web.config redirect non-www to www

Question

I need to redirect non-www URLs to www URL for both HTTP and HTTPS URLs. I tried following rules in web.config.

<rule name="Redirect to WWW" stopProcessing="true">
    <match url=".*" />
    <conditions>
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^example.com$" />
    </conditions>
    <action type="Redirect" url="http://www.example.com/{R:0}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

<rule name="Redirect to WWW https" stopProcessing="true">
    <match url=".*" />
    <conditions>
        <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="^example.com$" />
    </conditions>
    <action type="Redirect" url="https://www.example.com/{R:0}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

It works perfectly for non-ssl URL but in case of SSL it redirect from https://example.com to http://www.example.com.

Memling

first rule catchs both requests' types and second will not be processed – Inexplicable

Answer 1

For a safer rule that works for both Match Any and Match All situations, you can use the Rewrite Map solution. It’s a perfectly good solution with the only drawback being the ever so slight extra effort to set it up since you need to create a rewrite map before you create the rule. In other words, if you choose to use this as your sole method of handling the protocol, you’ll be safe.

You can create a Rewrite Map called MapProtocol, you can use {MapProtocol:{HTTPS}} for the protocol within any rule action.

<rewrite>
  <rules>
    <rule name="Redirect to www" stopProcessing="true">
      <match url="(.*)" />
      <conditions trackAllCaptures="false">
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^example.com$" />
      </conditions>
      <action type="Redirect"
        url="{MapProtocol:{HTTPS}}://www.example.com/{R:1}" />
    </rule>
  </rules>
  <rewriteMaps>
    <rewriteMap name="MapProtocol">
      <add key="on" value="https" />
      <add key="off" value="http" />
    </rewriteMap>
  </rewriteMaps>
</rewrite>

Reference

Unswerving

It's worth noting that you need URL Rewrite Module 2.0 (http://www.iis.net/downloads/microsoft/url-rewrite) for this to work. – Maugham

note to self: REPLACE domain.com with your own domain <slaps head> – Phio

Additional Note: Make sure you set your [Bindings...] to include the http and https for both www.domain.com and domain.com. You can't use redirect rules if you aren't binding the domain! – Sianna

How to redirect example.com/subsite from non www to www? I tried above one but it only works for home page not inner pages. – Merilee

When i added this this code in my web.config file i am getting compile error " Unable to start debugging on the web server. Make sure the server is operating correctly. Verify there are no syntax errors in web.config by doing a Debug.Start Without Debugging. You may also want to refer to the ASP.NET and ATL Server debugging topic in the online documentation." – Simferopol

Shouldn't the pattern escape the dot character? <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^domain\.com$" /> – Apodaca

So that said, If you use the ^domain.com, will this redirect all subdomains to the www domain as well, or will it skip the subdomains? – Sammy

Is there a way to make the pattern matched more generic? Or is there specific reasoning to manually setting the specific domain? – Jetty

Answer 2

Other answers here are unnecessary long, here's the rule i use (just copy and paste) :

<rule name="ensurewww" stopProcessing="true">
  <match url=".*" />
  <conditions>
    <add input="{CACHE_URL}" pattern="^(.+)://(?!www)(.*)" />
  </conditions>
  <action type="Redirect" url="{C:1}://www.{C:2}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

This will redirect to the www version while preserving the HTTP and HTTPS protocol

Hope this helps.

Fionafionna

I'm logged in for +1 for you – Siderosis

abc.com ->www.abc.com true abc.com/a.aspx->www.com/a.aspx false. Please help me. Tried: <action type="Redirect" url="{C:1}://www.{C:2}/{R:1}" redirectType="Permanent" /> – Siderosis

You actually answer the question instead of playing around with certificates – Kapor

Upvote for being more generic and usable without having to know the domain name. – Jetty

This generic answer should be switched to accepted. – Rhythm

Wanted to accept this answer but it did not work for me. It didn't contain the .com after the redirect. – Peltier

Answer 3

Since 2018, consider to use everytime https (SSL) !

So I use redirect to www and to https together.

<rule name="Redirect to www" stopProcessing="true">
    <match url="(.*)" />
    <conditions trackAllCaptures="false">
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^example.com$" />
    </conditions>
    <action type="Redirect" url="https://www.example.com/{R:1}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

<rule name="HTTP/S to HTTPS Redirect" enabled="true" stopProcessing="true">
    <match url="(.*)" />
    <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAny">
        <add input="{SERVER_PORT_SECURE}" pattern="^0$" />
    </conditions>
    <action type="Redirect" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}{REQUEST_URI}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

more info here : https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/effective-july-2018-google-s-chrome-browser-will-mark-non-https-sites-as-not-secure/18597

Mane

Answer 4

I know this is an old post but it's not fully answered. I ended up extending Satpals answer

First rule catches http + www and second one catches non-www

For some reason i could not use MapProtocol in the fist Rule but it works with https written directly into the url.

<rewrite>
  <rules>
    <rule name="Special case www &amp; HTTPS off" enabled="true" stopProcessing="true">
      <match url="(.*)" />
      <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false">
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^www\.example\.com$" />
        <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="off" />
      </conditions>
      <action type="Redirect" url="https://www.example.com/{R:1}" redirectType="SeeOther" />
    </rule>
    <rule name="Redirect to www &amp; HTTPS" enabled="true" stopProcessing="true">
      <match url="(.*)" />
      <conditions trackAllCaptures="false">
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^example\.com$" />
      </conditions>
      <action type="Redirect" url="{MapProtocol:{HTTPS}}://www.example.com/{R:1}" redirectType="SeeOther" />
    </rule>
  </rules>
  <rewriteMaps>
    <rewriteMap name="MapProtocol">
      <add key="on" value="https" />
      <add key="off" value="http" />
    </rewriteMap>
  </rewriteMaps>
</rewrite>

Arcanum

Answer 5

This worked fine for me:-

<rewrite>
  <rules>
   <rule name="Redirect to WWW" stopProcessing="true">
	<match url=".*" />
	<conditions>
	<add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^myExample.in$" />
	</conditions>
	<action type="Redirect" url="https://www.myExample.in/{R:0}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>
 </rules>
</rewrite>

Highsounding

Answer 6

Add these rules to your web config file.

Rule 1: HTTP_to_HTTPS_redirect will redirect your website from HTTP to HTTPS and

Rule 2: Redirect to www will redirect your non-www URL to the www URL.

<rewrite>
  <rules>
    <rule name="HTTP_to_HTTPS_redirect" stopProcessing="true">
      <match url="(.*)" />
      <conditions>
        <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="^OFF$" />
      </conditions>
      <action type="Redirect" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}/{R:1}" />
    </rule>
    <rule name="Redirect to www" stopProcessing="true">
      <match url="(.*)" />
      <conditions>
        <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^example.com$" />
      </conditions>
      <action type="Redirect" url="http://www.example.com/{R:1}" />
    </rule>
  </rules>
</rewrite>

Hawkweed

Answer 7

This post is basically for those who need to redirect non-www to www URL in windows hosting.

In web.config file as below code:

<system.webServer>
<rewrite>
<rules>
<rule name=”Redirect example.com to www.example.com HTTP” patternSyntax=”ECMAScript” stopProcessing=”true”>
<match url=”.*” />
<conditions>
<add input=”{HTTP_HOST}” pattern=”^example.com$” />
<add input=”{HTTPS}” pattern=”off” />
</conditions>
<action type=”Redirect” url=”http://www.example.com/{R:0}” redirectType=”Permanent” appendQueryString=”true”/>
</rule>
<rule name=”Redirect example.com to www.example.com HTTPS” patternSyntax=”ECMAScript” stopProcessing=”true”>
<match url=”.*” />
<conditions>
<add input=”{HTTP_HOST}” pattern=”^example.com$” />
<add input=”{HTTPS}” pattern=”on” />
</conditions>
<action type=”Redirect” url=”https://www.example.com/{R:0}” redirectType=”Permanent” appendQueryString=”true”/>
</rule>
</rules>
</rewrite>
</system.webServer>

In the above code please note there are two rules used one for HTTP and another for HTTPS. To avoid clashing of HTTP and HTTPS in the same rule, here used two separate patterns.

I hope it works for you guys…!!

Castellano

Answer 8

Follow the Step Below

1. Login to your website's cPanel

2. Click on Hosting Setting

3. Select your preferred domain as www.example.com

Visional

This is not at all what the question was. The question is about IIS, not whatever specific hosting provider you have. – Phung