When does Apache re-read the updates to .htaccess files?

Question

I have a hosted server.

When I update .htaccess, are the updated rules immediately in effect?

I understand that hosters can do what they want, and it's impossible to know without knowing the particular policy of this particular hoster. But in the normal case, if I update .htaccess, does Apache re-read it immediately? Or is there something I can do to tell Apache to re-read it?

or what?

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 26 '12 at 22:05

12

The .htaccess is loaded up on each request, even if it's in internal one (using mod_modrewrite)

Take and look at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/howto/htaccess.html and especially the 'When (not) to use' section

answered Mar 26 '12 at 22:05

Ryan Gibbons

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beat me by 7 seconds, upvote for you – Zypher Mar 26 '12 at 22:05
Ha, I even reloaded to make sure there wasn't one already posted – Ryan Gibbons Mar 26 '12 at 22:18
Thanks Ryan. I googled for `mod_rewrite .htaccess update` but the signal-to-noise ratio was really really low. – Cheeso Mar 26 '12 at 23:08
Yeah, information overload when searching Google. I always start with the apache docs first – Ryan Gibbons Mar 26 '12 at 23:32

When does Apache re-read the updates to .htaccess files?

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