How redirect to MVC routes using a old asp site url correctly?

Question

Let me explain. Recently, I migrated a classic asp application to .net MVC4. The old site was made up of a lot of html and aspx pages, ie:

• index.html
• book.html
• contactus.aspx

naturally, the old asp site was accessed by urls like www.library.com/index.html, www.library.com/book.html, www.library.com/contactus.aspx , etc.

Now, the current MVC site is accessed via routers, ie, www.library.com/Home, www.library.com/Book, www.library.com/Contact .

A lot of company customer try to access the new site using the old URLs, this is a problem, i need find a solution from code.

I try some solutions, but don't work.

Solution One

For old aspxs page, it's possible create aspx pages on the new site root with the same name that the old site and redirect on Page_Load from codebehind

//Create contactus.aspx on root directory project and redirect
public partial class Contact : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Response.RedirectToRoute(new { controller = "Contact", action = "Index" });
    }
} 

For html page you can define a simple refresh on meta tag

//Create a html page, i.e., index.html
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=http://library.com/Home" />
<p><a href="http://example.com/">Redirect</a></p>

This it's not a viable solution, it's necesary create a html page or aspx page for each needed redirect.

Solution 2

I've try define a redirect conditional on Global.asax, but doesn't work

    protected void Application_BeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e )
    {
        string url = Request.Url.ToString().ToLower();

        if (url.Contains("index.html"))
            Context.Response.RedirectPermanent("/Home");

        else if (url.Contains("book.html"))
            Context.Response.RedirectPermanent("/Book");

        else if (url.Contains("contactus.aspx"))
            Context.Response.RedirectPermanent("/Contact");
    }

Solution 3

I've try define maps for redirect on RouteConfig.cs, but doesn't work too

        //Trying redirect on RegisterRoutes() in RouteConfig.cs
        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "Home",
            url: "index.html",
            defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index" }
        );

        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "Book",
            url: "book.html",
            defaults: new { controller = "Book", action = "Index" }
        );

        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "Contact",
            url: "contactus.aspx",
            defaults: new { controller = "Contact", action = "Index" }
        );

How redirect to new mvc routes when user try to access old asp site url correctly? need find a quickly and economic solution, thanks for help.

Answer 1

You need Url Rewrite based on Regular Expressions Pattern. Refer this thread , OP (@Eilimint) has updated the solution inline. This could be an elegant solution that allows us to override without changing the code.

<rule name="Redirect to new domain" stopProcessing="true">
  <match url="^(.*)$" />
  <conditions>            
    <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" matchType="Pattern" pattern="^olddomain(:\d+)?$" />
  </conditions>
  <action type="Redirect" url="https://my.newdomain.io/{R:1}" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

Answer 2

I've struggled with a solution to redirect old html pages to asp.net routing for years. Solution 3 works well when the pages are at the root level, but not so easy in sub folders. Also, depending on the structure of the new site, one route redirection may not cover all html pages.

I finally surrendered to creating the original html page with a meta http-equiv="refresh":

Original Page: https://oldsite.com/pages/subpages/old.html

New Page: https://newsite.com/pages/subpages/old.html :

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="7; url='https://newsite.com/newcontroller/action'" />
</head>
<body>
    <p>Please follow <a ref="https://newsite.com/newcontroller/action">this link</a>.</p>
</body>
</html>

Answer 3

I know it has been a while since this question was asked, but I had the similar requirements. Just posting in case anyone comes looking.

I needed to redirect aspx pages (when accessed directly) to their friendly names configured in RouteTable collection. I got it to work by calling following code in Application_BeginRequest of global.asax.vb

    If Request.FilePath.IndexOf(".aspx", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) > -1 Then
        Dim rh As PageRouteHandler
        For Each r As Route In RouteTable.Routes.OfType(Of Route)
            Try
                If TypeOf (r.RouteHandler) Is PageRouteHandler Then
                    rh = r.RouteHandler
                    If rh.VirtualPath.Contains(Request.FilePath) Then
                        Response.Redirect(r.Url)
                    End If
                End If
            Catch ex As Exception
                
            End Try
        Next
    End If