mod_rewrite

Assuming mod_rewrite is loaded and enabled then you need to change the global default "AllowOveride" setting in order for Apache
to take notice of any .htaccess directives in the default /var/www/html website

mod_rewrite

Once mod_rewrite is enabled and if AllowOveride is on then you can use .htaccess files in each subdirectory to overide the default global settings and thereby enable local mod_rewrite directives

mod rewrite logging

apache 2.2 has mod rewrite logging

RewriteLogLevel

The RewriteLogLevel directive sets the verbosity level of the rewriting logfile.
The default level 0 means no logging, while 9 or more means that practically all actions are logged.

RewriteLog

The RewriteLog directive sets the name of the file to which the server logs any rewriting actions it performs.
If the name does not begin with a slash ('/') then it is assumed to be relative to the Server Root.
The directive should occur only once per server config.

See HtAccess

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REFERRERS
ApacheModules
ModRewrite