HTTP Redirects in Nginx

HTTP redirects are an important tool for managing web resources. They are used to unify site mirrors, switch users from HTTP to HTTPS, reorganize page structures, or when changing domains. Properly configured redirects improve user experience and help maintain a site’s search engine rankings. In this article, we’ll look at how to implement different types of redirects in Nginx using standard directives.

Redirects in Nginx are configured using the ngx_http_rewrite_module, which is included by default with the server.

Redirects are set up in Nginx configuration files. The main files are:

• /etc/nginx/nginx.conf — the main configuration file;
• /etc/nginx/sites-available/site_name — configuration for a specific site;
• /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ — a symlink to the active file from sites-available.

nginx -t

301 redirect from www.domain.ru to domain.ru

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ http://domain.ru$request_uri? permanent; 
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name domain.ru;
    ...
}

301 redirect from domain.ru to www.domain.ru

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ http://www.domain.ru$request_uri? permanent; 
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    ...
}

301 redirect from HTTPS to HTTP

server {
    listen 443;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ http://www.domain.ru$request_uri? permanent; 
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    ...
}

301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS

For a new domain:

server {
    listen server_ip:80;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ https://www.domain.ru$request_uri? permanent; 
}

server {
    listen server_ip:443 ssl;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    ...
}

For an existing domain:

server {
    listen server_ip:80;
    server_name www.domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ https://www.domain.ru$request_uri? permanent; 
}

Redirect a single URL

server {
    ...
    if ($request_filename ~ oldpage/) {
        rewrite ^ http://www.domain.ru/newpage/? permanent;
    }
    ...
}

301 redirect for a directory

server {
    ...
    if ($request_filename ~ oldfolder/.+) {
        rewrite ^(.*) http://www.domain.ru/newfolder/$1 permanent;
    }
    ...
}

301 redirect from one domain to another

server {
    server_name domain.com www.domain.ru;
    rewrite ^ $scheme://www.new-domain.ru;
}

Remove trailing slash from URLs

server {
    ...
    rewrite ^/(.*)/$ /$1 permanent;
    ...
}

location ~ .+/$ {
    rewrite (.+)/$ $1 permanent;
}

Redirects from index.php pages

if ($request_uri ~* "^(.*/)index\.phpquot;) {
    return 301 $1;
}

Redirects from URLs with double slashes (//)

merge_slashes off;

location ~* "//" {
    rewrite ^(.*)//(.*)$ $1/$2;
    rewrite ^ $uri permanent;
}

service nginx restart