Redirecting HTTP requests to HTTPS for secure connections in backend bucket

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

When you want to redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS to ensure secure connections in your backend, you typically configure your cloud provider's load balancer or similar service to handle the redirection. This configuration enforces that all incoming HTTP traffic is redirected to HTTPS, thus securing the communication by encrypting the data transferred between the client and the server.

To set up this redirection using Pulumi, you will use an Application Load Balancer (ALB) if you're using AWS as your cloud provider. In the following Pulumi program, we are going to define an ALB with a listener on port 80 (the default port for HTTP) and a corresponding listener rule to redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS on port 443 (the default port for secure HTTP traffic).

Here's a Pulumi TypeScript program that shows how to configure an AWS ALB for HTTP to HTTPS redirection:

```typescript
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as aws from "@pulumi/aws";

// Create a new Application Load Balancer (ALB)
const loadBalancer = new aws.lb.LoadBalancer("myLoadBalancer", {
    internal: false,
    loadBalancerType: "application",
    securityGroups: ["sg-123456"], // Replace with your security group id
    subnets: ["subnet-12345678", "subnet-87654321"], // Replace with your subnet ids
});

// Create an HTTP listener for the ALB on port 80
const httpListener = new aws.lb.Listener("httpListener", {
    loadBalancerArn: loadBalancer.arn,
    port: 80,
    protocol: "HTTP",
    defaultActions: [{
        type: "fixed-response",
        fixedResponse: {
            contentType: "text/plain",
            statusCode: "404",
        },
    }],
});

// Create a listener rule to redirect HTTP to HTTPS
const httpRedirect = new aws.lb.ListenerRule("httpRedirect", {
    listenerArn: httpListener.arn,
    conditions: [
        {
            pathPattern: {
                values: ["/*"], // Apply to all requests
            },
        },
    ],
    actions: [{
        type: "redirect",
        redirect: {
            protocol: "HTTPS",
            port: "443",
            statusCode: "HTTP_301", // Permanent redirect
        },
    }],
    priority: 200, // The rule priority, adjust as necessary
});

// Output the DNS name of the load balancer for access
export const albDnsName = loadBalancer.dnsName;
```

In this program:

- First, we create a new Application Load Balancer with the `aws.lb.LoadBalancer` resource, specifying it as an external load balancer and linking it to appropriate subnets and security groups.
  - **Security Groups**: You usually want to configure your ALB security group to accept incoming traffic on ports 80 and 443.
  - **Subnets**: Choose subnets that are associated with the public-facing internet to ensure the ALB can receive traffic.

- We then create an HTTP listener on the load balancer for incoming traffic on port 80 using the `aws.lb.Listener` resource.
  - The `defaultActions` property contains actions to be taken. Since we want to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, we temporarily use a fixed-response action just to satisfy the requirement for a default action.

- Next, we set up a listener rule with the `aws.lb.ListenerRule` resource that redirects all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
  - The `conditions` define the criteria for when the rule should take effect, in this case, a wildcard ("`/*`") matches all paths.
  - The `actions` specify what to do when the conditions are met, which is to redirect the traffic to HTTPS on port 443 with a status code of 301 (permanent redirect).

- Finally, we export the DNS name of the load balancer. This DNS name can be used to access the load balancer, and all HTTP traffic reaching it will be automatically