HTTP 404
TL:DR The requested page was not found.
- When communicating via HTTP, a server is required to respond to a request, such as a web
browser request for a web page, with a numeric response code and an optional, mandatory,
or disallowed (based upon the status code) message. In code 404, the first digit indicates
a client error, such as a mistyped Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The following two
digits indicate the specific error encountered. HTTP's use of three-digit codes is similar
to the use of such codes in earlier protocols such as FTP and NNTP. At the HTTP level, a
404 response code is followed by a human-readable "reason phrase". The HTTP
specification suggests the phrase "Not Found" and many web servers by default
issue an HTML page that includes both the 404 code and the "Not Found" phrase.
- A 404 error is often returned when pages have been moved or deleted. In the first case,
it is better to employ URL mapping or URL redirection by returning a 301 Moved Permanently
response, which can be configured in most server configuration files, or through URL
rewriting; in the second case, a 410 Gone should be returned. Because these two options
require special server configuration, most websites do not make use of them.
- 404 errors should not be confused with DNS errors, which appear when the given URL
refers to a server name that does not exist. A 404 error indicates that the server itself
was found, but that the server was not able to retrieve the requested page.