In the event of a problem or error, Apache can be configured to do one of four things,
The first option is the default, while options 2-4 are
configured using the ErrorDocument
directive, which is
followed by the HTTP response code and a message or URL.
Messages in this context begin with a single quote
("
), which does not form part of the message itself.
Apache will sometimes offer additional information regarding the
problem/error.
URLs can begin with a slash (/) for local URLs, or be a full URL which the client can resolve. Examples:
ErrorDocument 500
http://foo.example.com/cgi-bin/tester
ErrorDocument 404 /cgi-bin/bad_urls.pl
ErrorDocument 401 /subscription_info.html
ErrorDocument 403 "Sorry can't allow you access
today
Note that when you specify an ErrorDocument
that
points to a remote URL (ie. anything with a method such as "http"
in front of it) Apache will send a redirect to the client to tell
it where to find the document, even if the document ends up being
on the same server.. This has several implications, the most
important being that if you use an "ErrorDocument 401"
directive then it must refer to a local document. This
results from the nature of the HTTP basic authentication
scheme.
See Also: documentation of customizable responses.