Javascript SPA with single entrypoint: Apache with .htaccess?

onecrayon

Just wanted to verify: if I want to run a Javascript SPA with a single entrypoint (e.g. index.html that serves up the SPA, which then routes based on the URL via Javascript Magic), I must use PHP/FPM with Apache so that I can leverage .htaccess, correct? There isn't any way to manage redirects or rewrites for nginx static only sites?

And as a follow-up to that, is it possible to create an app that uses Apache (and thus has access to .htaccess rewrites) but doesn't use PHP? I have zero need for PHP for this site (it's literally just static files with some light rewrite functionality required at the server level).

sean

onecrayon Correct, no rewrites with Nginx static-only apps. If you need more control over the web server configuration, as you do in this case, you have 2 options:

Use a PHP-FPM/Apache app and do your config in .htaccess. You can disable PHP in those apps with the following in .htaccess:

<FilesMatch .php$>
    SetHandler none
</FilesMatch>

Use a private Nginx instance and do your config in nginx.conf. You'll have full control over the nginx configuration so you'll be able to remove the default PHP config included in that setup and replace it with whatever you need.

That said, some SPAs will work with no special web server config, so I recommend trying a static-only app first and then the other options if that doesn't meet your needs.