Configuration file for the core module.¶

BNF like notation of the basic syntax¶

  option   : NAME = VALUE
  merge    : NAME += VALUE
  replace  : NAME := VALUE    (replace/overwrite earlier value) (since 1.4.46)
  NAME     : modulename.key
  VALUE    : ( <string> | <integer> | <boolean> | <array> | VALUE [ + VALUE ]*)
  <string> : "text" 
  <integer>: digit*
  <boolean>: ( "enable" | "disable" )
  <array>  : "(" [ <string> "=>" ] <value> [, [ <string> "=>" ] <value> ]* ")" 
  INCLUDE  : "include" VALUE
  INCLUDE_SHELL : "include_shell" STRING_VALUE

Example

  # default document-root
  server.document-root = "/var/www/example.org/pages/" 

  # TCP port
  server.port = 80

  # selecting modules
  server.modules = ( "mod_access", "mod_rewrite" )

  # variables, computed when config is read.
  var.mymodule = "foo" 
  server.modules += ( "mod_" + var.mymodule )
  # var.PID is initialised to the pid of lighttpd before config is parsed

  # include, relative to dirname of main config file
  include "mime.types.conf" 

  # read configuration from output of a command
  include_shell "/usr/local/bin/confmimetype /etc/mime.types" 

Conditional Configuration¶

Most options can be configured conditionally by using the following syntax (including nesting).

  <field> <operator> <value> {
    ...
    <field> <operator> <value> {
      ... nesting: match only when parent match
    }
  }
  else <field> <operator> <value> {
    ... the "else if" block
  }
  else { # (since 1.4.46)
    ... the "else" block
  }

where <field> is one of one of the following:

Field name	Description
$REQUEST_HEADER["..."]	(since 1.4.46) match on arbitrary HTTP request header (case-insensitive)
$HTTP["request-method"]	(Introduced in version 1.4.19) match on the request method.
$HTTP["scheme"]	(Introduced in version 1.4.19) match on the scheme used by the incoming connection. This is either "http" or "https".
$HTTP["host"]	match on host
$HTTP["url"]	match on url path (not including host or query-string)
$HTTP["querystring"]	match on querystring, eg, after the ? in this type url: index.php?module=images..
$HTTP["remoteip"]	match on the remote IP or a remote Network (Warning: doesn't work with IPv6 enabled)
$HTTP["cookie"]	(subsumed by $REQUEST_HEADER["Cookie"] since 1.4.46) match on Cookie
$HTTP["useragent"]	(subsumed by $REQUEST_HEADER["User-Agent"] since 1.4.46) match on User-Agent
$HTTP["language"]	(subsumed by $REQUEST_HEADER["Accept-Language"] since 1.4.46) (since 1.4.21) match on Accept-Language
$HTTP["referer"]	(subsumed by $REQUEST_HEADER["Referer"] since 1.4.46) match on Referer
$SERVER["socket"]	match on socket. Only equal match (==) is supported. Value must be on the format "ip:port", where ip is an IP address(optional) and port a port number. If IP address is omitted, then use INADDR_ANY (0.0.0.0), unless server.use-ipv6 = "enable" inside this block, in which case use in6addr_any ([::]). Setting this directive also binds the daemon to this socket. Use this if you want to do IP/port-based virtual hosts.
$PHYSICAL["path"]	(Introduced in version 1.5.0 (note: abandoned; never released)) - match on the mapped physical path of the file / cgi script to be served.
$PHYSICAL["existing-path"]	(Introduced in version 1.5.0 (note: abandoned; never released)) - match on the mapped physical path of the file / cgi script to be served only if such a file exists on the local filesystem.

<operator> is one of:

Operator	Value
==	string equal match
!=	string not equal match
=~	perl style regular expression match
!~	perl style regular expression not match

and <value> is either a quoted ("") literal string or regular expression.

Example:

  # disable directory-listings for /download/*
  dir-listing.activate = "enable" 
  $HTTP["url"] =~ "^/download/" {
    dir-listing.activate = "disable" 
  }

  # handle virtual hosting
  # map all domains of a top-level-domain to a single document-root
  $HTTP["host"] =~ "(^|\.)example\.org$" {
    server.document-root = "/var/www/htdocs/example.org/pages/" 
  }

  # multiple sockets
  $SERVER["socket"] == "127.0.0.1:81" {
    server.document-root = "..." 
  }

  $SERVER["socket"] == "127.0.0.1:443" {
    ssl.pemfile = "/var/www/certs/localhost.pem" 
    ssl.engine = "enable" 

    server.document-root = "/var/www/htdocs/secure.example.org/pages/" 
  }

  # deny access for all googlebot
  $HTTP["useragent"] =~ "Google" {
    url.access-deny = ( "" )
  }

  # deny access for all image stealers (anti-hotlinking for images)
  $HTTP["referer"] !~ "^($|http://www\.example\.org)" {
    url.access-deny = ( ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png" )
  }

  # deny the access to www.example.org to all user which 
  # are not in the 10.0.0.0/8 network
  $HTTP["host"] == "www.example.org" {
    $HTTP["remoteip"] != "10.0.0.0/8" {
     url.access-deny = ( "" )
    }
  }

  # Allow only 200.19.1.5 and 210.45.2.7 to
  # have access to www.example.org/admin/
  $HTTP["host"] == "www.example.org" {
    #!~ is a perl style regular expression not match
    $HTTP["remoteip"] !~ "^(200\.19\.1\.5|210\.45\.2\.7)$" {
      $HTTP["url"] =~ "^/admin/" {
        url.access-deny = ( "" )
      }
    }
  }

Troubleshooting¶

If you're not running on the default port, $HTTP["host"] will have the port appended to it, so regular expressions ending in $ (without allowing for a port) won't match.
To match with or without a port, change

"(^|\.)example\.org$"

to

"(^|\.)example\.org(\:[0-9]*)?$"

Note that some earlier versions of lighttpd do not support the full configuration file syntax listed here. In particular, some versions do not support "var." variables, appending with "+=", nested conditionals, or "else" blocks. The names of some options (for example, "server.dir-listing") have also changed (i.e. to "dir-listing.activate") between versions of lighttpd.

If you're having trouble configuring lighttpd, consider using the "-t" or "-p" options to debug your configuration. Note that some earlier versions of lighttpd not support the "-t" or "-p" options.

Advanced usage¶

Check the blog: http://blog.lighttpd.net/articles/2005/05/07/advanced-configuration-in-up-upcoming-1-4-x

Using variables¶

You can set your own variables in the configuration to simplify your config.

  var.basedir = "/home/www/servers/" 
  $HTTP["host"] == "www.example.org" {
     server.name = "www.example.org" 
     include "incl-base.conf" 
  }

In incl-base.conf:

  server.document-root = basedir + server.name + "/pages/" 
  accesslog.filename   = basedir + server.name + "/logs/access.log" 

You can also use environment variables or the default variables var.PID and var.CWD:

  var.basedir = env.LIGHTTPDBASE

  $HTTP["host"] == "www.example.org" {
     server.name = "www.example.org" 
     include "incl-base.conf" 
     include "incl-fastcgi.conf" 
  }

In incl-fastcgi.conf:

  fastcgi.server = ( ... => ((
     "socket" => basedir + server.name + "/tmp/fastcgi-" + PID + ".sock" 
  )) )

Or like the lighttpd script for rails does:

  var.basedir = var.CWD
  server.document-root = basedir + "/public/" 

Some useful things that can NOT be done in lighttpd config (you need to create a script in a real programming language and then use include_shell):

  # testing if a variable has been set is NOT possible
  var.not_sure_if_it_exists == undefined { ... set to default value ... }

  # removing from arrays is NOT possible
  server.modules -= ( "mod_idontwantyou" )

Global context¶

  global {
    ...
  }

You don't need it in the main configuration file.
But you might have difficulty setting a server wide configuration inside a included-file from conditionals.

Example

In lighttpd.conf:

  server.modules = ()
  $HTTP["host"] == "www.example.org" {
    include "incl-php.conf" 
  }

In incl-php.conf:

  global {
    server.modules += ("mod_fastcgi")
    static-file.exclude-extensions += (".php")
  }
  fastcgi.server = "..." 

Options¶

All Configuration Options can be found at: Configuration Options