# Force HTTPS for a Domain in DirectAdmin (Tested on 1.712)

Source: https://srvscripts.com/guides/directadmin-force-https-redirect/
Updated: 2026-10-06
Publisher: srvScripts (https://srvscripts.com/)

**Short answer:** A new domain in DirectAdmin answers on both HTTP and HTTPS, so the same site is reachable at two addresses. Once the domain has a valid certificate, open **Domain Setup**, select the domain and tick **Force SSL with https redirect**. DirectAdmin then sends a 301 from every `http://` address to `https://`. From the command line the same switch is the `CMD_API_DOMAIN` call shown below.

We tested this on our DirectAdmin test server on 6 October 2026 (DirectAdmin 1.712, AlmaLinux 9.8, Apache, WordPress 7.1) with our [redirect tester](/scripts/redirect-tester/) before and after the change. The screenshots are the real output.

## What a new domain does out of the box

On a fresh DirectAdmin 1.712 install, `http://example.com/` returns 200 without a redirect. `www` is redirected to the bare domain, but stays on HTTP. Search engines see two copies of every page, and visitors who type the address without https never get the secure version:

[](https://srvscripts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/da-redirects-before-1006.png)A new DirectAdmin domain before Force SSL: both http:// and https:// return 200 (three problems). DirectAdmin 1.712, 6 Oct 2026. IP addresses masked.

## 1. Make sure the domain has a certificate

Forcing HTTPS without a valid certificate sends every visitor to a browser warning. With the default `admin_ssl_cert_on_create=1`, DirectAdmin requests a Let’s Encrypt certificate when the domain is created, as long as the name already points at the server. On our server two of three new domains had a certificate within a minute; the third we requested by hand:

```
/usr/local/directadmin/scripts/letsencrypt.sh request example.com
echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -enddate
```

[](https://srvscripts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/da-domain-ssl-1006.png)Let’s Encrypt certificates for three new DirectAdmin domains. DirectAdmin 1.712, 6 Oct 2026. IP addresses masked.

## 2. Turn on Force SSL

In the web interface: **Account Manager → Domain Setup**, click the domain, tick **Force SSL with https redirect** and save. If you do not see the option, SSL is not enabled for the domain yet.

From the command line, as root, with a short-lived login key from `da api-url`:

```
U=$(da api-url --user=bob)
curl -s "$U/CMD_API_DOMAIN" --data "action=private_html&domain=example.com&val=symlink&force_ssl=yes"
grep force_ssl /usr/local/directadmin/data/users/bob/domains/example.com.conf
```

The answer is `error=0&text=Setting changed`, and the domain’s config gains `force_ssl=yes`. DirectAdmin rewrites the web-server configuration through its task queue, so the redirect starts working within about a minute (70 seconds on our server). `val=symlink` keeps `private_html` as a link to `public_html`, which is what you want unless you serve different content on HTTPS.

## 3. Check the result

```
bash redirect-tester.sh --variants example.com
```

[](https://srvscripts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/da-redirects-after-1006.png)After Force SSL: all four variants end on https://. DirectAdmin 1.712, 6 Oct 2026. IP addresses masked.

All four variants (`http`, `http://www`, `https`, `https://www`) now end on the same HTTPS address with at most two redirects.

## WordPress and other applications

Set the site address to HTTPS as well, or WordPress keeps generating `http://` links and you get mixed-content warnings. With WP-CLI, as the account owner:

```
cd /home/bob/domains/example.com/public_html
wp option get siteurl
wp search-replace "http://example.com" "https://example.com" --all-tables --dry-run
wp search-replace "http://example.com" "https://example.com" --all-tables
```

Run the dry run first and take a backup of the database. On DirectAdmin, WP-CLI may stop with “Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted” on large jobs because PHP’s CLI limit is 128 MB; run it as `php -d memory_limit=512M /usr/local/bin/wp …` in that case (we hit this with `wp core download`).

## Common problems

- **Redirect loop behind Cloudflare**: Cloudflare’s SSL mode is Flexible, so it talks HTTP to the server and gets redirected forever. Switch it to Full (strict).

- **Option is missing in Domain Setup**: SSL is not enabled for the domain, or the user package does not allow SSL.

- **Still 200 on http:// after a minute**: check that the task queue ran (`journalctl -u directadmin | grep rewrite`) and that no `.htaccess` rule sends HTTPS back to HTTP.

**See also:** [DirectAdmin CustomBuild Failed: Logs, Lock File, Re-run and Rollback](/guides/directadmin-custombuild-failed/) · [Migrate DirectAdmin to DirectAdmin: Move All Users to a New Server](/guides/migrate-directadmin-to-directadmin/) · [Restore a File, Database or Account from a DirectAdmin Backup (CLI, Tested)](/guides/restore-directadmin-backup-file-database/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Force SSL cover subdomains?

It is a per-domain setting. Test each subdomain with the redirect tester and turn the option on wherever one still answers on plain HTTP.

### Is the redirect a 301 or a 302?

A 301 (permanent), which is what search engines expect for a move to HTTPS.

### Can I force HTTPS with .htaccess instead?

Yes, but the DirectAdmin option is written into the web-server configuration by DirectAdmin itself, so it survives configuration rewrites and does not depend on the site’s own .htaccess. Use it unless you need a custom rule.