Plesk servers running Nginx as a reverse proxy or standalone web server do not read Apache .htaccess files. To use URL rewriting, you must convert your mod_rewrite rules into Nginx syntax and add them directly to the Plesk control panel.
Step 1: Convert Apache Rules to Nginx Syntax
Nginx uses a different structure for rewriting URLs. You must translate your existing rules before adding them to Plesk. Every Nginx statement must end with a semicolon.
Apache Example:
RewriteRule ^product/([0-9]+)$ product.php?id=$1 [L]
Nginx Equivalent:
rewrite ^/product/([0-9]+)$ /product.php?id=$1 last;
Step 2: Add the Rules to Plesk
- Log in to your Plesk Control Panel.
- Navigate to Websites & Domains.
- Locate your domain and click on Apache & Nginx Settings.
- Scroll down to the section labeled Additional Nginx directives.
- Paste your converted Nginx rewrite rules into the text area.
- Click Apply or OK to save the changes and reload Nginx.
Standard Rule for Common CMS (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla)
If you are trying to enable search-engine-friendly URLs for standard content management systems, you generally do not need complex rewrite rules. Instead, paste the following block into the Additional Nginx directives box:
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}
Troubleshooting Common Issues
- 404 Errors on Static Files: If images or CSS break, ensure that Smart static files processing is configured correctly, as Nginx will attempt to serve these files directly without passing them to Apache.
- Nginx Restart Failures: If Plesk displays an error after saving, verify that every single line of your custom directives ends with a semicolon (;). Missing semicolons will cause syntax failures.
