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Inbound URL redirect - 9.Jan.2003 8:16:00 PM

zaphod1310

Posts: 7
Joined: 9.Jan.2003
From: Virginia
Status: offline

I've been extremely frustrated in my search for a solution to a seemingly simple problem, namely how can we direct users who've requested a "root" URL to a specific non-root URL. Let me explain...

Our Web publishing rules stipulate particular directories, but most web sites (especially those preceding our ISA installation) have been advertised to the public (in print) without specific directories. Example:

Web users only know of "root" URL:
http://myurl.domain.com

However, the Web publishing rule on ISA only allows access to specific directories:

http://myurl.domain.com/main/*

Can I get ISA (NOT running IIS) to handle the redirect somehow, so if ISA gets requests for "root" URL, they will be redirected to the "specific" URL?

Even our esteemed Avanade consultant hasn't been able to answer this. This has been a major sticking point in migrating existing DMZ sites to run behind ISA. The only solution I've seen is to purchase a separate device, sitting "in-front" of ISA to handle the redirects.

Any help is appreciated...;-)

Post #: 1

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RE: Inbound URL redirect - 9.Jan.2003 10:59:00 PM

tshinder

Posts: 47490
Joined: 10.Jan.2001
From: Texas
Status: offline

Hi Zaphod,

The Avenade folks are very sharp, so it'll be hard to improve on them.

You might want to check out my two part series on how to redirect to the Web root, which is pretty much the opposite of what you want to do, but it might give you some ideas. Not that ISA Server will not, by itself, perform this redirection for you, but you might be able to nudge the Web server to work with the ISA Server to get the job done.

HTH,
Tom

(in reply to zaphod1310)

Post #: 2

RE: Inbound URL redirect - 10.Jan.2003 12:36:00 PM

zaphod1310

Posts: 7
Joined: 9.Jan.2003
From: Virginia
Status: offline

Thanks for your reply. I did see the excellent articles you mentioned, and indeed that's the oposite of what I want to do. I thought, well maybe I could use your redirect method to redirect to the internal web "root" and handle the redirect from there. I worry though that this would defeat the purpose of ISA-restricted URL's (functionality which I favor - preventing malicious attempts to access unauthorized content or send malformed HTTP request/commands to the published server).

Perhaps I'm making incorrect assumptions here. Either way I'm stumped...

BTW: I DO have the luxury of an equivelant lab environment where different options can be tested - given adequate time (shuh, as if...). What I don't have is an external URL redirector, though I'm advocated a Cisco Content Engine for this and other purposes (but at $50,000 that's a tough sell).

sigh...

(in reply to zaphod1310)

Post #: 3

RE: Inbound URL redirect - 10.Jan.2003 5:28:00 PM

tshinder

Posts: 47490
Joined: 10.Jan.2001
From: Texas
Status: offline

Hi Zaph,

I think your assessment is correct. But I recall Jim Harrison from MS saying that they could do some amazing things in terms of event driven redirection using the programming tools in the ISA SDK. We poor network admins aren't code jockeys and its a completely different skill set, but I would be very cool to be able to leverage all the power of the SDK to accomplish things like this. I suspect its stuff like this that keeps Microsoft Consulting Services "in the chips" [Big Grin]