# Rewrite assistance **URL:** \ **Category:** NGINX\ **Created:** [November 23, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548 "2010-11-23T22:42:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![okkezSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/85f322/32.png) [@okkezSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/okkezSS)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/1 "2010-11-23T22:42:16Z")
Hi all, I’m trying to add in a rewrite rule that will take this string and just do a redirect to / /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 Since the query string can vary, how would I craft my rewrite appropriately to do this? I’ve tried a few variations of the following, but all it does is remove the “preview.php” portion of the string, leaving the “?controllerName=channel&id=2” rewrite ^/preview.php(.\*) / permanent; Essentially I just watch to match against “preview.php” and redirect to the index portion of the site. Thanks! Posted at Nginx Forum: > **[rewrite assistance](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,152792,152792#msg-152792)** > > Hi all, I'm trying to add in a rewrite rule that will take this string and just do a redirect to / /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 Since the query string can vary, how would I craft my rewrite appropriately to do this? I've tried a few... ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/2 "2010-11-23T22:54:49Z")
On 23 Nov 2010 21h41 WET, [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hi all, > > I’m trying to add in a rewrite rule that will take this string and > just do a redirect to / /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 > > Since the query string can vary, how would I craft my rewrite > appropriately to do this? I’ve tried a few variations of the > following, but all it does is remove the “preview.php” portion of > the string, leaving the “?controllerName=channel&id=2” rewrite > ^/preview.php(.\*) / permanent; Note that your saying with your regex that I want a numeric capturing group that can have _0_ characters. Try this: ^/preview.php(?:.\*)$ / permanent; Now you’re saying match anything with a non-capturing group to the end of the line. — appa ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/3 "2010-11-24T01:29:59Z")
On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 04:41:04PM -0500, daveyfx wrote: Hi there, > I’m trying to add in a rewrite rule that will take this string and just > do a redirect to / > /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 [GitHub - nginxinc/nginx-wiki: ARCHIVED -- Source for the now archived NGINX Wiki section of https://www.nginx.com · GitHub](http://wiki.nginx.org/HttpRewriteModule) is worth reading. > Since the query string can vary, how would I craft my rewrite > appropriately to do this? I’ve tried a few variations of the following, > but all it does is remove the “preview.php” portion of the string, > leaving the “?controllerName=channel&id=2” > rewrite ^/preview.php(.\*) / permanent; rewrite appends args unless the last character of the replacement is “?”. > Essentially I just watch to match against “preview.php” and redirect to > the index portion of the site. This description is not the same at the earlier ones. Assuming that this sentence describes your wish: location = /preview.php { rewrite ^ /? permanent; } (untested!) should probably Just Work. If you _do_ want to vary based on the query string (?-bit), the manual has an example. Good luck, ## f Francis D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/4 "2010-11-24T05:43:36Z")
## Francis D. Wrote: > has an example. > > Good luck, > > ## f > > Francis D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Francis, Spot on. That seems to have done the trick. Out of my own desire to learn, is there a way to do the same thing without using the location directive, and just merely using a rewrite statement? Thanks! Dave Posted at Nginx Forum: [http://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,152792,152854#msg-152854](http://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,152792,152854#msg-152854) ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/5 "2010-11-24T01:23:43Z")
Antonio, That did not work. I’m still getting the same end result where /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 is rewritten as /?controllerName=channel&id=2 Essentially I just want to check to see if preview.php is the requested file, and if it is, redirect to / regardless of the query string appended after preview.php Thanks, Dave Posted at Nginx Forum: > **[Re: rewrite assistance](https://forum.nginx.org/read.php?2,152792,152828#msg-152828)** > > Hi all, I'm trying to add in a rewrite rule that will take this string and just do a redirect to / /preview.php?controllerName=channel&id=2 Since the query string can vary, how would I craft my rewrite appropriately to do this? I've tried a few... ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/6 "2010-11-24T11:44:32Z")
On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 11:42:38PM -0500, daveyfx wrote: Hi there, > > location = /preview.php { > > rewrite ^ /? permanent; > > } > Spot on. That seems to have done the trick. Out of my own desire to > learn, is there a way to do the same thing without using the location > directive, and just merely using a rewrite statement? Yes. The manual says “”" syntax: rewrite regex replacement flag default: none context: server, location, if “”" The location{} block just says “only try this for some urls”. Within the server{} block, it would be “try this for all urls”, and only urls that match the regex would be rewritten. So: the “rewrite” line that was almost working for you, with the extra bit on the replacement part to suppress adding the query string, should be what you want. Good luck, ## f Francis D. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@daveyfx](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/daveyfx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rewrite-assistance/199548/7 "2010-11-24T12:26:42Z")
On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 11:42:38PM -0500, daveyfx wrote: > > > > Francis, > > Spot on. That seems to have done the trick. Out of my own desire to > learn, is there a way to do the same thing without using the location > directive, and just merely using a rewrite statement? You can place the rewrite on server level, but it’s better to use the location, because otherwise nginx will run regex “^/preview.php$” for every request. Testing “location = /preview.php” is faster. – Igor S. > **[Igor Sysoev](http://sysoev.ru/en/)**