Force HTTPS via .htaccess

Do you have a active SSL certificate and you're wondering why your website is still marked as insecure? this happens because most popular browsers default to request websites over HTTP connection (rather than a secure HTTPS connection). To ensure your website is served over a secure connection, you must implement a force redirect so all traffic requesting your website over HTTP is redirected to HTTPS.

 

This guide will teach you how to implement a force HTTPS redirect so all web traffic visits your site over a secure connection.

 

To complete this guide, you need your SSH login details on hand and your website must have an active SSL certificate.

 

1. Open your terminal window and ssh onto your hosting server:

   ssh username@yourserver.serversaurus.com.au

   When prompted, enter your password
2. Change into your public_html directory (or alternative document root location):

   cd public_html

3. Open the .htaccess file:

   vi .htaccess

4. Add the following text to the beginning of your .htaccess file by typing i and then paste the text into the window, once completed press esc:
5. :

   RewriteEngine on
   RewriteBase /
   RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
   RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

6. To exit vi, enter :wq to save.

To confirm your changes are successful, open your browser and enter your domain name, your site should be redirecting to HTTPS!