Apache

Apache is the most popular software for serving web pages. It is distributed under an open source license.

protecting a web directory

If you want to protect a directory on a webserver by making it necessary to provide a password to access it, you need to do the following:

Create .htaccess in the directory you want to protect and include this information:

AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName [something to identify this directory]
AuthType Basic

<Limit GET>
require valid-user
</Limit>

Then create the file .htpasswd. This should not be in the actual directory.

htpasswd -c /path/to/.htpasswd [username]

This will prompt you for a password.

To add users, simply remove the '-c' option

[ return to main tips page ]