MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Types tell the end user's machine how to treat a certain file extension when it is served to it by a web server. They go in the web server's configuration or in a .htaccess file.
- Which mime types are configured?
- How do I find the mime type I need?
- How do I add a mime type?
- How do I set it so that files get downloaded rather than run?
Which mime types are configured?
The following MIME types are set on the web space service:
How do I find the mime type I need?
Look up the reference guide on this site and make a note of the MIME type.
How do I add a mime type?
Put it in a .htaccess file. It needs to be in Apache configuration format, e.g. to tell the server how to treat a file with a .cgi extension you would add this using the AddType directive:
AddType - application/x-httpd-cgi - cgi
Note that you do not use a "." before the file extension. The web server already knows to put this in.
You can have as many entries as you like, as long as they are all on their own line and the MIME type and the extension have at least one space between them.
The amount white space is irrelevant, so tabulating these files will make them easier to review and manage. You can also assign more than one extension to a MIME type by adding to the end of the assigned extension, as long as they are space separated.
How do I set it so that files get downloaded rather than run?
There is a special MIME type, the Octet Stream, that does this. If I have 6 extensions - .bin .dms .lha .lzh .exe and .class - I want to be downloaded rather than run when a user gets them from my site, I would add the following to my .htaccess file:
AddType - application/octet-stream - bin dms lha lzh exe class
