25.2.2.2. Main Server Configuration
The main server configuration section of the configuration file sets up the main server, which responds to any requests that are not handled by a virtual host defined within a
<VirtualHost> container. Values here also provide defaults for any <VirtualHost> containers defined.
The directives used in this section have changed little between Apache HTTP Server 1.3 and version 2.0. If the main server configuration is heavily customized, it may be easier to modify the existing configuration file to suit Apache HTTP Server 2.0. Users with only lightly customized main server sections should migrate their changes into the default 2.0 configuration.
25.2.2.2.1. UserDir Mapping
The
UserDir directive is used to enable URLs such as http://example.com/~bob/ to map to a subdirectory within the home directory of the user bob, such as /home/bob/public_html/. A side-effect of this feature allows a potential attacker to determine whether a given username is present on the system. For this reason, the default configuration for Apache HTTP Server 2.0 disables this directive.
To enable
UserDir mapping, change the directive in httpd.conf from:
UserDir disable
to the following:
UserDir public_html
For more on this topic, refer to the following documentation on the Apache Software Foundation's website:
