performed even if a global disable is in effect, but not if they also appear in a `disabled` clause.

If neither the `enabled` nor the `disabled` keywords appear in the `Userdir` directive, the argument is treated as a filename pattern, and is used to turn the name into a directory specification. A request for `http://www.foo.com/~bob/one/two.html` will be translated to:

UserDir directive used | Translated path
--- | ---
UserDir public_html | ~bob/public_html/one/two.html
UserDir /usr/web | /usr/web/bob/one/two.html
UserDir /home/*/www | /home/bob/www/one/two.html

The following directives will send redirects to the client:

UserDir directive used | Translated path
--- | ---
UserDir http://www.foo.com/users | http://www.foo.com/users/bob/one/two.html
UserDir http://www.foo.com/*/usr | http://www.foo.com/bob/usr/one/two.html
UserDir http://www.foo.com/~*/ | http://www.foo.com/~bob/one/two.html

Be careful when using this directive; for instance, `"UserDir ./"` would map `"/~root"` to `"/"` - which is probably undesirable. It is strongly recommended that your configuration include a "`UserDir disabled root`" declaration. See also the Directory directive and the Security Tips page for more information.

Additional examples:

To allow a few users to have `UserDir` directories, but not anyone else, use the following:

UserDir disabled
UserDir enabled user1 user2 user3

To allow most users to have `UserDir` directories, but deny this to a few, use the following:

UserDir enabled
UserDir disabled user4 user5 user6

It is also possible to specify alternative user directories. If you use a command like:

Userdir public_html /usr/web http://www.foo.com/

With a request for http://www.foo.com/~bob/one/two.html, will try to find the page at ~bob/public_html/one/two.html first, then /usr/web/bob/one/two.html, and finally it will send a redirect to http://www.foo.com/bob/one/two.html.

If you add a redirect, it must be the last alternative in the list. Apache cannot determine if the redirect succeeded or not, so if you have the redirect earlier in the list, that will always be the alternative that is used.

public_html tutorial