MIME Types
MIME types form a standard way of classifying file types on the Internet. Internet programs
such as Web server and Web browsers all have a list of MIME types, so that they can transfer
files of the same type in the same way, no matter what operating system they are working in.
Adding New MIME Types
The default MIME type configuration file for your Virtual Private Server
Apache Web Server is located at
/www/conf/mime.types. This file includes definitions for the most common MIME types.
MIME types can also be defined in your Web server configuration file. It is recommended that
new MIME types be added in that file using the AddType directive rather than changing
the /www/conf/mime.types file.
The AddType directive maps the given filename extensions onto the specified content
type.
AddType MIME-TYPE FILE-EXTENSION [FILE-EXTENSION] ...
MIME-TYPE is the MIME type to use for filenames containing FILE-EXTENSION. This
mapping is added to any already in force, overriding any mappings that already exist for the
same extension.
A MIME type has two parts: a type and a subtype. They are separated by a slash (/). For
example, a MIME type for Macromedia Flash
files is application and the subtype is x-shockwave-flash. Together, the complete
MIME type is application/x-shockwave-flash. Here is the complete AddType directive
to add the MIME type for Macromedia Flash:
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf .cab
There are two ways in which you can add the AddType directive to the web server
configuration file. You can either connect to your Virtual Private Server using
SSH,
su to root, and edit the file directly
on your Virtual Private Server (using pico, vi, or you favorite UNIX text editor).
Or you can Download the file to your local
machine, edit the file, and then upload the modified file back to your Virtual Private Server.
Either method works equally well.
NOTE: If you transfer the web server configuration
file via FTP, be sure to use ASCII mode.
Examples
Many Virtual Private Server features require MIME type definitions. These are a few of them:
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