Trying tto run vB4.2.2 pl4 under SSL

[CPOWA]

Hi, I'm trying to run my vBulletin site under an SSL Certificate. It works, but the system isn't rendering the css/stylesheets when calling a page using https verses using http.

Visiting the following links shows excatly what I mean: http://www.pelicanexteriorcleaning.com/content.php verses https://www.pelicanexteriorcleaning.com/content.php

I really need to get this issue solved because we just installed a help desk on the site, not to mention that getting customers to visit or join the site is like asking them if I could pull their front teeth. In light of that, we've made joining the site incentive based, but none of that matters if our customers don't feel safe when visiting the site.

Regards,
Paul

[kh99]

I don't have any experience with changing a site to https, but I think you need to go to the options and under "Site Name / URL / Contact Details" change the Forum URL to use https.

[CPOWA]

Thanks for the quick reply. You were spot on! I had overlooked that option in the CP. After closing my browser and reloading, the site now renders the page properly as far as the SSL is concerned, but it's still not resolving the css/stylesheets links.

The site is pretty much vanilla, except for the PECI style and 2 mods. I turned the mods off and tested again, but the problem persists.

[kh99]

Hmm...maybe you need to rebuild your styles. I think you can do this by editing a template and making a trivial change and saving it, or you can go to Maintenance > General Update Tools and Rebuild Styles.

Anyway, I know there are people who have done this so someone's likely to know, which is better than my guessing.

[starme]

We are using SSL without any issue.

Have you tried modifying the hot linking settings in your cPanel?
You are welcome!

[Wayne Luke]

If your system is setup to use an HTTPS directory vs. an HTTP directory, then all files need to be copied to the HTTPS directory. This includes the CSS files that vBulletin generates if you have them stored in the file system.

[donald1234]

You also need to redirect any http:// URL's already indexed

[CPOWA]

I'm not sure how to do this and my host has already told me I need to get vBulletin to address the issue.

I don't want to get into a back and fourth about that, so I'll figure it out. My host is a great company and I don't want to cause any friction there. Besides ,I need to upgrade my account soon and you can't beat their support/pricing with a stick! They simply see this as a vBulletin problem. They weren't being flippant about it.

I was just in the cPanel help forum checking out this link: http://forums.cpanel.net/f5/where-ht...ry-139653.html

We run on a Litespeed server (I doubt that matters) and there is already a public_html folder in my root directory. So, logically, it seems that just changing the CP to call https rather than http for the site should have done the trick.

But, as Donald mentioned, perhaps the problem is that now I need to redirect http to https. Is that right or am I still not understanding my own problem?

Thank you for the replies and suggestions!

Edit: Another thing I should mention is that recently, I moved all the vB software from public_html/forums to public_html, in an effort to shorten urls.

[Wayne Luke]

We don't explicitly support SSL with vBulletin 4.

However if you copy all your vBulletin files into your HTTPS directory and update the Forum URL under Settings -> Options -> Site Name / URL / Contact Details then it will work with the default style. If you're using a custom style or addons, you may have to make additional changes.

[CPOWA]

Okay, thanks Wayne, I'll try that.

I don't want to belittle the point, but when I buy software I kind of expect it to work pretty much the same as I would expect a new car to have brakes that work! I never saw anything in vBulletin's documentation that states the customer is on their own if they choose to have a secure website and I've had vB sites since v2!

[Zachery]

vBulletin doesn't care about SSL, it doesn't even know SSL is there. The software works regardless of the webserver if it meets the requirements. You wanting to run on SSL is something outside the scope of the software (at least the configuring the webserver part).

Your webhost would know more.

[QFIT]

I am also running VB4.2.2 pl4 and trying to get it to work with SSL. Everything works except the editor. None of the buttons appear in the editor.


I update the Forum URL under Settings -> Options -> Site Name / URL / Contact Details

In headinclude , I’ve changed AJAXBASEURL = "{vb:raw ajaxbaseurl}"; to AJAXBASEURL = "https://www.mysite.com";

In class_core.php. I’ve made the change to: $scheme = ((':443' == $port) OR (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) AND $_SERVER['HTTPS'] AND ($_SERVER['HTTPS'] != 'off'))) ? 'https://' : 'http://';

No luck. This has nothing to do with the webserver.

[donald1234]

I don't see that there is any point in running ssl encryption on a forum that is open to general internet traffic, there is no point and it only slows page loading time. Sure google are saying they may use it as a ranking signal in the future but that is offset with the slowing and the fact you need to 301 non https url's already indexed..

Ideally you would have the sign in, registration and admincp encrypted and the rest unencrypted but I do not think this is possible?

[QFIT]

It does not slow it down with ECDSA and redirects are automatically handled by CloudFlare. There are many reasons to encrypt forum usage, which I won't go into as it's irrelevant to the problem.

[donald1234]

It does not slow it down with ECDSA and redirects are automatically handled by CloudFlare. There are many reasons to encrypt forum usage, which I won't go into as it's irrelevant to the problem.

SSL does slow page load times as it needs to be encrypted and unencrypted, some methods may well be better than others.

This thread is not about your issue, you are supposed to open your own thread and link to this if it's relevant.