iRule Feature Highlight HTTP::is-redirect

I recently helped optimize an iRule intended to manipulate server-set redirects and was re-acquainted with a handy iRules command: HTTP::is_redirect .

It's a Boolean command that tests for HTTP redirect response codes and returns 1 for a match, 0 for no match.

A fairly common practice seems to be to use the HTTP::status command to retrieve the HTTP response status code, then compare it to a list of possible HTTP redirect response status values. However, since not all 3xx responses are redirects, it's not enough to check if the status begins with a "3". Instead, the HTTP status code must be compared to a list of possible values (rather than a single value) in order to capture only the desired responses. Therefore, in most cases it will be more optimal and more accurate to use the HTTP::is_redirect command instead of the HTTP::status command.

The following response codes cause HTTP::is_redirect to return a match (and all include a Location header directing the browser to an alternate resource):