How to disable Google search indexing for ADSelfService Plus URL hosted over the internet
Objective
This article guides you through the steps to prevent Google from listing your publicly accessible ADSelfService Plus URL in search results. This is crucial for safeguarding your portal from unauthorized access attempts, such as brute-force attacks targeting user credentials.
Prerequisites
Administrative access to the ADSelfService Plus server.
Access to the ADSelfService Plus installation directory.
A text editor to modify configuration files.
Steps to follow
Stop the ADSelfService Plus service to prevent conflicts while modifying files.
Modify the index.html files:
Navigate to the following directories within your ADSelfService Plus installation folder
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\html\
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\selfservice\
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\webclient\
Open the index.html file in each directory using a text editor.
Locate the <head> tag.
Within the <head> tag, add the following meta tag: <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">
Save the changes to each index.html file.
Create and place the robots.txt file:
Create a new text file named robots.txt.
Add the following content to the robots.txt file:
Disallow:/
Save the robots.txt file.
Copy and paste the robots.txt file into the following directories:
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\selfservice\
<installation folder>\webapps\adssp\webclient\
Start the ADSelfService Plus service.
Validation and confirmation
- After restarting the ADSelfService Plus service, clear your browser's cache.
Open a new browser window in incognito or private mode.
Perform a Google search for your ADSelfService Plus URL.
Verify that your ADSelfService Plus URL is not listed in the search results.
Tips
Double-check that the meta tag is correctly added inside the <head> section of all specified files.
Ensure the robots.txt file is placed in all the mentioned directories.
If the URL still appears in Google search results, submit a request for removal via the Google Search Console.