how to compare the current time to a variable in a .htaccess

Question

I would like to make a redirection after a deadline on my site.

currently everything works correctly if I write this :

RewriteEngine On

SetEnv DEADLINE 16/06/2022_19h30

RewriteCond %{TIME_DAY}/%{TIME_MON}/%{TIME_YEAR}_%{TIME_HOUR}h%{TIME_MIN} >=16/06/2022_19h30
RewriteRule ^index.php$ read_only/index.html [L]

the advantage of using an environment variable is that I can use it elsewhere in a PHP file

So is there a way to test between the current time and the DEADLINE variable?

Answer 1

You can do this but you need to set your variable using SetEnvIf directive, so that it is available for evaluation in .htaccess RewriteCond:

Define this variable first:

SetEnvIf Host ^ DEADLINE=20220616193000

Then use it in .htaccess using RewriteCond expressions:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond expr "%{TIME} -ge env('DEADLINE')"
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ read_only/index.html [L,NC]

Due to use of expr in RewriteCond, it will require Apache 2.4+