Why is the Apache2 .htaccess file not being read? ("Options -Indexes" in .htaccess file is not working)
.htaccess, apache
Solution
To get this working, I added the following to `/etc/apache2/httpd.conf` (which is a zero-length file by default when Apache is installed) and then restarted Apache. Now `Options -Indexes` in the `.htaccess` file works as desired. Here is the bare minimum required to get it to work:
`/etc/apache2/httpd.conf :`
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot /var/www
<Directory / >
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
lanzz's suggestion to add a line of gibberish to the `.htaccess` file to see if it was being read was helpful in diagnosing the problem.
Note that `AllowOveride` defaults to `All`, per Evan Mulawski's comment, so it's not required in the minimal set of `httpd.conf` lines above.
Problem
I created an .htaccess file with only the following line: Options -Indexes However, the index is still shown for the directory. I just installed Apache2 and am using all the defaults (I did not modify apache2.conf or httpd.conf). OS: `Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)` Apache2 version: `Server version: Apache/2.2.22 (Ubuntu) Server built: Feb 13 2012 01:51:56` $ ls -l .htaccess -rwxr-xr-x .htaccess EDIT: I took lanzz's advice and added gibberish to the `.htaccess` file, and discovered that the `.htaccess` file is not being read.