lighttpd: mod_rewrite ignoring rules in .htaccess

Question

I am about to learn rewrite rules on lighttpd. I have a question: is this the normal state of the art that lighttpd is ignoring the .htaccess files ?

I have some rules in .htaccess and they where ignored, when I write them to the lighttpd.conf they are executed correctly.

how can I enable mod rewrite to read the .htaccess files ?

Answer 1

Quoting Lighttpd FAQ:

Do you support .htaccess files?

No. Lighty's design does not permit implementing this functionality as config files are loaded at startup time and .htaccess would be needed to be parsed at request time.

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Furthermore, .htaccess files are Apache config files. We would need to write a parser and it might not even be possible to map all functionality to lighty logic.