diff --git a/examples/irida.yaml b/examples/irida.yaml
index 2fcbf91..faf5393 100644
--- a/examples/irida.yaml
+++ b/examples/irida.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ irida::tomcat_group: 'grp_tomcat'
 irida::manage_user: true
 irida::java_heap_memory: 2048
 irida::irida_ip_addr: irida.ca
+irida::server_base_url: 'irida.ca'
 irida::make_db: true
 irida::db_user: irida
 irida::db_password: REALLYstrongPASSWORDsoGOOD!!!!1!
diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 309cec1..92a01e5 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   String  $tomcat_logs_location = "${tomcat_location}/logs",
   Integer $java_heap_memory     = 1024,
   String  $irida_ip_addr        = 'localhost',
+  String  $server_base_url      = 'localhost',
   String  $irida_version        = '20.01.2', #release tags  https://github.com/phac-nml/irida/releases
   String  $irida_url_path       = 'irida',
   String  $linker_script        = 'ngsArchiveLinker.pl',
diff --git a/templates/web.conf.erb b/templates/web.conf.erb
index e916216..7a96b6b 100644
--- a/templates/web.conf.erb
+++ b/templates/web.conf.erb
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # The externally visible URL for accessing this instance of IRIDA. This key is
 # used by the e-mailer when sending out e-mail notifications (password resets,
 # for example) and embeds this URL directly in the body of the e-mail.
-<% if @use_ssl %>
-server.base.url=https://<%= @irida_ip_addr %>/<%= @irida_url_path %>
+<% if @use_ssl && @force_ssl  %>
+server.base.url=https://<%= @server_base_url %>/<%= @irida_url_path %>
 <% else %>
-server.base.url=http://<%= @irida_ip_addr %>/<%= @irida_url_path %>
+server.base.url=http://<%= @server_base_url %>/<%= @irida_url_path %>
 <% end %>
 
 # Mail server configuration settings