Rails - May 2006 - Apache config: Two different rails apps using same domain name (mod_rewrite issue)

The problem I''m solving here is that I have two different Rails
applicatons
that uses the same domain name. One handles the www (e.g. www.mycoolapp.com) 
and is used as the main site, and the other handles the user subdomains 
(e.g.. someuser.mycoolapp.com). The DNS stuff and the Apache virtual hosts 
were all set up, the two rails apps are in place in the file system, and the 
proper .fcgi replacements were made in the .htaccess files. The following 
are the configuration details that I applied to test this scenario:

File System:
    Main application (www.mycoolapp.com) at /home/user/apps/mainsite
    User application (someuser.mycoolapp.com) at /home/user/apps/usersite

Apache Configuration:

NameVirtualHost *:80
...[other stuff here (e.g FastCgi directives, and etc.)]..
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mycoolapp.com
    ServerAlias *.mycoolapp.com
    DocumentRoot /home/user/apps/mainsite/public
    RewriteEngine On
    # If the host requested doesn''t begin with www (or no subdomain), 
rewrite to usersite directory
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(www\.)?mycoolapp\.com? [NC]
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /home/user/apps/usersite/public/$1
</VirtualHost>

I could see the main site (www.mycoolapp.com) -- it loads up fine. For the 
user site, the rails application error page is displayed, and the following 
entry in my apache error log:

mod_rewrite: maximum number of internal redirects reached. Assuming 
configuration error. User ''RewriteOptions MaxRedirects'' to
increase the
limit if necessary.

My erroneous rewrite statements above is the problem. Anyone has ideas out 
there? Thanks.

I think I''ve solved this problem by skipping the rewrite stuff
altogether:
Looking at the following Apache config:

# Main site vhost
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mycoolapp.com
    ServerAlias www.mycoolapp.com
    DocumentRoot /home/user/apps/mainsite/public
</VirtualHost>

# User site vhost
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName user.mycoolapp.com
    ServerAlias *.mycoolapp.com
    DocumentRoot /home/user/apps/usersite/public
</VirtualHost>

This split vhost configuration works. Requests to www.mycoolapp.com and 
mycoolapp.com are handled by the first one (main site), while all others go 
to the user site. The subdomain "user" is chosen arbirtarily, but the 
important part is the ServerAlias that has the subdomain wildcard.

Also, along the way in your Rails application, some subdomains should be 
reserved and be prevented from being created as usernames. Names like www, 
ftp, admin, test, tmp, billing, and many others should not be used as 
username and hence become subdomains of your site. They can be blocked at 
the data layer, controller, and even in the Apache configuration.

"Jake Pugster" <virgild@gmail.com> wrote in 
message news:e4fprb$e1e$1@sea.gmane.org...
> The problem I''m solving here is that I have two different Rails 
> applicatons that uses the same domain name. One handles the www (e.g. 
> www.mycoolapp.com) and is used as the main site, and the other handles the 
> user subdomains (e.g.. someuser.mycoolapp.com). The DNS stuff and the 
> Apache virtual hosts were all set up, the two rails apps are in place in 
> the file system, and the proper .fcgi replacements were made in the 
> .htaccess files. The following are the configuration details that I 
> applied to test this scenario:
>
> File System:
>    Main application (www.mycoolapp.com) at /home/user/apps/mainsite
>    User application (someuser.mycoolapp.com) at /home/user/apps/usersite
>
> Apache Configuration:
>
> NameVirtualHost *:80
> ...[other stuff here (e.g FastCgi directives, and etc.)]..
> <VirtualHost *:80>
>    ServerName mycoolapp.com
>    ServerAlias *.mycoolapp.com
>    DocumentRoot /home/user/apps/mainsite/public
>    RewriteEngine On
>    # If the host requested doesn''t begin with www (or no
subdomain),
> rewrite to usersite directory
>    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^(www\.)?mycoolapp\.com? [NC]
>    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /home/user/apps/usersite/public/$1
> </VirtualHost>
>
> I could see the main site (www.mycoolapp.com) -- it loads up fine. For the 
> user site, the rails application error page is displayed, and the 
> following entry in my apache error log:
>
> mod_rewrite: maximum number of internal redirects reached. Assuming 
> configuration error. User ''RewriteOptions MaxRedirects''
to increase the
> limit if necessary.
>
> My erroneous rewrite statements above is the problem. Anyone has ideas out 
> there? Thanks.