Blocking a domain from accessing my website (Apache)

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1

I checked GoatCounter recently and noticed a lot of “visits” from a sketchy website. I tried to configure Apache to block them, but they continue to “visit” multiple times a day. Even if they’re harmless, I’d rather not have my page views inflated by junk.

I created a configuration file called “ref-spam.conf” in the conf-enabled directory.

The content of that file looks like this:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} aio\.online [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]

I ended up on this “solution” because any time I messed with the configuration file for maerk.xyz specifically, Apache would fail to start.

If any Apache wizards could help me out, I’d appreciate it.

2

First question: after adding that config file, did you restart Apache (httpd)?

3

Yep. Didn’t get any errors upon restarting.

4

What happens when you run sudo a2enmod rewrite?

5

“Module rewrite already enabled”

6

You can try this variant:

RewriteEngine On
# Ensure we are looking for the domain anywhere in the referrer string
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^https?://([^/]+\.)?aio\.online [NC]
RewriteRule ^ - [F,L]

Also, if you are loading your site via a VirtualHost, you will need something like this in your VirtualHost block:

RewriteOptions Inherit
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