How to Force SSL in Joomla 3.1

Another Joomla 3.0 Server Setting that is available is Force SSL.

Description of the Force SSL OptionAvailable Options for Force SSL
Force SSL
Force site access to always occur under SSL (https) for selected areas. You will not be able to access selected areas under non-ssl. Note, you must have SSL enabled on your server to utilise this option.
  • None
  • Administrator Only
  • Entire Site

As the options imply, you can force SSL for either your entire website, or only for your /administrator pages.

To set the Force SSL option in Joomla 3.0

  1. Log into your Joomla 3.0 Admin Dashboard
  2. In the left menu, click the Global Configuration link
  3. There will be several tabs at the top of the page. Click the Server tab.
  4. Under the Server Settings heading, find the option labeled Force SSL. Use the drop down menu to the right of the setting to select the option you want, and then click the Save button in the top left of the page.

    Please note!
    If you don’t have SSL enabled for your domain name, you will immediately get an error upon saving. This potentially can lock you out of your website! To fix this issue, continue reading.

What to do if you’re locked out of Joomla 3.0 because of this SSL Setting?

If you enabled the Force SSL option, and you’ve become locked out of your website, follow these steps to restore the normal, non-ssl setting.

  1. Open for edit the Joomla 3.0 configuration.php file
  2. Find a line that looks similar to this:
    public $force_ssl = '2';

    Change this setting so that it has a value of 0, as in:

    public $force_ssl = '0';

    Save the changes to the file. You should be able to access your site once again.

    Please note!
    If you have any trouble changing the settings to the file, the file may not have any write permissions, so the file’s permissions may need to be updated.

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