All examples that follow use mod_rewrite, an official module that comes bundled with Apache. To use it, mod_rewrite must either be included at compile time or enabled as a Dynamic Shared Object (DSO). Please consult the Apache documentation for your version for more information.
Here is a very basic virtual host definition. These rules direct all requests
to index.php, except when a matching file is found under
the document_root.
<VirtualHost my.domain.com:80>
ServerName my.domain.com
DocumentRoot /path/to/server/root/my.domain.com/public
RewriteEngine off
<Location />
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^.*$ /index.php [NC,L]
</Location>
</VirtualHost>
Note the slash ("/") prefixing index.php; the rules for
.htaccess differ in this regard.
Below is a sample .htaccess file that utilizes
mod_rewrite. It is similar to the virtual host
configuration, except that it specifies only the rewrite rules, and the leading
slash is omitted from index.php.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
There are many ways to configure mod_rewrite; if you would like more information, see Jayson Minard's Blueprint for PHP Applications: Bootstrapping.