Nginx Redirect Generator

The generator writes one exact-match location block per old URL with a return directive:

location = /old-page {
    return 301 https://www.example.com/new-page$is_args$args;
}

The = makes it an exact match, so /old-page is redirected but /old-page/child is not. Nginx checks exact-match locations first and stops as soon as one matches, which makes them the fastest kind of location. $is_args$args carries the original query string across.

1. Open the configuration for the site, typically /etc/nginx/sites-available/your-site or a file in /etc/nginx/conf.d/.
2. Paste the generated blocks inside the server { } block that handles the domain, next to the other location blocks.
3. Check the syntax: sudo nginx -t.
4. Reload without dropping connections: sudo nginx -s reload (or sudo systemctl reload nginx).
5. Verify from the command line: curl -I https://www.example.com/old-page should show 301 and the new Location.

Use return whenever the destination is a fixed URL. Use rewrite only when part of the old URL has to be captured and reused:

# Move a whole section, keeping the rest of the path
rewrite ^/blog/(.*)$ /articles/$1 permanent;

# Redirect non-www to www (separate server block)
server {
    server_name example.com;
    return 301 https://www.example.com$request_uri;
}

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    return 301 https://www.example.com$request_uri;
}

Old URLs that are identified by their query string (for example /product.php?id=5) cannot be matched by a location, because locations only see the path. For those the generator writes a check on $request_uri instead.

The same tool is available preset for each server, plus a combined version:

• 301 redirect generator (all servers)
• .htaccess redirect generator
• PHP redirect generator
• bulk redirect generator

After the redirects are live, confirm each old URL answers 301 and lands on a working page with the broken link checker, and submit a sitemap of the new URLs made with the XML sitemap generator.