Introduction
Your Web server thinks that your URL has been temporarily
redirected to another URL. The client system is expected to immediately retry
the alternate URL.
302 errors in the HTTP cycle
Any client (e.g. your Web browser or our CheckUpDown robot) goes
through the following cycle when it communicates with your Web server:
- Obtain an IP address from the IP name of your site (your site
URL without the leading 'http://'). This lookup (conversion of IP name to IP
address) is provided by domain name servers (DNSs).
- Open an IP socket connection to that IP address.
- Write an HTTP data stream through that socket.
- Receive an HTTP data stream back from your Web server in
response. This data stream contains status codes whose values are determined by
the HTTP protocol. Parse this data stream for status codes and other useful
information.
This error occurs in the final step above when the client
receives an HTTP status code that it recognises as '302'.
Resolving 302 errors - general
The 302 response from your Web server should always include an
alternative URL to which redirection should occur. If it does, a Web browser
will immediately retry the alternative URL. So you never actually see a 302
error in a Web browser, unless perhaps you have a corrupt redirection chain
e.g. URL A redirects to URL B which in turn redirects back to URL A. If your
client is not a Web browser, it should behave in the same way as a Web browser
i.e. immediately retry the alternative URL.
If the Web server does not return an alternative URL with the
302 response, then either the Web server sofware itself is defective or your
Webmaster has not set up the URL redirection correctly.
Resolving 302 errors - CheckUpDown
Redirection of URLs may occur for low-level URLs (specific URLs
within your Web site such as
www.isp.com/products/index.html) when you
reorganise your web site, but is relatively uncommon for the top-level URLs
(such as
www.isp.com) which most CheckUpDown users ask us to check. So
this error should be fairly infrequent.
The 302 response from your Web server should always include an
alternative URL to which redirection should occur. If it does, CheckUpDown
automatically tries the alternative URL. This in turn may possibly lead to
another redirection which CheckUpDown then tries. This continues for a maximum
of 5 redirections. As soon as 5 redirections have occurred, CheckUpDown gives
up and reports the 302 error for your account. So you should only ever see the
302 error if 1) your Web server gives no alternative URL on the 302 response or
2) the number of redirections exceeds 5. This second condition should be fairly
unlikely - and may indicate a recursive pattern e.g. URL A redirects to URL B
which in turn redirects back to URL A.
You first need to check that the IP name we use to check for
your account is accurate. If you or your ISP have configured something so that
any access using this name should now be redirected to another name, then you
need to update your CheckUpDown account to start using the new name.
If you believe that the IP name we use is exact (should not be
redirected), please try accessing the current URL using a Web browser. Note
carefully which URL actually gets displayed, because your browser may silently
switch to a substitute URL if it receives an 302 message from your Web server.
If you see any evidence of a new URL, try accessing that directly from your
browser. If this works (you see your Web site as expected), then this new URL
is what you may need to update on your CheckUpDwon account. If this is a
temporary redirection, then you may also need to reinstate the original IP name
at a later date when the redirection is no longer effective.
If none of the above help, we can analyse the underlying HTTP
data streams we receive from your Web server. These can provide additional
information about the new URL(s) which your Web server thinks we should be
accessing. Before doing this, we prefer you to identify any deliberate changes
on your side, liaising with your ISP if needs be.
302 errors should occur infrequently, because top-level URLs do
not change often. If they do change, then this is typically because a
redirection URL is being suggested. This pervasive change is unlikely to occur
by accident, so most often we can resolve this error by updating our system
records for your account following a deliberate change of URL on your part,
whether this change is temporary or permanent.
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