Fixed: 301 redirect loop on newly restored/cloned site

Support
1

If, like me, you get an endless 301 redirect loop and your browser tells you

Error 310 (net::ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS): there were too many redirects
you might solve it like this

Background: I imported a live site from a backupbuddy zip file backup. The live site is HTTPS (SSL Let’s Encrypt certificate) enabled

But in order for Local to work, you need to set siteurl and home to http:// (no https !!)

In order to find the options in the database:

  1. Open Local - Database - Adminer
  2. Select wp_option table (or replace wp_ with the prefix you have choosen)
  3. Select Search and enter
  4. option_name = home
  5. if option_value starts with https:// clicke edit and replace with http://
  6. repeat with option_name = siteurl

Now the site should work. If you still have problems may I also suggest checking or removing any .htaccess files you might have (when using nginx as the local http server)

2

This helped prevent the “Too Many Redirects” for my main site, but I found that as soon as I tried to visit the WordPress admin ( /wpadmin ) the problem came back.

After digging around, I finally located this declaration in my wp-config.php file:

define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', TRUE);

by changing it to false:

define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', FALSE);

the redirect loop was resolved and I was able to log in.

Just wanted to add this for anyone else who might be having a similar issue.