It is possible to use macros in the Apache config files to shorten them and make them easier to read and manage. To use this you have to install mod_macro if it’s not already installed in your distribution.

Sample mod_macro usage

<Macro VHost $customer $domain>
<VirtualHost $domain:80>
  ServerName $domain
  ServerAlias www.$domain
  DocumentRoot /vaw/www/$customer/htdocs/$domain/
  ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /var/www/$customer/cgi-bin/
  ErrorLog /var/log/apache/$customer/logs/$domain-error.log
  CustomLog /var/log/apache/$customer/logs/$domain-access.log combined
  <Directory /var/www/$customer/cgi-bin/>
    Options ExecCGI,noIndexes
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
</Macro>

Use VHost customer_A example.com
Use VHost customer_B example.net
Use VHost customer_C example.org

Another example

<Macro PasswordProtect>
AuthName "Restricted area"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /var/www/.htpasswd
require valid-user
</Macro>

<Directory /var/www/domain/htdocs>
Options Indexes
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/domain/htdocs/internal>
Use PasswordProtect
Options -Indexes
</Directory>
<Directory /var/www/domain/htdocs/downloads>
Use PasswordProtect
Options +FollowSymLinks
</Directory>

More info can be found on the mod_macro website.