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Adding HTTP Wildcard Redirects <add>

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Overview

The <add> element of the <httpRedirect> element adds a wildcard redirection rule to the collection of redirection rules. Wildcard rules allow you to add redirection rules for groups of content. For example, if you have removed all of your *.asp pages after migrating an application to .NET pages that are using *.aspx file name extensions, you could add a wildcard redirection rule that redirects all of the *.asp requests for your old ASP-based application to the home page of your Web site.

Note

If you add wildcard redirection rules, you must remove the default destination value in the <httpRedirect> section in order for the wildcard rules to work.

Compatibility

Version Notes
IIS 10.0 The <add> element was not modified in IIS 10.0.
IIS 8.5 The <add> element was not modified in IIS 8.5.
IIS 8.0 The <add> element was not modified in IIS 8.0.
IIS 7.5 The <add> element was not modified in IIS 7.5.
IIS 7.0 The <add> element of the <httpRedirect> element was introduced in IIS 7.0.
IIS 6.0 N/A

Setup

HTTP Redirection is not available on the default installation of IIS 7 and later. To install it, use the following steps.

Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2

  1. On the taskbar, click Server Manager.
  2. In Server Manager, click the Manage menu, and then click Add Roles and Features.
  3. In the Add Roles and Features wizard, click Next. Select the installation type and click Next. Select the destination server and click Next.
  4. On the Server Roles page, expand Web Server (IIS), expand Web Server, expand Common HTTP Features, and then select HTTP Redirection. Click Next.
    Screenshot of a dropdown menu in I I S Manager. H T T P Redirection is highlighted. .
  5. On the Select features page, click Next.
  6. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
  7. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows 8 or Windows 8.1

  1. On the Start screen, move the pointer all the way to the lower left corner, right-click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows features on or off.
  3. Expand Internet Information Services, expand World Wide Web Services, expand Common HTTP Features, and then select HTTP Redirection.
    Screen shot of the Windows Features dialog box. H T T P Redirection is highlighted in the drop down menu.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Click Close.

Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

  1. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
  2. In the Server Manager hierarchy pane, expand Roles, and then click Web Server (IIS).
  3. In the Web Server (IIS) pane, scroll to the Role Services section, and then click Add Role Services.
  4. On the Select Role Services page of the Add Role Services Wizard, expand Common Http Features, select HTTP Redirection, and then click Next.
    Screenshot of the Add Roll Services wizard displaying the Select Role Services page. H T T P Redirection is highlighted in the drop down menu.
  5. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.
  6. On the Results page, click Close.

Windows Vista or Windows 7

  1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. In Control Panel, click Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows Features on or off.
  3. Expand Internet Information Services, then World Wide Web Services, then Common Http Features.
  4. Select HTTP Redirection, and then click OK.
    Screenshot of the Windows Features dialog box. H T T P Redirection is highlighted.

How To

There is no user interface for adding wildcard HTTP redirects for IIS 7. For examples of how to add <add> elements to the <httpRedirect> element programmatically, see the Code Samples section of this document.

Configuration

Attributes

Attribute Description
destination Required string attribute.

Specifies a location to which to redirect requests that match the related wildcard value.
wildcard Required string attribute.

Specifies a unique wildcard value to which requests are compared. A request is then redirected to the specified destination if the request matches the wildcard value.

Child Elements

None.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration sample adds a wildcard redirection entry that redirects all requests for ASP files to the home page of your Web site.

Note

This example is useful if you have removed all ASP-based applications from your Web site and you wanted client requests for the old applications to be redirected to the root of your Web site rather than receiving an HTTP 404 Not Found response.

<configuration>
   <system.webServer>
      <httpRedirect enabled="true" exactDestination="true" httpResponseStatus="Found">
         <add wildcard="*.php" destination="/default.htm" />
      </httpRedirect>
   </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Sample Code

The following code samples adds a wildcard redirection entry that redirects all requests for ASP files to the home page of your Web site.

Note

This example is useful if you have removed all ASP-based applications from your Web site and you wanted client requests for the old applications to be redirected to the root of your Web site rather than receiving an HTTP 404 Not Found response.

AppCmd.exe

appcmd.exe set config "Default Web Site" -section:system.webServer/httpRedirect /enabled:"True" /exactDestination:"True" /httpResponseStatus:"Found"

appcmd.exe set config "Default Web Site" -section:system.webServer/httpRedirect /+"[wildcard='*.asp',destination='/default.htm']"

C#

using System;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Web.Administration;

internal static class Sample
{
   private static void Main()
   {
      using(ServerManager serverManager = new ServerManager()) { 
         Configuration config = serverManager.GetWebConfiguration("Default Web Site");

         ConfigurationSection httpRedirectSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/httpRedirect");
         httpRedirectSection["enabled"] = true;
         httpRedirectSection["exactDestination"] = true;
         httpRedirectSection["httpResponseStatus"] = @"Found";

         ConfigurationElementCollection httpRedirectCollection = httpRedirectSection.GetCollection();
         ConfigurationElement addElement = httpRedirectCollection.CreateElement("add");
         addElement["wildcard"] = @"*.asp";
         addElement["destination"] = @"/default.htm";
         httpRedirectCollection.Add(addElement);

         serverManager.CommitChanges();
      }
   }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.Web.Administration

Module Sample

   Sub Main()
      Dim serverManager As ServerManager = New ServerManager
      Dim config As Configuration = serverManager.GetWebConfiguration("Default Web Site")

      Dim httpRedirectSection As ConfigurationSection = config.GetSection("system.webServer/httpRedirect")
      httpRedirectSection("enabled") = True
      httpRedirectSection("exactDestination") = True
      httpRedirectSection("httpResponseStatus") = "Found"

      Dim httpRedirectCollection As ConfigurationElementCollection = httpRedirectSection.GetCollection
      Dim addElement As ConfigurationElement = httpRedirectCollection.CreateElement("add")
      addElement("wildcard") = "*.asp"
      addElement("destination") = "/default.htm"
      httpRedirectCollection.Add(addElement)

      serverManager.CommitChanges()
   End Sub

End Module

JavaScript

var adminManager = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager');
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site";

var httpRedirectSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/httpRedirect", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site");
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = true;
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("exactDestination").Value = true;
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("httpResponseStatus").Value = "Found";

var httpRedirectCollection = httpRedirectSection.Collection;
var addElement = httpRedirectCollection.CreateNewElement("add");
addElement.Properties.Item("wildcard").Value = "*.asp";
addElement.Properties.Item("destination").Value = "/default.htm";
httpRedirectCollection.AddElement(addElement);

adminManager.CommitChanges();

VBScript

Set adminManager = WScript.CreateObject("Microsoft.ApplicationHost.WritableAdminManager")
adminManager.CommitPath = "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site"

Set httpRedirectSection = adminManager.GetAdminSection("system.webServer/httpRedirect", "MACHINE/WEBROOT/APPHOST/Default Web Site")
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("enabled").Value = True
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("exactDestination").Value = True
httpRedirectSection.Properties.Item("httpResponseStatus").Value = "Found"

Set httpRedirectCollection = httpRedirectSection.Collection
Set addElement = httpRedirectCollection.CreateNewElement("add")
addElement.Properties.Item("wildcard").Value = "*.asp"
addElement.Properties.Item("destination").Value = "/default.htm"
httpRedirectCollection.AddElement(addElement)

adminManager.CommitChanges()