Redirecting a directory to HTTPS in IIS

It is often handy to be able to redirect a directory and its child pages to the HTTPS protocol rather than the usual HTTP, for instance, the back-office area of a CMS. This can easily be achieved in IIS by entering the following entry to the system.webServer > rewrite > rules section of web.config:

<rule name="Redirect /some-directory-to-protect to SSL" patternSyntax="ECMAScript" stopProcessing="true">
  <match url="some-directory-to-protect.*" />
  <conditions>
    <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="Off" />
  </conditions>
  <action type="Redirect" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}/{R:0}" />
</rule>