Multiple url redirect using .htaccess

Question

I am having one website and it is redirecting to five different index file randomly using php.

• www.xyzdomain.com/index.php
• www.xyzdomain.com/index2.php
• www.xyzdomain.com/index3.php
• www.xyzdomain.com/index4.php
• www.xyzdomain.com/index5.php

I want to redirect it using .htaccess , the same way it redirecting php.

I found that using htaccess we can redirect urls like,

Redirect 301 / http://www.xyzdomain.com/index.php

or

Redirect 302 / http://www.xyzdomain.com/index.php

Currently i am doing that with using php random array.

<?php

$urls = array("index.php",
              "index2.php",
              "index3.php",
              "index4.php",
              "index5.php");
$url = $urls[array_rand($urls)];
header("Location: http://www.xyzdomain.com/$url");
?>

Question: How to redirect multiple index randomly using .htaccess rules?

Answer 1

Not fully random like PHP code but you can achieve something similar using mod_rewrite using TIME_SEC variable that represents seconds value of the current time. Consider this code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

# dont rewrite more than once
RewriteCond %{ENV:REDIRECT_STATUS} .+
RewriteRule ^ - [L]

# redirect all requests for php file to index file if %{TIME_SEC} is 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
# or if %{TIME_SEC} is 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51
RewriteCond %{TIME_SEC} [01]$
RewriteRule ^.+?\.php$ index.php [L,NC]

# redirect all requests for php file to index file if %{TIME_SEC} is 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, 52
# or if %{TIME_SEC} is 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53
RewriteCond %{TIME_SEC} [23]$
RewriteRule ^.+?\.php$ index2.php [L,NC]

# redirect all requests for php file to index file if %{TIME_SEC} is 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, 54
# or if %{TIME_SEC} is 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55
RewriteCond %{TIME_SEC} [45]$
RewriteRule ^.+?\.php$ index3.php [L,NC]

# redirect all requests for php file to index file if %{TIME_SEC} is 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56
# or if %{TIME_SEC} is 7, 17, 27, 37, 47, 57
RewriteCond %{TIME_SEC} [67]$
RewriteRule ^.+?\.php$ index4.php [L,NC]

# redirect all requests for php file to index file if %{TIME_SEC} is ending in 8, 9
RewriteCond %{TIME_SEC} [89]$
RewriteRule ^.+?\.php$ index5.php [L,NC]

Answer 2

To redirect individual files, like example.com/oldfile.htm to newfile.htm you can use a 301 redirect like this: http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/redirects/setting-up-a-301-permanent-redirect-via-htaccess