{"id":463,"date":"2012-11-05T22:23:32","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T03:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/2012\/11\/05\/disable-directory-indexes-server-wide\/"},"modified":"2021-08-16T23:29:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T03:29:39","slug":"disable-directory-indexes-server-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/edu\/whm\/disable-directory-indexes-server-wide\/","title":{"rendered":"Disable directory indexes server wide"},"content":{"rendered":"

By default Apache\u2019s DirectoryIndexes value is turned on server wide. This allows the files in a folder to be viewed via a directory index when there is no index file present in that directory.<\/p>\n

If you happen to have read our previous article on how to pass PCI compliance scans<\/a>, leaving DirectoryIndexes on is a common way to fail a PCI scan. In this article we\u2019ll walk you through disabling this server wide on your server, please note that this would require root access<\/a> to your server.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Log into WHM<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. In the top-left Find<\/strong> box enter in\u00a0Apache<\/strong>, then click on\u00a0Apache Configuration<\/strong>.
    \n    \"whm-click-on-apache-configuration\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. Click on Global Configuration<\/strong>.
    \n    \"whm-click-on-apache-global-configuration\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  4. Scroll down to the\u00a0Directory \u201c\/\u201d Options<\/strong> section, then un-check\u00a0Indexes<\/strong>.
    \n    \"whm-un-check-apache-indexes\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on\u00a0Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  6. Finally click on\u00a0Rebuild Configuration and Restart Apache<\/strong>, Apache can take up to a few minutes to rebuild and during this time your websites won\u2019t respond to requests.
    \n    \"whm-click-on-rebuild-configuration\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  7. You should see that Apache was successfully restarted now.
    \n    \"whm-apache-successfully-restarted\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  8. Now when you try to browse to a directory that doesn\u2019t have an index file, you\u2019ll receive an error instead of a directory listing.
    \n    \"directory-listing-on-example\"<\/a>\n
    <\/div>\n

    \"directory-listing-off-example\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n


    <\/p><\/ol>\n

    You should now know how to disable Apache\u2019s DirectoryIndex setting server wide on your server. This can help increase security by ensuring a directory that doesn\u2019t include an index file isn\u2019t exposing any other possibly sensitive files.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By default Apache\u2019s DirectoryIndexes value is turned on server wide. This allows the files in a folder to be viewed via a directory index when there is no index file present in that directory. If you happen to have read our previous article on how to pass PCI compliance scans, leaving DirectoryIndexes on is a Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57014,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4289],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whm"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDisable directory indexes server wide | InMotion Hosting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this article we'll discuss disabling Apache's DirectoryIndexes setting, so if a directory doesn't have an index files a directory listing will not be displayed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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