Enable URL rewrite engine

General Installation & Upgrade
1

My web hosts say that it is enabled on the server and that it is my CS-Cart that’s the problem

2

Hello

“Enable URL rewrite engine” is not just “is mod_rewrite loaded”. When you turn the SEO add-on on, CS-Cart fetches https://your-store/check_url_rewrite.html from the server and needs HTTP 200 back.

Run this on the server (SSH), not your PC:
curl -sI -A curl ‘https://YOUR-DOMAIN/check_url_rewrite.html’

  • 200: rewriting works, problem is elsewhere (check Storefront URL in admin).
  • 404 / error page: .htaccess is ignored. Module is loaded but AllowOverride is None.
  • 301/302: a redirect (http->https or www). Make the store URL match the final URL with no redirect.
  • 401 / 403 / 503: Basic auth, WAF or Cloudflare blocking the request.
  • 000 / timeout: server can’t reach its own domain (DNS/firewall).

Best regards
Robert

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3

Not sure how the storefront can be checked with this installation being in progress as we are attempting to install CS-Cart on a server to test and configure it before re-installing it on our main domain?

4

Hello

That’s exactly why it fails. Enabling SEO makes the server fetch its own address (/check_url_rewrite.html) and expects HTTP 200. On a temporary test box that usually can’t succeed: password/Basic auth, a holding page, or the Storefront URL still pointing at your main domain.

It’s not blocking you. Just leave SEO off on the test server and enable it after you move to the main domain, where mod_rewrite/AllowOverride are active. It’ll be normally work then.

Have a nice day

Best regards
Robert

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5

Thanks Robert. as you suggest, despite the message I’ve been able to go forward and install 4.20 without issue. That said however, I do have a message advising that core files have been changed which I don’t understand as I’ve done nothing to alter core files other than to follow the installation instructions to the letter. Could this result from my simply proceeding to complete the install?

6

Hello

No, you’ve done nothing wrong, and that message isn’t an error. It comes from file-integrity monitor (“Monitor changes in core files” in Settings → General). At every admin login it compares your current files against a baseline and flags anything that differs. The install/upgrade steps, the official patches in the package, or a baseline that’s slightly out of sync with the shipped files are enough to trigger it, so on a fresh install it’s common and harmless.

Have a nice day

Best regrads
Robert

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