1. When to use it
Useful when an endpoint looks broken but the real issue is in redirects, certificates, or missing headers.
curl | wget | headers | redirects | HTTP debug
2. Base setup
curl -I -L https://example.org
curl -v https://example.org/robots.txt -o /tmp/robots.txt
wget -S --spider https://example.org
Adjust host names, IPs, interfaces, paths, and versions to the real system before making the change persistent.
3. Quick verification
curl -w '%{http_code} %{redirect_url}\n' -o /dev/null -s https://example.org
wget --server-response --spider https://example.org 2>&1 | head
sed -n '1,20p' /tmp/robots.txt
Confirm that the output matches the expected state before considering the intervention complete.
4. Operational notes
Headers and redirects explain many false alarms: always inspect them before touching the server configuration.
Quick checklist
[ ] Steps completed\n[ ] Config updated\n[ ] Tests executed\n[ ] Rollback ready\n[ ] Logs checked