Remove index.php and public from URL CodeIgniter 4

Codeigniter 4 Remove Public and Index.php From URL

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Inside this short well explained article, we will see about the steps i.e Codeigniter 4 Remove Public and Index.php From URL.

When we work with CodeIgniter 4 application, then by default it contains public & index.php into the URL. But URL having “public” & “index.php” is Ok when we are working at development server or at localhost. But while deploying application to production server means at Live, we need to must make user friendly and/or SEO friendly URLs.

Note*: For this article, CodeIgniter v4.0.3 or v4.0.4 setup has been considered. May be when you are seeing, version will be updated. CodeIgniter 4.x still is in development mode.

Let’s get started.

Download & Install CodeIgniter 4 Setup

We need to download & install CodeIgniter 4 application setup to system. To set application we have multiple options to proceed. Here are the following ways to download and install CodeIgniter 4 –

  • Manual Download
  • Composer Installation
  • Clone Github repository of CodeIgniter 4

Complete introduction of CodeIgniter 4 basics – Click here to go. After going through this article you can easily download & install setup.

Here is the command to install via composer –

$ composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter codeigniter-4

Assuming you have successfully installed application into your local system.

Settings Environment Variables

When we install CodeIgniter 4, we have env file at root. To use the environment variables means using variables at global scope we need to do env to .env

Open project in terminal

$ cp env .env

Above command will create a copy of env file to .env file. Now we are ready to use environment variables.

CodeIgniter starts up in production mode by default. Let’s do it in development mode. So that while working if we get any error then error will show up.

# CI_ENVIRONMENT = production

// Do it to 

CI_ENVIRONMENT = development

Now application is in development mode.

CodeIgniter 4 Application Configurations Changes

To remove /public/index.php from CodeIgniter 4 application URLs we need to do very simple few steps. We will see step by step inside this explained article. A well structured URL is very efficient for users as well as for SEO point of view.

We will first see to remove /public and then we will discuss about index.php.

How to Remove “public” from URL ?

When we download CodeIgniter 4 setup, it contains public folder. That public folder actually appears into URL. If you want to test, rename to something else and check URL at browser. It will not work.

Step #1 – Move Files

Move index.php & .htaccess file from /public folder to application root.

Step #2 – Update index.php

Inside index.php file we have a path defined which points to app directory. We need to update path of that file, it’s because we have moved from public folder to root directory of application.

Initially, the path code inside index.php file – 

$pathsPath = realpath(FCPATH . '../app/Config/Paths.php');

We need to update path to –

$pathsPath = realpath(FCPATH . 'app/Config/Paths.php');

Step #3

We are using CodeIgniter 4, so .htaccess file already included in the application. But if in case, this file is missing then you need to copy the following give code and paste into your .htaccess file which should be placed at root.

# Disable directory browsing
Options All -Indexes

# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Rewrite engine
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------

# Turning on the rewrite engine is necessary for the following rules and features.
# FollowSymLinks must be enabled for this to work.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
	Options +FollowSymlinks
	RewriteEngine On

	# If you installed CodeIgniter in a subfolder, you will need to
	# change the following line to match the subfolder you need.
	# http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritebase
	# RewriteBase /

	# Redirect Trailing Slashes...
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    	RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]

	# Rewrite "www.example.com -> example.com"
	RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
	RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
	RewriteRule ^ http://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]

	# Checks to see if the user is attempting to access a valid file,
    # such as an image or css document, if this isn't true it sends the
    # request to the front controller, index.php
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
	RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/$1 [L]

	# Ensure Authorization header is passed along
    RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .
    RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
</IfModule>

<IfModule !mod_rewrite.c>
    # If we don't have mod_rewrite installed, all 404's
    # can be sent to index.php, and everything works as normal.
    ErrorDocument 404 index.php
</IfModule>

# Disable server signature start
    ServerSignature Off
# Disable server signature end

Now, after doing all these things you will be able to access URLs without public keyword.

How to remove “index.php” from URL ?

To remove index.php from URL additionally we need some configuration from PHP settings as well.

Step #1 – Configuration Change

Open up the file /app/Config/App.php.

Search for this code – 

public $indexPage = 'index.php';

Change to – 

public $indexPage = '';

Step #2

We need to enable mod_rewrite which is a PHP extension. We need to enable mod_rewrite PHP extension by using following command.

$ sudo a2enmod rewrite

Next, we need to restart the server. Assuming we have Apache server, going to restart the server by following command.

$ sudo service apache2 restart

To check the extension enable or not. Following these steps –

  • Create a simple .php file at localhost, let’s called it as info.php
  • Open up the file and add the following code into it – <?php phpinfo(); ?>
  • Back to browser and run that file. You should see the following if your extension successfully enabled.

Step #3

Open application URLs in browser without having public and index.php into the URL.

We hope this article helped you to learn i.e Codeigniter 4 Remove Public and Index.php From URL in a very detailed way.

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