Redirect an Apache2 SSL VirtualHost with mod_alias

apache-2.2mod-aliasredirect

I want to make sure there aren't any mysterious odd behaviors when redirecting a SSL VirtualHost with mod_alias Redirect as outlined by Apache here.

My code seems to work, but since SSL virtual hosts are restricted to just one IP address, I want to make sure there aren't any problems eluding me. Explicitly not using TLS. I'm stuck with Apache 2.2 for now.

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName example.com
    SSLEngine On
    SSLCertificateFile /path/to/example.com-crt.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/example.com-key.key
    SSLCACertificateFile /path/to/example.com-ca.txt
    Redirect 301 / https://www.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName www.example.com
    SSLEngine On
    SSLCertificateFile /path/to/example.com-crt.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/example.com-key.key
    SSLCACertificateFile /path/to/example.com-ca.txt
    # Do stuff
</VirtualHost>

So my question is, should SSL VirtualHost redirection with mod_alias Redirect work the same as non-SSL redirection?

UPDATE: To be clear, I want to make sure the Redirect circumvents the need for SNI/TLS, especially related to IE6 on WinXP. Seems to work fine in my tests with IE6 on WinXP-SP3 (see comments below the answer marked correct).

Best Answer

Yes, it works the same.

x509v3 includes Subject Alternative Name. Most (all?) issuing CA's will list both www.example.com and example.com as equivalent alternate names in a cert requested for either. Because of this browsers won't choke on the name when using the same cert in both VirtualHost instances.

On a different note, you have:

Redirect 301 / http://www.example.com/

I would instead recomend:

Redirect 301 / https://www.example.com/

Because this is SSL after all.

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