How to force or re-direct to an SSL GroupWise 2014 R2 Webaccess login page in a browser

Assumptions:  That SSL is working correctly on the Apache Web Server on SLES11 or SLES12,  You can go to :

    https://<Sles11-or-Sles12-HostName> and it displays the web page correctly before anything else is done

Assumptions:  That you have a file called "mod_rewrite.so" in the directory /usr/lib64/apache2/

    STEPS:

1.  Edit the Apache Configuration File, located here: /etc/sysconfig/apache2,

   a.  Look for a line that reads : or similar modules

        APACHE_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_file authz_host authz_groupfile authz_default authz_user authn_dbm autoindex cgi dir env expires include log_config mime negotiation setenvif ssl suexec userdir php5 reqtimeout"

       Confirm it has in the listed modules a module called "rewrite", if not add it.

2.  The following entries can be added to /etc/apache2/httpd.conf to globally force redirection to port 443. 

    a.   Anywhere in the httpd.conf file add the following three lines, if they are not already present : 

         RewriteEngine on
         Rewritecond %{SERVER_PORT} ^80$
         RewriteRule ^/(.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}/gw/$1 [NC,R,L]

3.  Restart apache2, with "rcapache2 restart"

4.  Now when you type this in the browser you will go to the SSL url for a GroupWise Webaccess login page :

        http://<YourHostNameOrIPAddressOfYourWebServer>