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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11A browser’s “too many redirects” error means it followed a repeating chain of HTTP redirects; it does not prove NGINX created that chain. The response could come from NGINX, an upstream application, a load balancer or ingress, or an edge service. Capture each response’s status and Location header, then identify which layer sent it before changing configuration.
What a redirect-loop error tells you
Browsers may report ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS or “The page isn’t redirecting properly” when they encounter a repeated redirect chain. A redirect is a normal HTTP technique for sending a client to another URL; the problem arises when the chain returns to a URL it has already visited, or otherwise repeats indefinitely. The browser’s message identifies the symptom, not the system responsible. Cloudflare’s troubleshooting guide documents both error phrasings, while MDN’s HTTP redirection guide explains redirects and illustrates a loop.
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Potential sources include an edge or CDN rule, a load balancer or ingress, NGINX, and the application behind NGINX. More than one layer can also participate: one may redirect HTTP to HTTPS while another makes a conflicting decision based on the scheme it sees. The redirect chain is the evidence needed to distinguish these cases.
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Capture the chain before changing configuration
Reproduce the problem at the public URL and inspect the network requests in browser developer tools, or use an HTTP client that reports each response and its Location header. Record the URL, status code, and Location for every hop. Include the scheme, hostname, path, and query string so that the changing part is apparent.
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- Write down each hop. Note whether the chain alternates between HTTP and HTTPS, between hostnames, or between paths—for example, a path with and without a trailing slash.
- Identify the responder. Use response headers and, where available, edge, load-balancer, ingress, NGINX access, and application logs to determine which system handled each request. Headers can be clues, but logs and configuration provide stronger confirmation.
- Compare public and origin behavior safely. If operationally appropriate, request the origin or upstream directly and compare its status and
Locationwith the public response. Avoid bypassing controls or exposing an origin that is not intended to be public. - Follow the evidence to the layer that emitted the redirect. Check that layer’s effective rules and the request information it received before changing settings.
A repeated URL or alternating pair often makes the cycle visible. For example, if one response sends https://example.test/page to its HTTP equivalent and the next sends it back to HTTPS, the changing scheme exposes the loop. That pattern alone still does not establish which component issued either response; correlate the hops with the relevant logs and configuration.
Check HTTPS decisions across proxies
When a load balancer terminates TLS, the visitor may connect over HTTPS while the connection from the load balancer to the origin uses HTTP. If the application or ingress sees only that origin-side HTTP connection, it may redirect to HTTPS even though the public request already used HTTPS. The reverse proxy then receives another HTTPS request from the visitor and the cycle repeats.
Inspect where TLS ends and whether the original scheme is forwarded to the component making the HTTPS decision. The application or ingress must receive and correctly interpret that information; applications commonly require an explicit trust configuration for their proxy, and the exact setting depends on the application. Do not assume an incoming forwarded header is trustworthy from every source: confirm that the trusted proxy supplies or overwrites it.
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For this topology, the NGINX Ingress Controller LTS annotations documentation describes a redirect-to-https rule based on http_x_forwarded_proto when a load balancer terminates SSL before the ingress controller. It also documents ssl-redirect as a separate setting and lists supported redirect codes. These are controller-specific settings: check the documentation for the deployed controller and version rather than assuming every NGINX installation behaves the same way.
Inspect redirects from the upstream application
In a reverse-proxy setup, NGINX sends a request to an upstream, receives its response, and returns that response to the client. The upstream can therefore be the source of a redirect even when NGINX is the public-facing server. Inspect the upstream response’s status and Location, along with the Host and scheme-related information NGINX passes to the application. Check the application’s canonical URL or HTTPS settings if those values do not match the public request.
NGINX documents proxy_set_header for changing request headers sent upstream, and proxy_redirect for rewriting redirect URLs in upstream responses, including Location headers. These directives address different directions of traffic: the former changes what the application receives; the latter changes redirect URLs NGINX sends back to the client. Review the actual upstream response and effective proxy configuration before deciding whether either is appropriate. See the NGINX reverse-proxy guide and the NGINX proxy module documentation.
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Check edge, load-balancer, and ingress rules too
A redirect may be generated before a request reaches NGINX. Cloudflare, for example, documents that its Always Use HTTPS feature redirects HTTP requests to HTTPS. If edge and origin policies overlap, trace the observed chain and determine which rule issued each response; do not disable a rule blindly just because another layer also redirects.
Apply the same method to a load balancer or ingress: compare its logs and effective redirect settings with the status and Location seen by the client. The goal is to find which layer made the decision that returned the client to a URL already in the chain—not merely the first server in the request path.
Distinguish a browser loop from an NGINX internal cycle
A browser-followed redirect loop consists of repeated client-facing HTTP responses. An NGINX internal redirect cycle is different: request processing loops inside NGINX and can fail without the browser following a succession of redirect responses. NGINX’s current core-module documentation says: “There is a limit of 10 internal redirects per request to prevent request processing cycles that can occur in incorrect configurations.” If that limit is exceeded, NGINX returns HTTP 500; its error log can show rewrite or internal redirection cycle.
If the error log contains that message, inspect NGINX rewrite and internal-redirect rules. The documented limit applies to NGINX’s internal request processing; it is not a universal browser redirect limit and does not, by itself, explain a client-side chain of repeated 3xx responses.
Quick Recap
Use the changing URL component to narrow the search
- HTTP and HTTPS alternate: Check TLS termination, forwarded scheme information, and HTTPS redirect rules at the edge, ingress, NGINX, and application.
- Hostnames alternate: Compare the requested
Hostwith canonical-host rules at each layer and inspect everyLocationtarget. - Paths alternate: Check trailing-slash, rewrite, and application routing rules, as well as any upstream redirect rewriting.
- The same URL repeats: Identify the responder for each response and compare its redirect rule with the request it received; the repetition alone does not identify the layer.
- There is HTTP 500 and an NGINX cycle message: Investigate NGINX internal rewrites or redirects rather than treating the issue as an ordinary browser-followed chain.
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