apache.htaccessfilenamesosx-leopard

Mac OS X doesn't allow to name files starting with a dot. How do I name the .htaccess file?

As mentioned in the title, Mac OS X doesn't allow me to name files starting with a dot ( . ).

You can’t use a name that begins with a dot “.”, because these names are reserved for the system. Please choose another name.

But, I need an .htaccess file. Or, better, how do I use an htaccess file in Mac OS X without giving it a name starting with a dot?

I am running Mac OS 10.5.8 and XAMPP 1.7.3.

Solution

  • As of 2023, the content of this answer is obsolete, as it was originally written in 2011. Please refer to the up-to-date answer below.

    You can't do this with the Finder. Open Terminal.app (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal), and type:

    > cd /path/to/directory/containing/htaccess
> mv current_file_name .htaccess

    Example (do not take directory names or initial filename literally, of course):

    terminal screenshot