HTTPS redirect setup for website

HTTPS Redirect Setup

HTTPS redirect guarantees all site requests — including direct HTTP links, bookmarks, outdated links from other sites — redirect to HTTPS version. HSTS additionally protects against downgrade attacks.

Nginx: HTTP → HTTPS Redirect

# Redirect all HTTP traffic
server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name example.ru www.example.ru;

    # Let's Encrypt .well-known — keep accessible via HTTP for renewal
    location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
        root /var/www/certbot;
    }

    location / {
        return 301 https://example.ru$request_uri;
    }
}

# Redirect www → non-www (or vice versa) + HTTPS
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name www.example.ru;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.ru/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.ru/privkey.pem;

    return 301 https://example.ru$request_uri;
}

# Main server
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name example.ru;
    # ...
}

HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)

HSTS tells browser to always use HTTPS for this domain — even if user enters http://. Browser caches this for max-age seconds.

add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;

• max-age=63072000 — 2 years (recommended after testing)
• includeSubDomains — apply to all subdomains
• preload — add to browser preload list (hstspreload.org)

HSTS Implementation Order:

1. Start with max-age=300 (5 minutes) — verify everything works
2. Increase to max-age=86400 (1 day)
3. Add includeSubDomains — verify ALL subdomains on HTTPS
4. Increase to max-age=31536000 (1 year)
5. Add preload and register at hstspreload.org

HTTPS in Laravel Application

// AppServiceProvider
public function boot(): void
{
    if (app()->environment('production')) {
        URL::forceScheme('https');
        // or
        URL::forceRootUrl('https://example.ru');
    }
}

// bootstrap/app.php — trustProxies for sites behind reverse proxy/CDN
->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware) {
    $middleware->trustProxies(
        headers: Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_FOR |
                 Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_HOST |
                 Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_PORT |
                 Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_PROTO,
        proxies: '*'
    );
})

Without trustProxies — Laravel doesn't see request came via HTTPS (Nginx → PHP via HTTP), generates HTTP URLs in redirect headers and links.

Apache

# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload"

Cloudflare

In Cloudflare panel: SSL/TLS → Edge Certificates:

• Always Use HTTPS → enable
• HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) → enable, max-age 12 months

Verification

# Check redirect
curl -I http://example.ru
# Should return: Location: https://example.ru/

# Check HSTS
curl -I https://example.ru | grep Strict
# Should return: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload

# Full redirect chain check
curl -IL http://www.example.ru

Timeline: 30 minutes for Nginx configuration and Laravel trustProxies.