Redirect URLs on Windows Cloud Sites

Introduction

In order to allow your users to securely access your website, you must use an SSL. This changes the HyperText Transfer Protocol (http) to HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (https). Using https helps keep your site visitor information safe from hackers by encrypting the information and making it difficult to translate. If you aren’t familiar with SSL’s check out our article What Is an SSL Certificate?.

Once you’ve purchased your SSL and it is installed on your site, you will need to use redirects for URLs and subdomains to force traffic through the SSL. Alternatively, if you are using Windows on Cloud Sites, you can use one of the methods below to redirect your URLs and subdomains. If you are using Linux on Cloud Sites, follow the instructions here to redirect using your .htaccess file.

Prerequisites

• A cloud sites plan using Windows as its operating system.
• A domain with an active SSL certificate installed.

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Using web.config

If you are using the IIS Rewrite Module for your site, you can write the script to force SSL on all pages on your site. An example of the script is below.

<? xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
<system.webServer>
 <rewrite>
  <rules>
   <rule name="Redirect to HTTPS" stopProcessing="true">
    <match url=".*"/>
    <conditions>
     <add input="{HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS}" pattern="^on quot; negate="true"/>      
     <add input="{HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS}" pattern=".+" negate="true"/>     
    </conditions>     
    <action type="Redirect" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}{SCRIPT_NAME}" redirectType="SeeOther"/>    </rule>   
  </rules>  
 </rewrite> 
</system.webServer> 
</configuration>

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Using ASP.NET

MVC3 & higher

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<! DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<!script runat="server">// <!
  protected void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
 {
  if(Request.ServerVariables["HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS"] != "on")
 {
  if(Request.ServerVariables.Get("HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS") == null)
 {
string xredir__, xqstr__;

  xredir__ = "https://" + Request.ServerVariables["SERVER_NAME"];
  xredir__ += Request.ServerVariables["SCRIPT_NAME"];
  xqstr__ = Request.ServerVariables["QUERY_STRING"];

  if (xqstr__ != "")
   xredir__ = xredir__ + "?" + xqstr__;
  Response.Redirect(xredir__);
  }
 }
  Response.Write("SSL Only");
 }

</script>

<html>
<head id="head1" runat="server> <title>SSL Only</title> </head>

<body> </body> </html>

MVC 1-2

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<! DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<!script runat="server">// <!
protected void Page_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
      if(Request.ServerVariables["HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS"] != "on")
    {
      if(Request.ServerVariables.Get("HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS") == null)
    {
string xredir__, xqstr__;
      xredir__ = "https://" + Request.ServerVariables["SERVER_NAME"];
      xredir__ += Request.ServerVariables["SCRIPT_NAME"];
      xqstr__ = Request.ServerVariables["QUERY_STRING"];
    if (xqstr__ != "")
    xredir__ = xredir__ + "?" + xqstr__;
    Response.Redirect(xredir__);
    }
  }
    Response.Write("SSL Only");
  }
</script>
<html>
<head id="head1" runat="server> <title>SSL Only</title> <body> </body> </html>

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Classic ASP

<% Response.Buffer = True
If (Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS") <> "on") Then
  If IsEmpty(Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_CLUSTER_HTTPS")) Then
   Dim xredir__, xqstr__

   xredir__ = "https://" & Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_NAME") & _
   Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME")
   xqstr__ = Request.ServerVariables("QUERY_STRING")

   If xqstr__ <> "" Then xredir__ = xredir__ & "?" & xqstr__

   Response.Redirect xredir__
  End If
End If
Response.Write("SSL Only")
%>

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Next Steps

Now that you’ve seen how to redirect URLs to use your SSL, find out how to redirect subdomains in our article Redirecting Subdomains using ASP and ASP.NET in Cloud Sites.