How can I force users to access my page over HTTPS instead of HTTP?

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I've got just one page that I want to force to be accessed as an HTTPS page (PHP on Apache). How do I do this without making the whole directory require HTTPS? Or, if you submit a form to an HTTPS page from an HTTP page, does it send it by HTTPS instead of HTTP?

Here is my example:

http://www.example.com/some-page.php

I want it to only be accessed through:

https://www.example.com/some-page.php

Sure, I can put all of the links to this page pointed at the HTTPS version, but that doesn't stop some fool from accessing it through HTTP on purpose...

One thing I thought was putting a redirect in the header of the PHP file to check to be sure that they are accessing the HTTPS version:

if($_SERVER["SCRIPT_URI"] == "http://www.example.com/some-page.php"){
  header('Location: https://www.example.com/some-page.php');
}

But that can't be the right way, can it?

https ssl apache php
22 Answers

The way I've done it before is basically like what you wrote, but doesn't have any hardcoded values:

if($_SERVER["HTTPS"] != "on")
{
    header("Location: https://" . $_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"] . $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]);
    exit();
}
Adam_Rosenfield_95300

You could do it with a directive and mod_rewrite on Apache:

<Location /buyCrap.php>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
</Location>

You could make the Location smarter over time using regular expressions if you want.

user_165070

The PHP way:

$is_https=false;
if (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS'])) $is_https=$_SERVER['HTTPS'];
if ($is_https !== "on")
{
    header("Location: https://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);
    exit(1);
}

The Apache mod_rewrite way:

RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
user_94928410 
// Force HTTPS for security
if($_SERVER["HTTPS"] != "on") {
    $pageURL = "Location: https://";
    if ($_SERVER["SERVER_PORT"] != "80") {
        $pageURL .= $_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"] . ":" . $_SERVER["SERVER_PORT"] . $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"];
    } else {
        $pageURL .= $_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"] . $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"];
    }
    header($pageURL);
}
user_5525450

Use $_SERVER['HTTPS'] to tell if it is SSL, and redirect to the right place if not.

And remember, the page that displays the form does not need to be fed via HTTPS, it's the post back URL that needs it most.

Edit: yes, as is pointed out below, it's best to have the entire process in HTTPS. It's much more reassuring - I was pointing out that the post is the most critical part. Also, you need to take care that any cookies are set to be secure, so they will only be sent via SSL. The mod_rewrite solution is also very nifty, I've used it to secure a lot of applications on my own website.

DGM_142530

If you want to use PHP to do this then this way worked really well for me:


<?php

if(!isset($_SERVER["HTTPS"]) || $_SERVER["HTTPS"] != "on") {
    header("Location: https://" . $_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"] . $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"], true, 301);
    //Prevent the rest of the script from executing.
    exit;
}
?>

It checks the HTTPS variable in the $_SERVER superglobal array to see if it equal to “on”. If the variable is not equal to on.

user_137352310

Don't mix HTTP and HTTPS on the same page. If you have a form page that is served up via HTTP, I'm going to be nervous about submitting data -- I can't see if the submit goes over HTTPS or HTTP without doing a View Source and hunting for it.

Serving up the form over HTTPS along with the submit link isn't that heavy a change for the advantage.

JBB_123320 
if(location.protocol!=='https:'){location.replace(`https:${location.href.substring(location.protocol.length)}`);}
user_23574970

You shouldn't for security reasons. Especially if cookies are in play here. It leaves you wide open to cookie-based replay attacks.

Either way, you should use Apache control rules to tune it.

Then you can test for HTTPS being enabled and redirect as-needed where needed.

You should redirect to the pay page only using a FORM POST (no get), and accesses to the page without a POST should be directed back to the other pages. (This will catch the people just hot-jumping.)

http://joseph.randomnetworks.com/archives/2004/07/22/redirect-to-ssl-using-apaches-htaccess/

Is a good place to start, apologies for not providing more. But you really should shove everything through SSL.

It's over-protective, but at least you have less worries.

Kent_Fredric_156140

As an alternative, you can make use of X-Forwarded-Proto header to force a redirect to HTTPS.

add these lines in the .htaccess file

### Force HTTPS
RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
user_65624580
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