Joomla site URL rewriting not working after migration to new host

Question

Just moved this Joomla 1.6 install over from iPower to Network Solutions. Moved a 1.5 install previously and it was okay. This one not so much. So when I turn on SEF Friendly URLs it's okay. When I turn on URL Rewriting to get rid of that annoying index.php in the URL, it says page not found. So...

http://www.bigideaadv.com/a-z/index.php/about-a-and-z - WORKS!

http://www.bigideaadv.com/a-z/about-a-and-z - DOESN'T WORK

Note: everything was working fine on the old site...

Anyone have any thoughts?

My HTACCESS FILE is as follows:

    ##
    # @version      $Id: htaccess.txt 21101 2011-04-07 15:47:33Z dextercowley $
    # @package      Joomla
    # @copyright    Copyright (C) 2005 - 2011 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved.
    # @license      GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
    ##

    ##
    # READ THIS COMPLETELY IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE THIS FILE!
    #
    # The line just below this section: 'Options +FollowSymLinks' may cause problems
    # with some server configurations.  It is required for use of mod_rewrite, but may already
    # be set by your server administrator in a way that dissallows changing it in
    # your .htaccess file.  If using it causes your server to error out, comment it out (add # to
    # beginning of line), reload your site in your browser and test your sef url's.  If they work,
    # it has been set by your server administrator and you do not need it set here.
    ##



    ## Can be commented out if causes errors, see notes above.
    Options +FollowSymLinks

    ## Mod_rewrite in use.

    RewriteEngine On

    ## Begin - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits.
    # If you experience problems on your site block out the operations listed below
    # This attempts to block the most common type of exploit `attempts` to Joomla!
    #
    # Block out any script trying to base64_encode data within the URL.
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode[^(]*\([^)]*\) [OR]
    # Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL.
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C)([^s]*s)+cript.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
    # Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL.
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
    # Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL.
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
    # Return 403 Forbidden header and show the content of the root homepage
    RewriteRule .* index.php [F]
    #
    ## End - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits.

    ## Begin - Custom redirects
    #
    # If you need to redirect some pages, or set a canonical non-www to
    # www redirect (or vice versa), place that code here. Ensure those
    # redirects use the correct RewriteRule syntax and the [R=301,L] flags.
    #
    ## End - Custom redirects

    ##
    # Uncomment following line if your webserver's URL
    # is not directly related to physical file paths.
    # Update Your Joomla! Directory (just / for root).
    ##

    # RewriteBase /

    ## Begin - Joomla! core SEF Section.
    #
    RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
    #
    # If the requested path and file is not /index.php and the request
    # has not already been internally rewritten to the index.php script
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index\.php
    # and the request is for something within the component folder,
    # or for the site root, or for an extensionless URL, or the
    # requested URL ends with one of the listed extensions
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /component/|(/[^.]*|\.(php|html?|feed|pdf|vcf|raw))$ [NC]
    # and the requested path and file doesn't directly match a physical file
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    # and the requested path and file doesn't directly match a physical folder
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    # internally rewrite the request to the index.php script
    RewriteRule .* index.php [L]
    #
    ## End - Joomla! core SEF Section.

Solution 1

I got it to work with using: RewriteBase /a-z Forgot it was in a subdirectory.

Solution 2

Are you sure that mod_rewrite is turned on?

Solution 3

In my case, I made two things in order to enable the links without the index.php in the URL:

• Install the rewrite mod in your Apache: sudo a2enmod rewrite
• Check the configuration in you apache2.conf in /etc/apache2 <Directory /var/www/> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All Require all granted

It's very critical to have AllowOverride All if you want to use the rewrite with your links.

This formula works for me