--- title: "Access URLs for Administrators and End Users" slug: "access-urls-for-administrators-and-end-users-5" tags: ["8.2", "Portal"] updated: 2025-01-02T14:20:47Z published: 2025-01-02T14:20:47Z canonical: "kb.ctera.com/access-urls-for-administrators-and-end-users-5" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.ctera.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Access URLs for Administrators and End Users The global administration interface is accessible via the IP address of any of the CTERA Portal servers. CTERA recommends using IP address access for testing environments. For production environments, CTERA recommends configuring the DNS service. The URL for accessing a virtual portal as an end user or as an administrator, or for accessing the global administration interface of the CTERA Portal may depend on: - [The Access Protocol](/v1/docs/access-urls-for-administrators-and-end-users-5#the-access-protocol) - [The HTTPS Access Port](/v1/docs/access-urls-for-administrators-and-end-users-5#the-https-access-port) **Note** A DNS suffix, used to create a virtual portal's DNS name, to access the portal, was set when the portal was installed, as described in the installation guide for the environment and in [Configuring Global Settings](/v1/docs/configuring-global-settings-6). ## The Access Protocol The global administration interface is accessible only via HTTPS. The end user interface and team administrator interface is accessible via HTTP or HTTPS. You can enable automatic redirection of users from HTTP to HTTPS. **To enable automatic redirection from HTTP to HTTPS** 1. In the global administration view, select **Settings** in the navigation pane. The **Control Panel** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-AQXGXR54.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 2. Select **Global Settings** under **SETTINGS** in the **Control Panel** page. The **Global Settings** window is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-INBSRA7E.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 3. For administrators, make sure **Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS** is checked under **Administration Console**. 4. For end users and team administrator, check **Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS** under **End User Portal**. 5. Click **Save**. 6. Restart the CTERA Portal servers. The change is implemented after the restart. 1. In the global administration view, select **Main > Servers** in the navigation pane. The **Servers** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-MRMLDJA8.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 2. Select each server in turn and click **Restart** for each server. Restart the servers in the following order: - Main database server. - Replication database server, if available. - All application or preview servers. ## The HTTPS Access Port By default, the administration portal is accessible via the standard HTTPS port, 443. However, you can change the HTTPS port. Changing the administration portal’s HTTPS access port can block undesired access to the portal. Once the HTTPS port is changed, the non standard port must be specified in the URL in order for the browser to access the portal. To connect to the administration portal after changing the administration access port, append the port number to the FQDN of your portal. For example, to connect to *Example*’s administration portal using HTTPS port 2222, use the following address: `https://example.ctera.me:2222/admin` **To customize the administration portal HTTPS access port:** 1. In the global administration view, select **Settings** in the navigation pane. The **Control Panel** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-AQXGXR54.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 2. Select **Global Settings** under **SETTINGS** in the **Control Panel** page. The **Global Settings** window is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-INBSRA7E.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 3. In the **Administration Console** area, specify the new HTTPS port number in the **HTTPS Port** field. The allowed HTTPS ports are: 443, and from 1024 to 65535. 4. Click **Save**. 5. Restart the CTERA Portal servers. The change is implemented after the restart. 1. In the global administration view, select **Main > Servers** in the navigation pane. The **Servers** page is displayed. ![image.png](https://cdn.document360.io/30792387-cdcb-4791-aa14-94929bbcd3fe/Images/Documentation/image-RS87F3Y4.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-11T04%3A43%3A50Z&se=2026-11-11T05%3A43%3A50Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=OS9ihi4oa%2Fm32KVdk0WbzN%2Bn5B0rjTqmNdJiSZrxHpM%3D) 2. Select each server in turn and click **Restart** for each server. Restart the servers in the following order: - Main database server. - Replication database server, if available. - All application or preview servers. 6. Configure the firewalls on the CTERA Portal servers to enable TCP traffic between the servers on the customized HTTPS port. This is necessary because the customized HTTPS port is used for CTERA server-to-server communications. **Note** Using *Redirect from HTTP to HTTPS* in addition to a customized HTTPS access port results in a redirect to the address that includes the custom port. For example, a redirect from `http://example.ctera.me/admin` to `https://example.ctera.me:2222/admin`