Why isn't my apache alias working?

Question

Here's my vhost in apache 2.4:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mailcatcher.dev
    Alias /mailcatcher.dev.png /Users/me/.rbenv/versions/2.1.2/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/mailcatcher-0.5.12/public/images/logo_large.png
    <Directory /Users/me/.rbenv/versions/2.1.2/lib/ruby/gems/2.1.0/gems/mailcatcher-0.5.12/public/images>
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog "/private/var/log/apache2/mailcatcher.dev-error_log"
    CustomLog "/private/var/log/apache2/mailcatcher.dev-access_log" common
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:1080/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:1080/
</VirtualHost>

I'm trying to have the one url http://mailcatcher.dev/mailcatcher.dev.png resolve to a file and all other requests be forwarded to the webmail interface. Allegedly my config is fine according to apachectl -t; but the file isn't served and a 404 (below) shows up in my access log (nothing in the error log).

::1 - - [18/Sep/2014:22:42:07 -0600] "GET /mailcatcher.dev.png HTTP/1.1" 404 135

What am I not getting here? This should work according to the spec where it says that the alias can resolve to a file-path.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '14 at 05:23

This is because the request to /mailcatcher.dev.png is being reverse proxied to your backend application as the ProxyPass directive appear to take higher precedence than Alias

You need to add a ProxyPass /mailcatcher.dev.png ! entry before ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:1080/

Why isn't my apache alias working?

1 Answers1