Hetzner虚拟服务器（Plesk管理）WordPress固定链接404问题求助

I’ve helped several clients troubleshoot this exact issue on Hetzner’s Plesk-managed virtual servers—let’s break down targeted fixes since the standard Apache .htaccess approach often fails here due to Plesk’s default nginx/Apache hybrid setup:

1. Fix Nginx Proxy Mode (Critical First Step) #

Most Hetzner Plesk instances use nginx as a reverse proxy in front of Apache, which means nginx handles static requests directly and may bypass Apache’s rewrite rules entirely. Here’s how to fix this:

• Log into Plesk, navigate to your domain’s Apache & nginx Settings
• Scroll to Additional nginx directives and add this rule to forward dynamic requests to WordPress:

  location / {
      try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
  }
  

• Save the settings and restart nginx (Plesk usually does this automatically, but you can confirm via the "Restart Services" option if needed)

2. Correct Apache Directory Permissions in Plesk #

Your earlier <Directory> directive might have used an incorrect path—Plesk provides a variable to avoid this. Update your Additional Apache directives to:

<Directory %docroot%>
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

This uses Plesk’s built-in %docroot% variable to target your site’s document root accurately, avoiding path mismatches that can block .htaccess from working.

3. Verify .htaccess Ownership & Permissions #

Hetzner’s Plesk environment enforces strict file ownership rules. Ensure your .htaccess file has the right permissions:

• If you have SSH access, run these commands (replace example.com with your domain):

  chown psaadm:psaadm /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htaccess
  chmod 644 /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htaccess
  

• If you don’t have SSH, use Plesk’s File Manager to set ownership to psaadm and permissions to 644 (read/write for owner, read-only for group/others)

4. Force WordPress to Refresh Permalink Rules #

Even if your server config is fixed, WordPress might still be using outdated rewrite rules:

• Log into your WordPress admin dashboard
• Go to Settings > Permalinks
• Don’t change any settings—just click Save Changes to trigger WordPress to re-generate and write the correct .htaccess rules

5. Check for ModSecurity Interference #

Plesk’s default ModSecurity rules can sometimes flag WordPress permalink rewrites as suspicious. To test this:

• In Plesk, go to Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) for your domain
• Temporarily disable ModSecurity and test your permalinks
• If the 404s disappear, you’ll need to whitelist the rewrite rule in ModSecurity or adjust the rule set to exclude WordPress requests

Why Your Original Approach Failed #

On standalone servers, Apache handles all requests, so AllowOverride All and .htaccess work directly. But Hetzner’s Plesk setup uses nginx as the front-end proxy, so nginx must be configured to forward non-static requests to Apache first—otherwise, your .htaccess rules never get applied.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Ermintrude