This article gives you an in-depth understanding of how to redirect HTTP to HTTPS? – along with a line by line explanation of each and every rule of .htaccess file.
Typically to force HTTPS on your HTTP website, the only code you need to stick into your .htaccess file is
Page Contents
Answer to how to redirect HTTP to HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]The above code can be used in a .htaccess file of any website irrespective of what web tech is used to build the website whether the site is built-in
- PHP ( Apache )
- JAVA ( Apache Tomcat )
- .NET ( Apache mod_mono )
but will work only if your server is run by apache since those are apache directives.
What are directives?
set of rules to manage server access by different clients
But if you really need to know what exactly the above .htaccess rule means and does, you can read further. I will assure you it won’t waste your time, instead, you will get to know something new.
[self-praising alert START]
But if you already know this then still I would request you to read further so that after reading the full article only then you will be able to appreciate me for writing such a beautiful article.
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So, practically, the actual block which will go into your .htaccess file which will help you force HTTPS for your website is
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
</IfModule>Let’s Learn line by line how redirect HTTP to HTTPS rules work
1. <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
Short Description – Provides a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly.
mod_rewrite provides a flexible and powerful way to manipulate URLs using an unlimited number of rules. Each rule can have an unlimited number of attached rule conditions, to allow you to rewrite URL based on server variables, environment variables, HTTP headers, or time stamps.
Rule Explained – Start of mod_rewrite module block, check if the ‘mod_rewrite’ module is enabled and if enabled only then everything inside the <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> and </IfModule> tags will execute.
2. RewriteEngine On
Short Description – Enables or disables runtime rewriting engine ( mod_rewrite )
Basically, when RewriteEngine directive is set to On only then module mod_rewrite will be able to modify or manipulate URLs otherwise not. All the subsequent RewriteRules will work only if the RewriteEngine directive is On.
Rule Explained – RewriteEngine On enables mod_rewrite
3. RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
Short Description – Defines a condition under which rewriting will take place
Rule Explained – Here, we are checking if the URL does not contain https, only then execute the next line of the rewrite rule.
4. RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
Short Description – Defines rules for the rewriting engine
Syntax – RewriteRule Pattern Substitution [flags]
Any of the below rules can be used
- RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
- RewriteRule ^(.)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
- RewriteRule (.) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
Rule Explained – Basically, it says whatever request comes on the server replace or convert it to the mentioned substitution which is HTTPS protocol. If the requested URL is http://rohutech.com/what-is-htaccess-file/ then this rule will replace or convert this URL to http://rohutech.com/what-is-htaccess-file/. In the above URL
HTTP_HOST – rohutech.com
REQUEST_URI – what-is-htaccess-file
Regex quick reference
| ^ | Start of line |
| (…) | Capture everything enclosed |
| . | Any single character |
| a* | Zero or more of a (which means in our case “Zero or more of Any single character”) |
| $ | End of line |
Flag R – The [R] flag causes an HTTP redirect to be issued to the browser.
Flag R Explained in the Rule – It says any request which comes on the server, redirect it to a URL with https protocol keeping the whole URL as it is and mark the redirect (i.e. R=301) with valid status code, in this case, 301 is used which means this and all future requests should be directed to the given URI.
Flag L – The [L] flag causes mod_rewrite to stop processing the ruleset. In most contexts, this means that if the rule matches, no further rules will be processed. This corresponds to the last command in Perl, or the break command in C. Use this flag to indicate that the current rule should be applied immediately without considering further rules.
Flag L Explained in the Rule – It says that the current rule should be applied immediately without considering further rules.
5. </IfModule>
End of mod_rewrite module block
Hope this article “Redirect HTTP to HTTPS in 2 Easy htaccess Rules” helped you in some way, Please let me know your comments about this article and share your bit of knowledge too so that our readers can get more accurate and to the point information about the topic.
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