[thelist] Tomcat connectors redirecting port 8443 to 8080

[Joshua Olson]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Walker
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 10:40 AM
> 
> Is it possible to redirect an HTTPS request on port 8443 to a 
> non-secure 
> HTTP 8080 port?
> 
> In the process of changing servers and have some with HTTPS 
> links that need 
> to go to a non-secure site for "update" information.  We 
> don't want to get a 
> temp cert just to maintain the 8443 connection, therefore, 
> looking for a way 
> to redirect it to 8080.
> 
> Anyone know if this can be done??

John,

I don't know Tomcat, per se, but I do understand some of the basics of SSL.

First off, certificates are not specific for ports, so you can use any
certificate on any port.  

Next, bear in mind that certificates are domain name centric.  While you can
effectively use any domain name with a certificate, the browser throws a
nice warning if the site's domain and the certificate's domain do not match.

The webserver will need to know which certificate to use to decrypt
requests.  Since the URL is encrypted as well, the webserver cannot use the
domain name as a clue as to which certificate to use.  This, therefore,
necessitates that all different secure sites have a unique (on that server)
ip address/port number combination.

On IIS, I could have a secure site on both ports 8443 and 8080 by telling
IIS (through the interface) to expect SSL (Secure) traffic on both ip/port
combinations.

You should be able to do the same thing in most other webservers.

<><><><><><><><><><>
Joshua Olson
Web Application Engineer
WAE Tech Inc.
http://www.waetech.com/service_areas/
706.210.0168