By default, Apache prohibits using an .htaccess file to apply rewrite rules, so
Step 1 — Enabling mod_rewrite (if not Enabled) First, we need to activate mod_rewrite. It's available but not enabled with a clean Apache 2 installation.
$ sudo a2enmod rewrite
This will activate the module or alert you that the module is already enabled. To put these changes into effect, restart Apache.
$ sudo systemctl restart apache2
mod_rewrite is now fully enabled. In the next step we will set up an .htaccess file that we'll use to define rewrite rules for redirects.
Step 2 — Setting Up .htaccess Open the default Apache configuration file using nano or your favorite text editor.
$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
Inside that file, you will find a block starting on the first line. Inside of that block, add the following new block so your configuration file looks like the following. Make sure that all blocks are properly indented.
/etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
<VirtualHost *:80>
<Directory /var/www/html>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
. . .
</VirtualHost>
Save and close the file. To put these changes into effect, restart Apache.
$ sudo systemctl restart apache2
Done. Your .htacess should work. This link may actually help somebody https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-rewrite-urls-with-mod_rewrite-for-apache-on-ubuntu-16-04