Title: [Plugin: Jetpack by WordPress.com] JetPack initial connect doesn't fallback from HTTPS to HTTP
Last modified: August 20, 2016

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# [Plugin: Jetpack by WordPress.com] JetPack initial connect doesn't fallback from HTTPS to HTTP

 *  Resolved [Gwyneth Llewelyn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gwynethllewelyn/)
 * (@gwynethllewelyn)
 * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/)
 * Hi,
 * I have a website which is behind a severely restricted firewall, running on an
   environment where the IP address is private and not public. As such, all outgoing
   requests have to go through a firewall.
 * HTTP requests work well through the firewall, but HTTPS do not.
 * A year ago, a similar issue was reported here (and duly closed), mentioning that
   a simple tweak in the code would make JetPack attempt to connect via HTTP and
   ignore connections via HTTPS. It was a very simple change.
 * Later, an automatic fallback mechanism was introduced: JetPack would attempt 
   to connect first via HTTPS, and if that failed, it would connect via HTTP. This
   meant that the initial connection might have taken a bit longer, but, eventually,
   it would connect without problems.
 * Recent versions, however, seem to work differently. If JetPack makes a HTTPS 
   connection through a proxy, and that connection fails, it never falls back to
   HTTP. I believe it’s assuming that the proxy knows what it’s doing, and accepts
   the error from the proxy as being “final” and doesn’t make any more attempts.
   In our particular setup, the proxy clearly cannot connect via HTTPS (and will
   drop an error!) but has no problem reaching **jetpack.me** or **jetpack.wordpress.
   com** via HTTP.
 * So what I need to do is to “force” JetPack to use only HTTP requests and never
   even attempt HTTPS ones. How is that managed? I’ve looked through the code and
   I’m baffled where the old fallback mechanism is nowadays. It looks like Automattic
   might have dropped HTTP connections, and, as such, just attempts HTTPS ones. 
   Is that so?
 * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/jetpack/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/jetpack/)

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Thread Starter [Gwyneth Llewelyn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gwynethllewelyn/)
 * (@gwynethllewelyn)
 * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/#post-2992262)
 * The only method I found is to manually change the URL that JetPack uses to connect:
 * Open /wp-content/plugins/jetpack/jetpack.php
 * And manually change https to http on line 15:
 * `defined( 'JETPACK__API_BASE' ) or define( 'JETPACK__API_BASE', 'http://jetpack.
   wordpress.com/jetpack.' );`
 * This seems to work.
 *  Plugin Contributor [Michael Adams (mdawaffe)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mdawaffe/)
 * (@mdawaffe)
 * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/#post-2992354)
 * Jetpack does fallback to HTTP during registration, but it only does so when it
   sees certain error messages. Your proxy must be responding with an error message
   Jetpack doesn’t recognize.
 * Honestly, though, this sounds like a misconfigured proxy.
 * I strongly encourage you to talk to your network administrators about opening
   up HTTPS requests. Unless they want to be able to snoop on all of your traffic,
   I can’t think of a reason why HTTPS should be blocked.
 * Also, editing the Jetpack files means you’ll have to keep editing them every 
   time you updated Jetpack, which would be a pain. Instead of editing jetpack.php,
   you can add the following to your wp-config.php.
 *     ```
       defined( 'JETPACK_CLIENT__HTTPS', 'NEVER' );
       ```
   
 * A warning to you and others that read this thread. **Do not do this** . HTTPS
   is better. Work with your host and/or network administrators to get HTTPS working
   correctly instead.
 * If this is the only thing that makes Jetpack work, then there is either a problem
   with your host/network or a bug in Jetpack. Please report the problem to us [http://jetpack.me/support/](http://jetpack.me/support/)(
   bottom of the page) so we can fix Jetpack if the problem lies there.
 *  Thread Starter [Gwyneth Llewelyn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gwynethllewelyn/)
 * (@gwynethllewelyn)
 * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/#post-2992368)
 * You’re right, I’m pretty much sure that JetPack (or rather, the underlying transport
   mechanism) is encountering an unknown error, and that comes from Squid.
 * The proxy is not _mis_configured in the usual sense; people are not supposed 
   to use outgoing webservices at all. It was only with extreme reluctance, and 
   only in exceptional cases, that this was allowed — but apparently only for HTTP
   requests. This might be the first case where HTTP requests are not enough. Changing
   the whole setup to allow outgoing HTTPS requests, if it requires a complex configuration,
   will be out of the question. If it’s just adding a line or two (it isn’t; I have
   tried), then it _might_ be possible.
 * Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the far simpler configuration setting 
   on wp-config.php. I was looking for exactly that, but had no idea if JETPACK_CLIENT__HTTPS
   was ‘visible’ only inside the plugin or if it could be set on wp-config.php. 
   I truly appreciate your help!
 *  Plugin Contributor [Michael Adams (mdawaffe)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mdawaffe/)
 * (@mdawaffe)
 * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/#post-2992369)
 * You’re welcome. I’m glad you got it (mostly ;)) working.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘[Plugin: Jetpack by WordPress.com] JetPack initial connect doesn't fallback
from HTTPS to HTTP’ is closed to new replies.

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## Tags

 * [HTTPS](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/https/)
 * [proxy](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/proxy/)

 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Michael Adams (mdawaffe)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mdawaffe/)
 * Last activity: [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-jetpack-by-wordpresscom-jetpack-initial-connect-doesnt-fallback-from-https-to-http-when-behind-a-proxy/#post-2992369)
 * Status: resolved