How to automatically redirect HTTP to HTTPS on Apache servers?

Question

I have actually followed this example and it worked for me :)

NameVirtualHost *:80
<VirtualHost *:80>
   ServerName mysite.example.com
   Redirect permanent / https://mysite.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost _default_:443>
   ServerName mysite.example.com
  DocumentRoot /usr/local/apache2/htdocs
  SSLEngine On
 # etc...
</VirtualHost>

Then do:

/etc/init.d/httpd restart

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}

http://www.sslshopper.com/apache-redirect-http-to-https.html

or

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/howto-apache-force-https-secure-connections.html

Searched for apache redirect http to https and landed here. This is what i did on ubuntu:

1) Enable modules

sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enmod ssl

2) Edit your site config

Edit file

/etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Content should be:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
    RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile    <path to your crt file>
    SSLCertificateKeyFile   <path to your private key file>

    # Rest of your site config
    # ...
</VirtualHost>

• Note that the SSL module requires certificate. you will need to specify existing one (if you bought one) or to generate a self-signed certificate by yourself.

3) Restart apache2

sudo service apache2 restart

Using mod_rewrite is not the recommended way instead use virtual host and redirect.

In case, if you are inclined to do using mod_rewrite:

RewriteEngine On
# This will enable the Rewrite capabilities

RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
# This checks to make sure the connection is not already HTTPS

RewriteRule ^/?(.*) https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R,L]
# This rule will redirect users from their original location, to the same 
location but using HTTPS.
# i.e.  http://www.example.com/foo/ to https://www.example.com/foo/
# The leading slash is made optional so that this will work either in
# httpd.conf or .htaccess context

Reference: Httpd Wiki - RewriteHTTPToHTTPS

If you are looking for a 301 Permanent Redirect, then redirect flag should be as,

 R=301

so the RewriteRule will be like,

RewriteRule ^/?(.*) https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R=301,L]

Actually, your topic is belongs on https://serverfault.com/ but you can still try to check these .htaccess directives:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1