Redirect www to non-www on https site using mod rewrite, VirtualHost, and/or Directory

Question

This is my first post to StackOverflow, so please bear with me......

I'm trying to redirect www.example.com to https://example.com. I've looked at quite a few solutions on StackOverflow and other forum sites, but I can't seem to get anything to work. Here are a few of the other StackOverflow pages I've looked at:

Generic htaccess redirect www to non-www

apache redirect from non www to www

Redirect Non-WWW to www

My SSL cert lists both example.com and www.example.com. Here is the code in my apache2.conf file that I've been trying to add the redirect:

<Directory /home/tim/examplepath>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ sort-url.php?rt=$1
</Directory>

<VirtualHost XXX.XXX.XX.XXX:12345>
    ServerName example.com
    Redirect / https://example.com/ 
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost XXX.XXX.XX.XXX:80>
   ServerName example.com
   Redirect / https://example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost XXX.XXX.XX.XXX:123>
   ServerName example.com
   DocumentRoot /home/tim/examplepath/
   SSLEngine on
   SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/example.com.crt
   SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/certs/example.key
   SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/ssl/certs/sf_bundle.crt
</VirtualHost>

I would like everything to redirect to https://example.com/sort-url.php?rt=$1 where I can then determine which page to show based on the variable $1.

Can someone please tell what I need to do? ServerAlias in the and the 301 redirect inside of the haven't worked for me.

Thank you in advance!

Tim

This might help (although it is from https to http): [Apache mod rewrite https to http only for a specific URL](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10103321/apache-mod-rewrite-https-to-http-only-for-a-specific-url) — Jost, Oct 09 '13 at 07:03
I'm not sure what to add or do to my code from that. My knowledge of mod rewrite is very limited.... — timfstl, Oct 09 '13 at 22:23

Qben · Answer 1 · 2013-10-09T09:04:43.597

1

Welcome to SO!

If you want EVERYTHING to end up in example.com you could make it your _default_ site. I think you could do it like this:

<VirtualHost _default_:*>
   Redirect permanent / https://example.com
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost XXX.XXX.XX.XXX:123>
   ServerName example.com
   DocumentRoot /home/tim/examplepath/
   SSLEngine on
   SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/example.com.crt
   SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/certs/example.key
   SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/ssl/certs/sf_bundle.crt

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /
   # Check is HTTPS is used
   RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =off
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/sort-url.php?rt=$1 [R=301,L]

   # If we have not specified a file to access, redirect to sort-url.php
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ sort-url.php?rt=$1
</VirtualHost>

I must admit this is untested, and I am a bit unsure if you need a VirtualHost for non-SSL connections that redirect to the SSL one.

EDIT
Changed so that the default host just forward to https://example.com to make sure the correct hostname is used.

edited Oct 09 '13 at 09:04

answered Oct 09 '13 at 08:28

Qben

2,617
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Thank you Qben. It didn't like the "RewriteBase /" in the VirtualHost (says only in directory). Are you suggesting I don't need a ? Also, is there supposed to be an "=" in "%{HTTPS} =off"? I'm still troubled by this problem. Will post if I find a fix... – timfstl Oct 09 '13 at 22:27
I would say that `RewriteBase` in this case can be removed since it's relative to `DocumentRoot`. Yes, it should say `=off` since you want to do the rewrite if HTTPS is not enabled. Since your `DocumentRoot` is the same path as your `Directory` you should be able to skip it. Basically I moved your stuff from `Directory` into the `VirtualHost`. Could you explain what happen when you access `www.example.com`? – Qben Oct 10 '13 at 05:30
When I try to access www.example.com, it takes me here: http://search.dnsassist.verizon.net/ – timfstl Oct 10 '13 at 23:48
I tried the code you provided above. When I restarted apache, it informed me that a virtualhost did not exist for *.80. Once I added back a virtualhost for port 80, the site directed me to a "Bad Request" page... Any ideas? I'm completely stumped on this one. – timfstl Oct 10 '13 at 23:49
You seem to be using ip based virtual hosts instead of name based. What ports do you have `Listen` statements for? – Qben Oct 11 '13 at 05:57

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 11 '13 at 00:29

0

I had to add a CNAME to my DNS records on my Rackspace account. The CNAME is "www.highschoolclothing.com".

Thank you everyone for your help though!

answered Oct 11 '13 at 00:29

timfstl

21
5

Ahh, I kind of assumed your DNS records where up to date. Good thing you found it. You can accept your own answer btw. :-) – Qben Oct 11 '13 at 05:58
Thanks Qben. StackOverflow wouldn't let me accept my own answer for 6 hours, but I'm able to now! :) I thought my DNS records were good, too, based on what my SSL check showed. I think I misunderstood a few things (this is my first time setting up a server). I didn't know CNAME could be used for the www issue, since all the examples I saw were a little different. I really do appreciate your help though. – timfstl Oct 11 '13 at 07:25

Redirect www to non-www on https site using mod rewrite, VirtualHost, and/or Directory

2 Answers2