Server configuration for Clean URLs on a dedicated server, with httpd.conf

1. Enable mod_rewrite for Apache. You can talk to your web host or consult theApache documentation for mod_rewrite to get more information on how to do this. At a minimum, this will involve making sure that mod_rewrite is enabled for your installation of Apache.
   To test if mod_rewrite is available in Apache2, you can type the following at a command prompt, to list all installed Apache modules:
   apache2ctl -M
   On some systems this command may be:
   apachectl -M
   In the output, check to see if the rewrite_module is included in the list of modules.
   If the rewrite module is not in the list, it will have to be either compiled-in or made available as a loadable module. Generally speaking, you can tell Apache to load the module by including
   LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
   AddModule mod_rewrite.c
   
   in your Apache configuration file (see below for information on the configuration file). Be sure to uncomment AddModule mod_rewrite.c, if it is in your configuration file but has been commented out. The following may work to enable the module without editing any files:
   a2enmod rewrite
   Note that these approaches may not work for all combinations of operating system and Apache server -- consult the Apache documentation that came with your Apache software for the correct syntax.
   Remember to restart Apache for the new configuration to take effect.
2. The next step is to locate the appropriate Apache configuration file for your site. Depending on your server configuration, the appropriate Apache configuration file could be httpd.conf, a virtual-host-specific file (vhost.conf), a specific site file (e.g. "default"), or apache2.conf. They are usually located in /etc/httpd/conf, /etc/apache2, or a sub-directory; if not, try the command:
   find /etc -name httpd*
   
   to find the file if it is located elsewhere in your file system.

   If you do not have write permissions to these files, and Clean URLs are not working out-of-the-box for you, you may have to ask your systems administrator or hosting provider for help. You may still be able to readthese configuration files to troubleshoot a little however.

3. The next step is to copy or include the Drupal-specific settings directly into your configuration file. There are instructions here for how to include the Drupal directivesin your configuration file. Consult the .htaccess file in Drupal page for examples of rules, such as the following:
   <Directory /var/www/example.com>
      RewriteEngine on
      RewriteBase /
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
      RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L,QSA]
   </Directory>
   Make sure that you are looking at the .htaccess file for your major version of Drupal (i.e., 7.x, 6.x, 5.x).

Server configuration for Clean URLs on a shared server, with .htaccess

Fixing problems

Check that .htaccess is even being used

RewriteBase setting