Configuration File Options¶

Here you will find a list of all available configuration options for lighttpd. They are grouped by module, and a link to each module configuration will provide with more detail information about each option, as well as examples, and other guidelines.

Modules written by Lighttpd Users

• Table of contents
• Configuration File Options
  • Lighttpd Core Options
    • SSL Options
    • Core Debug Info
  • Options for mod_access - access restrictions module
  • Options for mod_accesslog - access log files module
  • Options for mod_alias - directory aliases module
  • Options for mod_auth - authentication module
  • Options for mod_cache - web accelerating module
  • Options for mod_cgi - cgi module
  • Options for mod_cml - Cache Meta Language module
  • Options for mod_compress - compress output module
  • Options for mod_deflate - dynamic compression module (Patch)
  • Options for mod_dirlisting - directory listing module
  • Options for mod_evasive - evasive module (version 1.5.0)
  • Options for mod_evhost - enhanced virtual host module
  • Options for mod_expire - cached expiration module
  • Options for mod_extforward - extract the client's "real" IP from X-Forwarded-For header
  • Options for mod_fastcgi - fastcgi module
  • Options for mod_flv_streaming - flv streaming module
  • Options for mod_mem_cache - local file accelerating
  • Options for mod_mysql_vhost - Mysql virtual hosting module
  • Options for mod_proxy - proxy module
  • Options for mod_proxy_core - proxy module for 1.5.x
  • Options for mod_redirect - redirect module
  • Options for mod_rewrite - rewriting module
  • Options for mod_rrdtool - rrdtool module
  • Options for mod_scgi - SCGI Module
  • Options for mod_secure_download - secure and fast download module
  • Options for mod_setenv - set HTTP Environment module
  • Options for mod_simple_vhost - simple virtual host module
  • Options for mod_ssi - server side includes module
  • Options for mod_status - server status module
  • Options for mod_trigger_b4_dl - trigger before download module
  • Options for mod_userdir - user directories
  • Options for mod_uploadprogress - upload progress module (version 1.5.0)
  • Options for mod_usertrack - user track module (cookies)
  • Options for mod_webdav - WebDAV module

Lighttpd Core Options¶

server.bind: IP address, hostname or absolute path to the unix-domain socket. [[server.bindDetails|Details]]
  server.dir-listing: enable/disable dir listing. [[lighttpd:Docs:ModDirlisting|Details]]
  server.document-root: document-root of the webserver. [[server.document-rootDetails|Details]]
  server.event-handler: set the event handler.  [[server.event-handlerDetails|Details]] 
  server.errorlog: pathname of the error-log. [[server.errorlogDetails|Details]]
  server.errorlog-use-syslog: send errorlog to syslog. [[server.errorlog-use-syslogDetails|Details]]
  server.error-handler-404:  uri to call if the requested file results in a 404.  [[server.error-handler-404Details|Details]] 
  server.errorfile-prefix: path prefix for special status codes pages.  [[server.errorfile-prefixDetails|Details]] 
  server.chroot: root-directory of the server. [[server.chrootDetails|Details]]
  server.core-files: enable core files. 
  server.username: username used to run the server. [[server.usernameDetails|Details]] 
  server.groupname: groupname used to run the server.  [[server.groupnameDetails|Details]] 
  server.follow-symlink: allow to follow-symlinks.  [[server.follow-symlinksDetails|Details]] 
  server.force-lowercase-filenames: enable force all filenames to lowercase.
  server.kbytes-per-second: limit the throughput for all connections to the given limit in kbyte/s. [[lighttpd:Docs:TrafficShaping|Details]] 
  connection.kbytes-per-second: limit the throughput for each single connection to the given limit in kbyte/s. [[lighttpd:Docs:TrafficShaping|Details]]  
  server.max-connections: maximum connections. [[server.max-connectionsDetails|Details]] 
  server.max-read-idle: maximum number of seconds until a waiting, non keep-alive read times out and closes the connection. [[server.max-read-idleDetails|Details]]
  server.modules: modules to load.  [[server.modulesDetails|Details]] 
  server.pid-file: set the name and location  of the .pid-file. [[server.pid-fileDetails|Details]] 
  server.port: tcp-port to bind the server to.[[server.portDetails|Details]]
  server.max-request-size: maximum size in kbytes of the request. [[server.max-request-sizeDetails|Details]]  
  server.max-worker: number of worker processes to spawn.  [[server.max-workerDetails|Details]] 
  server.name: name of the server/virtual server.  [[server.nameDetails|Details]] 
  server.network-backend: basic network interface for all platforms at the syscalls read() and write() [[server.network-backendDetails|Details]]
  server.max-fds: maximum number of file descriptors. [[server.max-fdsDetails|Details]] 
  server.max-keep-alive-requests: maximum number of request within a keep-alive session.  [[server.max-keep-alive-requestsDetails|Details]] 
  server.max-keep-alive-idle: maximum number of seconds until a idling keep-alive connection is droped. [[server.max-keep-alive-idleDetails|Details]] 
  server.max-write-idle: maximum number of seconds until a waiting write call times out. [[server.max-write-idleDetails|Details]] 
  server.protocol-http11: defines if HTTP/1.1 is allowed or not.  [[server.protocol-http11Details|Details]] 
  server.range-requests: defines if range requests are allowed or not.  [[server.range-requestsDetails|Details]] 
  server.stat-cache-engine: select stat() call caching. [[server.stat-cache-engineDetails|Details]]
  server.tag: set the string returned by the server. [[server.use-tagDetails|Details]]
  server.upload-dirs: path to upload directory. [[server.upload-dirsDetails|Details]] 
  server.use-ipv6: bind to the IPv6 socket.  
  index-file.names: list of files to search for if a directory is requested.  [[index-file-names.Details|Details]] 
  mimetype.assign: list of known mimetype mappings.  [[mimetype.assignDetails|Details]] 
  mimetype.use-xattr: try to use XFS-style extended attribute interface for retreiving the Content-Type.  [[mimetype.use-xattrDetails|Details]] 
  static-file.exclude-extensions: forbid access to the source of some types of files by extension. 
  etag.use-inode: Determines if inode-value is used in ETag generation [[etag.use-inodeDetails|Details]] 
  etag.use-mtime: Determines if mtime-value is used in ETag generation [[etag.use-mtimeDetails|Details]] 
  etag.use-size: Determines if size-value is used in ETag generation [[etag.use-sizeDetails|Details]] 
  static-file.etags: Determines if ETags are generated or not

SSL Options¶

ssl.engine: enable/disable ssl engine.
  ssl.pemfile: path to the PEM file for SSL support.  [[lighttpd:Docs:SSL|Details]] 
  ssl.ca-file: path to the CA file for support of chained certificates. [[lighttpd:Docs:SSL|Details]]

Core Debug Info¶

debug.log-request-header: log all request headers. 
  debug.log-file-not-found:  log if a file wasn't found.
  debug.log-condition-handling: log conditionals handling for debugging. 
  debug.log-request-header-on-error: log request header, but only when there is an error. 
  debug.log-request-handling: log request handling inside lighttpd.
  debug.log-state-handling:  log state handling inside lighttpd.
  debug.log-response-header: log the header we send out to the client.
  [[DebugVariables|Debug Variable Information]]

Options for mod_access - access restrictions module¶

url.access-deny: Denies access to all files with any of given trailing path names.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModAccess|mod_access documentation]]

Options for mod_accesslog - access log files module¶

accesslog.use-syslog: send the accesslog to syslog.
  accesslog.format: the format of the logfile. 
  accesslog.filename: name of the file where the accesslog should be written to if syslog is not used.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModAccessLog|mod_accesslog documentation]]

Options for mod_alias - directory aliases module¶

alias.url: rewrites the document-root for a URL-subset.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModAlias|mod_alias documentation]]

Options for mod_auth - authentication module¶

auth.debug: enable/disable authentication module debug information.
  auth.backend: type of authentication backend.
  auth.require:  
  auth.backend.ldap.hostname: hostname of ldap server.  
  auth.backend.ldap.starttls:  
  auth.backend.ldap.filter:  
  auth.backend.ldap.bind-pw:  
  auth.backend.ldap.ca-file:   
  auth.backend.ldap.base-dn:  
  auth.backend.ldap.bind-dn:  
  auth.backend.plain.userfile: path to plain userfile.  
  auth.backend.plain.groupfile: path to plain groupfile.  
  auth.backend.htdigest.userfile: path to htdigest userfile. 
  auth.backend.htpasswd.userfile: path to htpassword userfile. 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModAuth|mod_auth documentation]]

Options for mod_cache - web accelerating module¶

cache.bases: directory arrays which want to save cache files 
  cache.enable: 
  cache.domains: domain pcre regex arrays which mod_cache will cache 
  cache.support-queries: 
  cache.debug: writes mod_cache debuging messages to error.log or not 
  cache.purge-host: pcre regex hosts ip which are allowed to PURGE cache file 
  cache.refresh-pattern: 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModCache|mod_cache documentation]]

Options for mod_cgi - cgi module¶

cgi.assign: assign cgi handler to an extension.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModCGI|mod_cgi documentation]]

Options for mod_cml - Cache Meta Language module¶

cml.memcache-namespace:         (not used yet) 
  cml.power-magnet: a cml file that is executed for each request.
  cml.memcache-hosts: hosts for the memcache.* functions.
  cml.extension: the file extension that is bound to the cml-module.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModCML|mod_cml documentation]]

Options for mod_compress - compress output module¶

compress.max-filesize: maximum size of the original file to be compressed kBytes.
  compress.cache-dir: name of the directory where compressed content will be cached.
  compress.filetype: mimetypes which might get compressed.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModCompress|mod_compress documentation]]

Options for mod_deflate - dynamic compression module (Patch)¶

deflate.enabled: enable/disable deflate support.
   deflate.compression-level: level of compression.
   deflate.mem-level:
   deflate.window-size:
   deflate.bzip2: enable/disable bzip support. (only in patch for 1.4.x)
   deflate.allowed_encodings: (only in 1.5.x)
   deflate.min-compress-size: minimum size document before compressing.
   deflate.sync-flush: enable sync flush.
   deflate.output-buffer-size: size of buffer for compression.
   deflate.work-block-size: minimum block size for compression.
   deflate.mimetypes: mimetype listing to be compressed. 
   deflate.debug: enable debug.
  [[Mod_Deflate|mod_deflate documentation]]

Options for mod_dirlisting - directory listing module¶

server.dir-listing: enable/disable directory listing.
  dir-listing.activate: enables virtual directory listings if a directory is requested no index-file was found.
  dir-listing.external-css: path to an external css stylesheet for the directory listing.
  dir-listing.encoding: set a encoding for the generated directory listing.
  dir-listing.hide-dotfiles: if enabled, does not list hidden files in directory listings generated by the dir-listing option.
  dir-listing.show-header: include HEADER.txt files above the directory listing..
  dir-listing.hide-header-file: enables hide header file from directory listing.
  dir-listing.show-readme: include README.txt files above the directory listing.
  dir-listing.hide-readme-file: enables displaying readme file in directory listing.
  dir-listing.exclude: files that match any of the specified regular expressions will be excluded from listings.
  dir-listing.set-footer: displays a string in the footer of a listing page.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModDirlisting|mod_dirlisting documentation]]

Options for mod_evasive - evasive module (version 1.5.0)¶

evasive.max-conns-per-ip: upper limit of number of connections per ip allowed.

Options for mod_evhost - enhanced virtual host module¶

evhost.path-pattern: pattern with wildcards to be replace to build a documentroot.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModEVhost|mod_evhost documentation]]

Options for mod_expire - cached expiration module¶

expire.url: assignes a expiration to all files below the specified path. 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModExpire|mod_expire documentation]]

Options for mod_extforward - extract the client's "real" IP from X-Forwarded-For header¶

extforward.forwarder: set trust level of proxy ip's 
  [[DocsModExtForward|mod_extforward documentation]]

Options for mod_fastcgi - fastcgi module¶

fastcgi.map-extensions: map multiple extensions to the same fastcgi server.
  fastcgi.debug: a value between 0 and 65535 to set the debug-level in the FastCGI module.
  fastcgi.server: tell the module where to send FastCGI requests to. 
        host: is hostname/ip of the FastCGI process.
        port: is tcp-port on the "host" used by the FastCGI process. 
        socket: path to the unix-domain socket.
        bin-path: path to the local FastCGI binary which should be started if no local FastCGI is running.
        bin-environment: set environment of FastCGI binary.
        bin-copy-environment: copy environment from server for FastCGI binary.
        mode:     is the FastCGI protocol mode. Default is "responder", also "authorizer" mode is implemented.
        docroot: docroot on the remote host.
        allow-x-send-file: controls if X-LIGHTTPD-send-file and X-Sendfile headers are allowed.
        broken-scriptfilename: breaks SCRIPT_FILENAME in a way that PHP can extract PATH_INFO from it.
        idle-timeout: number of seconds before a unused process gets terminated.
        max-procs: upper limit of processes to start.
        min-procs: sets the minimum processes to start.
        min-procs-not-working: 
        max-load-per-proc: maximum number of waiting processes on average per process before a new process is spawned.
        check-local: enable/disable check for requested file in document root.
        disable-time: time to wait before a disabled backend is checked again.
        strip-request-uri: strip part of request-uri.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModFastCGI|mod_fastcgi documentation]]

Options for mod_flv_streaming - flv streaming module¶

flv-streaming.extensions: extensions of flv files
   Blog Entry
   Additional Information
   Flash Video Player 3.5

Options for mod_mem_cache - local file accelerating¶

mem-cache.filetypes: content-type arrays which want to put into memory 
   mem-cache.enable: 
   mem-cache.max-memory: maxium memory in Mbytes mod-mem-cache can use 
   mem-cache.max-file-size: maxium file size in Kbytes of single file to cache in memory 
   mem-cache.lru-remove-count: 
   mem-cache.expire-time: memory cache's expire time in minutes 
   mem-cache.slru-thresold : slru threshold (against hit counter) 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModMemCache|mod_mem_cache documentation]]

Options for mod_mysql_vhost - Mysql virtual hosting module¶

mysql-vhost.hostname: hostname of mysql server.
  mysql-vhost.db: database name.
  mysql-vhost.user: username to access database.
  mysql-vhost.pass: password to access database. 
  mysql-vhost.sql: SQL statement to execute to obtain docroot.
  mysql-vhost.port: port where to connect to database.
  mysql-vhost.sock: socket where to connect to database.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModMySQLVhost|mod_mysql_vhost documentation]]

Options for mod_proxy - proxy module ¶

proxy.server: where to send Proxy requests.
    host: ip of host to send requests. 
    port: listening port of host. 
  proxy.balance: select type of balancing algorithm (round-robin, hash, fair).
  proxy.debug: enable/disable proxy debug information.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModProxy|mod_proxy documentation]]

Options for mod_proxy_core - proxy module for 1.5.x¶

*proxy-core.balancer
  *proxy-core.protocol
  *proxy-core.backends
  *proxy-core.max-pool-size
  *proxy-core.allow-x-sendfile
  *proxy-core.allow-x-rewrite
  *proxy-core.rewrite-request
  *proxy-core.rewrite-response
  *proxy-core.max-keep-alive-requests
  *proxy-core.split-hostnames
  [[http://redmine.lighttpd.net/wiki/lighttpd/Docs:ModProxyCore]]

Options for mod_redirect - redirect module¶

url.redirect: redirects a set of URLs externally.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModRedirect|mod_redirect documentation]]

Options for mod_rewrite - rewriting module¶

url.rewrite-once: rewrites a set of URLs internally and skip the rest.
  url.rewrite-repeat: rewrites a set of URLs internally in the webserver, continue applying rewrite rules.
  url.rewrite: same as url.rewrite-once.
  url.rewrite-final: same as url.rewrite-once.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModRewrite|mod_rewrite documentation]]

Options for mod_rrdtool - rrdtool module¶

rrdtool.db-name: filename of the rrd-database. 
  rrdtool.binary: path to the rrdtool binary.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModRRDTool|mod_rrdtool  documentation]]

Options for mod_scgi - SCGI Module¶

scgi.map-extensions: map multiple extensions to the same scgi server.
  scgi.debug: a value between 0 and 65535 to set the debug-level in the SCGI module.
  scgi.server: tell the module where to send SCGI requests to. 
        host: is hostname/ip of the SCGI process.
        port: is tcp-port on the "host" used by the SCGI process. 
        socket: path to the unix-domain socket.
        bin-path: path to the local SCGI binary which should be started if no local SCGI is running.
        bin-environment: set environment of SCGI binary.
        bin-copy-environment: copy environment from server for SCGI binary.
        docroot: docroot on the remote host.
        allow-x-send-file: controls if X-LIGHTTPD-send-file and X-Sendfile headers are allowed.
        broken-scriptfilename: breaks SCRIPT_FILENAME in a way that PHP can extract PATH_INFO from it.
        idle-timeout: number of seconds before a unused process gets terminated.
        max-procs: upper limit of processes to start.
        min-procs: sets the minium processes to start.
        min-procs-not-working:
        max-load-per-proc: maximum number of waiting processes on average per process before a new process is spawned.
        check-local: enable/disable check for requested file in document root.
        disable-time: time to wait before a disabled backend is checked again.
        strip-request-uri: strip part of request-uri.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModSCGI|mod_scgi documentation]]

Options for mod_secure_download - secure and fast download module¶

secdownload.document-root: path to the download area.
  secdownload.timeout: how long in seconds is the secret valid.
  secdownload.uri-prefix: prefix to url for download.
  secdownload.secret: Secret string that will be used for the checksum calculation.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModSecDownload|mod_secure_download documentation]]

Options for mod_setenv - set HTTP Environment module¶

setenv.add-response-header: adds a header to the HTTP response sent to the client.
  setenv.add-request-header: adds a header to the HTTP request that was received from the client.
  setenv.add-environment: adds a value to the process environment that is passed to the external applications.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModSetEnv|mod_setenv documentation]]

Options for mod_simple_vhost - simple virtual host module¶

simple-vhost.document-root: path below the vhost directory. 
  simple-vhost.server-root: root of the virtual host.
  simple-vhost.default-host: use this hostname if the requested hostname does not have its own directory.
  simple-vhost.debug: debug simple vhosts module.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModSimpleVhost|mod_simple_vhost documentation]]

Options for mod_ssi - server side includes module¶

ssi.extension: extension of files processed by mod_ssi.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModSSI|mod_ssi documentation]]

Options for mod_status - server status module¶

status.config-url: relative URL for the config page which displays the loaded modules.
  status.statistics-url: relative URL for a plain-text page containing the internal statistics.
  status.enable-sort: add JavaScript which allows client-side sorting for the connection overview.
  status.status-url: relative URL which is used to retrieve the status-page.
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModStatus|mod_status documentation]]

Options for mod_trigger_b4_dl - trigger before download module¶

trigger-before-download.trigger-url: url for trigger pages.
  trigger-before-download.trigger-timeout: time for download link to live.
  trigger-before-download.download-url: url for downloads. 
  trigger-before-download.deny-url: url to show when visitor denied a download.
  trigger-before-download.gdbm-filename: path to gdm file.
  trigger-before-download.memcache-hosts: hosts for the memcache.* functions.
  trigger-before-download.memcache-namespace: (not used yet)
  trigger-before-download.debug:
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModTriggerBeforeDownload|mod_trigger_b4_dl  documentation]]

Options for mod_userdir - user directories¶

userdir.basepath: if set, don't check /etc/passwd for homedir.
  userdir.exclude-user: list of usernames which may not use this feature.
  userdir.path: usually it should be set to "public_html" to take ~/public_html/ as the document root.
  userdir.include-user: if set, only users from this list may use the feature. 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModUserDir|mod_userdir  documentation]]

Options for mod_uploadprogress - upload progress module (version 1.5.0)¶

upload-progress.progress-url:

Options for mod_usertrack - user track module (cookies)¶

usertrack.cookie-name:
  usertrack.cookiename: (deprecated)
  usertrack.cookie-domain:
  usertrack.cookie-max-age:
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModUserTrack|mod_usertrack documentation]]

Options for mod_webdav - WebDAV module¶

webdav.activate: enable/disable WebDAV.
  webdav.is-readonly: enable/disable read only.
  webdav.sqlite-db-name: pathname to SQLite database.
  webdav.log-xml: Log the XML Request bodies for debugging. 
  [[lighttpd:Docs:ModWebDAV|mod_webdav documentation]]