# Using URLs as resource IDs: how to make work with Apache/Passenger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-urls-as-resource-ids-how-to-make-work-with-apache-passenger/194983 "2010-09-14T20:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-urls-as-resource-ids-how-to-make-work-with-apache-passenger/194983/1 "2010-09-14T20:15:16Z")
I have a resource whose public ID is a URL. The resulting URLs look like this [http://my-app.com/things/http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com/foo.png](http://my-app.com/things/http%3A%2F%2Fexample%2Ecom/foo.png) I make sure manually, that “.” in URLs are encoded as “%2E”. The route looks like this get ‘things/:url’ =\> ‘things#show’ This works just fine with Mongrel, but it does not work with Apache and Passenger. The request doesn’t even get through to my app, I only get a 404 response and a corresponding entry in /var/log/apache2/other\_vhosts\_access.log There is nothing in the app’s log. The problem appears to be caused by the “/” in the :url parameter, even though they are encoded as “%2F”. I’d prefer if I didn’t have to read through all the ActionPack and Rack routing code to understand what’s happening and find a remedy. It must be possible to do this cleanly. Michael – Michael S. [mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://www.schuerig.de/michael/](http://www.schuerig.de/michael/) ---
**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-urls-as-resource-ids-how-to-make-work-with-apache-passenger/194983/2 "2010-09-14T21:23:09Z")
On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:13 AM, Michael S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > routing code to understand what’s happening and find a remedy. It must > be possible to do this cleanly. Tricky issue. To fix, enable AllowEncodedSlashes in Apache: [http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#allowencodedslashes](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#allowencodedslashes) jeremy ---
**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/using-urls-as-resource-ids-how-to-make-work-with-apache-passenger/194983/3 "2010-09-14T22:12:20Z")
On Tuesday 14 September 2010, Jeremy K. wrote: > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:13 AM, Michael S. > [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > […] > > > There is nothing in the app’s log. The problem appears to be caused > > by the “/” in the :url parameter, even though they are encoded as > > “%2F”. > > > > I’d prefer if I didn’t have to read through all the ActionPack and > > Rack routing code to understand what’s happening and find a > > remedy. It must be possible to do this cleanly. > > Tricky issue. To fix, enable AllowEncodedSlashes in Apache: > [core - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2](http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#allowencodedslashes) Thanks, Jeremy, that’s been very helpful. In combination with route globbing, i.e. get ‘things/\*url’ =\> ‘things#show’ the intended controller action is called. Curiously, consecutive slashes are collapsed somewhere in parameter processing, so that “[http://foo](http://foo)” becomes “http:/foo”. Well, I can work around that, though, of course I’d prefer if I didn’t have to. Are there any security implications of enabling AllowEncodedSlashes? I figure there must be a reason that they are not enabled by default. Michael – Michael S. [mailto:removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) [http://www.schuerig.de/michael/](http://www.schuerig.de/michael/)