SOLVED Websites down after enabling ".htaccess Optimization" feature in cPanel 66

[Tearabite]

Overnight my server upgraded to V66.0.5..

When I logged in early this morning a few new "Recommended Features/Options" were presented to me. Bleary-eyed and pre-coffee, I opted to use all of the new recommended features and immediately 90% of all the sites on the server died with "You don't have permission to access / on this server." errors and these errors in the error logs:
AH00670: Options FollowSymLinks and SymLinksIfOwnerMatch are both off, so the RewriteRule directive is also forbidden due to its similar ability to circumvent directory restrictions

I was able to get the sites back up by adding "Options FollowSymLinks" to .HTACCESS but now I am trying to figure out what this new option was that made everything go sideways so I can make sure we dont use it again - I recall one of the options having something to do with not having to look up recursion or something like that (again, not enough coffee!) and I'm thinking that was probably it.

Short version/TLDR: What are the new "recommended features/options" displayed for v66.0.5 at the first login to WHM?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello,

A couple of internal cases are open to address an issue in cPanel version 66 where the default Apache Options (as configured in "WHM >> Service Configuration >> Apache Configuration >> Global Configuration") are not properly enabled if /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local is missing when when the ".htaccess Optimization" feature showcase driver is run.

Internal case CPANEL-14771 will prevent this from happening, and internal case CPANEL-14772 will repair servers affected by the issue. I'll update this thread once these cases are published to a new cPanel 66 build.

As a workaround, you can backup the existing /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local file first:

cp -a /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local.backup1

Then, browse to WHM >> Service Configuration >> Apache Configuration >> Global Configuration" and re-enable the "Default" values, or re-enable the values that match your custom preferences.

Thank you.

 

[Mijaeus]

Hello, I had the same problem today after logging in WHM, same error (just waking up and not reading much).

After a while I managed to fix going into WHM -> Apache Configuracion -> Global Configuration -> Directory “/” Options (select FollowSymLinks default)

That fixed it for me, or at least it seems so.

 

[Tearabite]

thanks for the info!
Setting the Global Configuration -> Directory “/” Options (select FollowSymLinks default)
fixed the main problem for me, but i'm still seeing this error in the logs:
AH01374: mod_include: Options +Includes (or IncludesNoExec) wasn't set, INCLUDES filter removed

I tried setting Global Configuration -> Directory “/” Options (select IncludesNoExec default) as well as "Includes" but that is not making this error go away.. any idea on that?

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hi @Tearabite,

cPanel version 66.0.6 is now published to the Current and Edge build tiers. It includes resolutions for the cases referenced in my last response:

Fixed case CPANEL-14771: Add in the default TweakSettings values for non-UI saves.
Fixed case CPANEL-14772: Ensure /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local has the defaults if missing.

Could you update cPanel and confirm if any additional issues persist?

Thank you.

 

[Tearabite]

Updated to 66.0.6 but i am still seeing this error now any time an SHTML file tries to load:
AH01374: mod_include: Options +Includes (or IncludesNoExec) wasn't set, INCLUDES filter removed

This new error began immediately after enabling the new feature options this morning on v66.0.5

 

[cPanelMichael]

Updated to 66.0.6 but i am still seeing this error now any time an SHTML file tries to load:
AH01374: mod_include: Options +Includes (or IncludesNoExec) wasn't set, INCLUDES filter removed

This new error began immediately after enabling the new feature options this morning on v66.0.5

Could you open a support ticket using the link in my signature so we can take a closer look? You can post the ticket number here and we will update this thread with the outcome.

Thank you.

 

[Tearabite]

I started opening a ticket and as I was searching through the logs to get the error message I realized that for sites that have "Options +Includes" in .htaccess, there is no AH01374: mod_include error.

So i guess now the question is, how can I enable this option globally so I dont have to put it in every site's htaccess?

 

[cPanelMichael]

I started opening a ticket and as I was searching through the logs to get the error message I realized that for sites that have "Options +Includes" in .htaccess, there is no AH01374: mod_include error.

So i guess now the question is, how can I enable this option globally so I dont have to put it in every site's htaccess?

In "WHM >> Home » Service Configuration » Apache Configuration » Global Configuration", browse to the "Directory “/” Options" section, enable "Includes", and then click "Save" at the bottom of the page.

Thank you.

 

[Tearabite]

In "WHM >> Home » Service Configuration » Apache Configuration » Global Configuration", browse to the "Directory “/” Options" section, enable "Includes", and then click "Save" at the bottom of the page..

I had already done that and yet I still get the message unless "Options +Includes" is set in .htaccess
???

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello @Tearabite,

Could you open a support ticket so we can take a closer look?

Thank you.

 

[Tearabite]

The Support Request ID is: 8746519

 

[cPanelMichael]

The Support Request ID is: 8746519

To update, the "AH01374: mod_include: Options +Includes (or IncludesNoExec) wasn't set, INCLUDES filter removed" error message stemmed from the following entry in the affected account's .htaccess file:

Options FollowSymLinks

Disabling that line solved the error message.

Thank you.

 

[Iqbal Mauludy]

I solved this problem!

Service Configuration » Apache Configuration » Global Configuration -> checklist this FollowSymLinks.

 

[behinam]

Hello
i have same problem.
Unfortunately, changes have been made without notice, which has caused a lot of problems for users.
This method of change is really unfortunate and I do not know exactly how to fix the problem.
I'm really confused and very nervous.

 

[behinam]

Hello
i remove all php ( and all extension) from Easyapache and rebuild again php (and extensions) and solved my problem.
too, i change "AllowOverride None" to "AllowOverride all" in my httpd.conf.

thanks

 

[cPanelMichael]

This method of change is really unfortunate and I do not know exactly how to fix the problem.

You may also want to review the following thread:

Latest cPanel Update causes 404 errors

Thank you.