403 Forbidden error document::: How to do it?

[kgun]

SEO related or not, I post the question here.

How shall I set up a 403 forbidden / access denied error document.

1. I have made a 403.htm 403 aceess denied document.
2. With the following .htaccess line: ErrorDocument 403 /403.htm

Problem, I only get the following standard? message:

"Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/1.3.41 Server at www.forumnorway.com Port 80"

What am I doing wrong?

I have no problem with a similar 404.htm error document and the .htaccess line:

ErrorDocument 404 /404.htm

[wige]

I take it you have the entire site set up to be denied or password protected. Since the 403.htm file is in an area that is forbidden, the user isn't allowed to view the document.

The workaround is to create a folder below the main directory, called, for example, /errordocs/. Create the following lines in your .htaccess file

<Folder /errordocs/>
Order alllow, deny
Allow from all
</Folder>
RedirectMatch 404 ^/errordocs/

This setup will ensure that even if the user is denied access to the contents of the site, error messages will still be displayed. The RedirectMatch is a hack to prevent users from being able to access the URL /errordocs/403.htm and thus being able to directly access the error documents.

Note that this method might conflict with the existing directives that lock down the entire site. If that happens, you would need to create an .htaccess file in the errordocs folder that contains the Order and Allow directives.

[kgun]

Thank you for your input so long.

I take it you have the entire site set up to be denied or password protected. Since the 403.htm file is in an area that is forbidden, the user isn't allowed to view the document.

Both.

I assume that you can not see http://www.forumnorway.com/

ForumNorway - 403 Error - Restricted access

Can you se that 403 document?

On local host I see the correct 403 document.

Error 403 - Restricted access.

Possible solutions
MultifinanceIT::: Contact us page.
Navigate to our mininet::: DigitalPunkt

On the internet It redirects to the 404.htm document that is different, so there may be an error in the root .htaccess file I guess. Since you are online, you may see the error before I experiment with different solutions.

Note that this method might conflict with the existing directives that lock down the entire site. If that happens, you would need to create an .htaccess file in the errordocs folder that contains the Order and Allow directives.

That is my preferred method since I am used to it.

I have the following lines in the roor folder .htacces file:

# '403 Forbidden' error
RedirectMatch 404 ^/errordocs/
ErrorDocument 403 /errordocs/403.htm

Is that correct?

Then in the errordocs sub folder I put:

## File paths are relative to the Document Root (/)
# '404 Not Found' error
ErrorDocument 404 /404.htm
# '403 Forbidden' error
ErrorDocument 403 /403.htm
# '401 Unauthorized' error
ErrorDocument 401 /401.htm
# Or..
# ErrorDocument 401 "The webserver could not authorise you for content access.
order deny,allow
allow from all

Fine?

I commented out the line:

RedirectMatch 404 ^/errordocs/

and now I see the correct 403 document on the internet, but I have access. Should be interesting to see how one without access see the link.

[wige]

I am able to access the home page with out any errors, but I get a 404 error when trying to go to the error document. The .htaccess file in the errordocs folder does not need to contain ErrorDocument directives, because they are already set in the root folder's .htaccess. You should only need the directives Order and Allow.

[kgun]

I am able to access the home page with out any errors, but I get a 404 error when trying to go to the error document.

Then my allowed IP-list is too wide

The .htaccess file in the errordocs folder does not need to contain ErrorDocument directives, because they are already set in the root folder's .htaccess. You should only need the directives Order and Allow.

Did you see the last part of my post edited after you posted yours?

Any members without access that can tell how they see the 403 OR 404 error document(s)?

[wige]

Ok, now I am able to see both the forum and the 403 error page when using the link you provided.

[kgun]

Thank you very much. Wait for reaction from members that can not see the forum.

[wige]

Actually, if you are using your usual blocker, I think it might not be working. I tried accessing the site with a common spam bot (Jakarta), and was not blocked based on the user agent.

[kgun]

Can you try now?

order deny,allow
deny from all

Forgot the last line above before allowing.

Also made a common 403 / 404 (404.htm) document. May be the final solution or trying more tomorrow with a separate 403 and or 404 file.

This http://www.forumnorway.com/errordocuments/403.htm under the current solution redirects to the new 404.htm document even if the 403.htm document is as explained above.

It is night here. Tired.

[edhan]

Just tested it, it shows the standard 403 Forbidden error code.