According to cPanel docs, it’s easier to use EasyApache for configuring and regenerating Apache. If you want the recommended way, skip this article. I’m more of a command line gal, so i’ll go ahead and detail the process of editing httpd.conf from the command line, enabling some modules, adding configurations, retaining the configuration and checking if your configuration has been preserved.
On Debian/Ubuntu it’s easier to enable a module. You run the command a2enmod followed by the name of the module and it gets enabled. Then you restart Apache by running another command sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart so your configurations take effect.
On a CentOS (cPanel runs on CentOS) server however, you have to edit the httpd.conf file and add the modules we want loaded (or use EasyApache). Then you run a few commands to make sure your configuration changes aren’t lost upon subsequent regeneration of the configuration file.
nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
To have modifications retained, all modifications must be checked into the configuration system by running:
/usr/local/cpanel/bin/apache_conf_distiller --update
To see if your changes will be conserved, regenerate the Apache configuration file by running:
/usr/local/cpanel/bin/build_apache_conf
/scripts/easyapache
Create a new profile, save it and then build from that profile.
Simply put, httpd.conf is what applies to the whole server and .htaccess is what applies to individual accounts. There is only one httpd.conf for the whole server. Every individual website/account has it’s own .htaccess. In most cases when you are on shared hosting, you will not have access to httpd.conf but you are free to create/modify your .htaccess file.
Using .htaccess files slows down Apache, therefore, if you have access to the main server configuration file (which is usually called httpd.conf), you should add your configuration there.
.htaccess is in /home/username/public_html while http.conf is in /etc/httpd/conf/http.conf