Multiple WordPress Blog 410 Redirect Script
Asked AI for this script to create an MU plugin that I could install with WP-CLI to redirect all 404’s to 410 – Page permanently gone.
While it might seem odd to those who redirect to the homepage, I had thousands of missing pages across several hundred blogs that had been removed for various reasons. And GSC was showing all these 404’s as failed. Hence the plugin.
And yes, I could of used Apache .htaccess, but this was easier
I ran this as /root in its own folder
Command 1 — Set the folder name first
Rename wp-404-to-410 to whatever you want before running the rest:
SCRIPT_DIR="/root/wp-404-to-410"
mkdir -p "$SCRIPT_DIR"
cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
pwdCommand 2 — Create the MU plugin file inside that folder
cat > "$SCRIPT_DIR/force-404-to-410.php" <<'PHP'
<?php
/**
* Plugin Name: Force 404s to 410 Gone
* Description: Converts all WordPress 404 responses into HTTP 410 Gone responses.
*/
add_action('template_redirect', function () {
if (is_404()) {
status_header(410);
nocache_headers();
get_header();
echo '<main style="max-width:760px;margin:40px auto;padding:20px;">';
echo '<h1>410 Gone</h1>';
echo '<p>This page has been permanently removed.</p>';
echo '</main>';
get_footer();
exit;
}
}, 1);
PHPCommand 3 — Create the installer script in the same folder
This installs the MU plugin across the WordPress installs.
cat > "$SCRIPT_DIR/install-404-to-410.sh" <<'BASH'
#!/bin/bash
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
PLUGIN_SOURCE="$SCRIPT_DIR/force-404-to-410.php"
LOG_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/install-404-to-410.log"
ACCOUNTS=(
/home/account1
/home/account2
/home/account3
/home/account4
)
echo "Started: $(date)" | tee "$LOG_FILE"
echo "Using plugin source: $PLUGIN_SOURCE" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
echo | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
if [ ! -f "$PLUGIN_SOURCE" ]; then
echo "ERROR: Plugin source not found: $PLUGIN_SOURCE" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
exit 1
fi
find "${ACCOUNTS[@]}" \
-maxdepth 4 \
-type f \
-name wp-config.php \
-printf '%h\n' | sort -u | while read -r WP_DIR; do
echo "Installing on: $WP_DIR" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
mkdir -p "$WP_DIR/wp-content/mu-plugins"
cp "$PLUGIN_SOURCE" "$WP_DIR/wp-content/mu-plugins/force-404-to-410.php"
chown --reference="$WP_DIR/wp-config.php" "$WP_DIR/wp-content/mu-plugins/force-404-to-410.php" 2>/dev/null
chmod 644 "$WP_DIR/wp-content/mu-plugins/force-404-to-410.php"
done
echo | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
echo "Finished: $(date)" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
BASH
chmod +x "$SCRIPT_DIR/install-404-to-410.sh"Because the script uses:
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"you can rename the folder later and it should still find the plugin file correctly, as long as the plugin file stays in the same folder as the installer script.
Command 4 — Run the installer
cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
./install-404-to-410.shLog file will be saved here:
/root/wp-404-to-410/install-404-to-410.logor whatever folder name you chose.
To confirm how many installs it touched:
grep -c "Installing on:" "$SCRIPT_DIR/install-404-to-410.logCommand 5 — Test one site
Replace the domain:
curl -I https://example.com/this-page-should-not-exist-12345
You want to see:
HTTP/2 410
or:
HTTP/1.1 410 GoneOptional removal script
Create this only if you want an easy rollback
cat > "$SCRIPT_DIR/remove-404-to-410.sh" <<'BASH'
#!/bin/bash
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
LOG_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/remove-404-to-410.log"
ACCOUNTS=(
/home/account1
/home/account2
/home/account3
/home/account4
)
echo "Started removal: $(date)" | tee "$LOG_FILE"
echo | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
find "${ACCOUNTS[@]}" \
-maxdepth 4 \
-type f \
-name wp-config.php \
-printf '%h\n' | sort -u | while read -r WP_DIR; do
TARGET="$WP_DIR/wp-content/mu-plugins/force-404-to-410.php"
if [ -f "$TARGET" ]; then
echo "Removing from: $WP_DIR" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
rm -f "$TARGET"
else
echo "Not found on: $WP_DIR" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
fi
done
echo | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
echo "Finished removal: $(date)" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
BASH
chmod +x "$SCRIPT_DIR/remove-404-to-410.sh"Run rollback with:
cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
./remove-404-to-410.sh