How to use htaccess to rewrite to new base directory for files

Okay, so i made some tests about your case, and here is the working result (i don't think the current RewriteRules , you are using at this time are correct - these showed above).

So here is my tested solution. Example 1 shows rewriting of fisrt level subdomain (eg. subdomain.domain.com), and example 2 shows rewriting second level subdomains (eg. subdomain.subdomain.domain.com).

Here are the examples: Example 1:

1. RewriteEngine On
2. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^\.]+)\.domain\.com
3. RewriteCond /var/www/html/%1 -d
4. RewriteRule ^(.*) /%1/$1 [L]

1. • Enable rewrite engine
2. • catch the 1st level subdomain
3. • check if the directory (the name of the subdomain) exists
4. • rewrite the requested file to the directory (the given example uses relative paths)

Example 2:

1. RewriteEngine On
2. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^([^\.]+)\.([^\.]+)\.domain\.com
3. RewriteCond /var/www/html/%1/%2 -d
4. RewriteRule ^(.*) /%1/%2/$1 [L]

1. • Enable rewrite engine
2. • catch the 1st/2nd level subdomains
3. • check if the directory (the name of the subdomains) exists
4. • rewrite the requested file to the directory (the given example uses relative paths)

So here is the result from the given examples above:

Ex. 1 - Hit url test.domain.com/index.php --> redirects to --> /var/www/html/test/index.php

Ex. 2 - Hit url 1.2.domain.com/index.php --> redirects to --> /var/www/html/1/2/index.php

I assume, that the virtualhost is configured with document root of - /var/www/html

Haven't tested it, but try something along these lines (you might need to tweak it):

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domain\.com(:80)?$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)(?:index.php)?$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [R=permanent,L]

Put the code after RewriteEngine On (i.e. before your first RewriteCond). Note that it's going to remove all index.php endings (i.e. domain.com/a/b/c/index.php will become www.domain.com/a/b/c/. Taken from here:

• http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum92/226.htm

I suggest you do some reading on mod_rewrite, such as:

• http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html
• http://www.askapache.com/htaccess/mod_rewrite-tips-and-tricks.html

if you are going to need it every second day - pays off... :)