apache rewrite: force https and name of server, not IP - apache

Question

I want my apache to always force people to use https and to map IP based look ups to be forwarded to the server name. The following settings (in httpd.conf file) take care of the http to https redirect:
<Location />
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://my_server.example.com%{REQUEST_URI}
</Location>
But now I also want that if people type 192.168.1.2 they get redirected to my_server.example.com.
To sum up:
http://192.168.1.2/someurl -> https://my_server.example.com/someurl
I've tried several things but either my settings get ignored or I end up in a redirect loop.
any hints?

Answer 1

If you have access to the main config and not just .htaccess, this is something most easily done with separate virtual hosts rather than resorting to the Swiss Army chainsaw that is mod_rewrite.
<VirtualHost *:80>
Redirect permanent / https://my_server.example.com/
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:443>
Redirect permanent / https://my_server.example.com/
SSLEngine on
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerName my_server.example.com
SSLEngine on
...real site config...
</VirtualHost>
It's not just numeric IP address access you generally want to redirect to your canonical hostname, but all addresses other than the known-good domains you control. Putting a default virtual host first in the config, that redirects (or serves up nothing) helps avoid certain DNS-based XSS attacks.

Answer 2

I figured out the following solution:
<Location />
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^my_server\.example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://my_server.example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://my_server.example.com%{REQUEST_URI}
</Location>
it does exactly what I need.