Web server directory index

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When an

URL that points to a directory structure instead of an actual web page within the directory structure, the web server
will generally serve a default page, which is often referred to as a main or "index" page.

A common filename for such a page is index.

jsp, default.asp) even though it may be more appropriate to still specify the HTML output (index.html.php or index.html.aspx), as this should not be taken for granted. An example is the popular open source web server Apache, where the list of filenames is controlled by the DirectoryIndex[1] directive in the main server configuration file or in the configuration file for that directory. It is possible to not use file extensions at all, and be neutral to content delivery methods, and set the server to automatically pick the best file through content negotiation
.

If the server is unable to find a file with any of the names listed in its configuration, it may either return an error (usually

index page listing the files in the directory. Usually this option, often named autoindex, is also configurable.[2]

History

A scheme where web server serves a default file on per-subdirectory basis has been supported as early as

CERN HTTPd since at least 2.17beta (5 April 1994), whose default supports Welcome.html and welcome.html in addition to the NCSA-originated index.html.[