Wordpress 404 error solved by enabling mod_rewrite for Apache on CentOS 7

As of CentOS version 7, the mod_rewrite Apache module is enabled by default. We will verify this is the case with the httpd command and -M flag, which prints a list of all loaded modules:

httpd -M

Output
. . .
 remoteip_module (shared)
 reqtimeout_module (shared)
 rewrite_module (shared)
 setenvif_module (shared)
 slotmem_plain_module (shared)
 . . .

If the rewrite_module does not appear in the output, enable it by editing the 00-base.conf file with the vi editor:

sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-base.conf

Next, apply the configuration change by restarting Apache:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

With Apache installed and the mod_rewrite module enabled, we're ready to configure the use of a .htaccess file.

sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Locate the <Directory /var/www/html> section and change the AllowOverride directive from None to All:

/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

. . .
<Directory /var/www/html>
. . .
 # 
 # AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
 # It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
 # Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
 #
 AllowOverride All
. . .
</Directory>
. . .

Save and exit the file and then restart Apache to apply the change:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Next, create a .htaccess file in the default document root, /var/www/html, for Apache.