Step # 1: Make sure Apache is configured to use .htaccess file
You need to have AllowOverride AuthConfig directive in httpd.conf file in order for these directives to have any effect. Look for DocumentRoot Directory entry. In this example, our DocumentRoot directory is set to /var/www. Therefore, my entry in httpd.conf looks like as follows:
<Directory /var/www> Options Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride AuthConfig Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory>
Save the file and restart Apache
If you are using Red Hat /Fedora Linux:
If you are using Red Hat /Fedora Linux:
# service httpd restart
If you are using Debian Linux:
# /etc/init.d/apache-perl restart
Step # 2: Create a password file with htpasswd
htpasswd command is used to create and update the flat-files (text file) used to store usernames and password for basic authentication of Apache users. General syntax:
htpasswd -c password-file username
htpasswd -c password-file username
Where,
- -c : Create the password-file. If password-file already exists, it is rewritten and truncated.
- username : The username to create or update in password-file. If username does not exist in this file, an entry is added. If it does exist, the password is changed.
Create directory outside apache document root, so that only Apache can access password file. The password-file should be placed somewhere not accessible from the web. This is so that people cannot download the password file:
# mkdir -p /home/secure/
Add new user called samba
# htpasswd -c /home/secure/apasswords samba
Make sure /home/secure/apasswords file is readable by Apache web server. If Apache cannot read your password file, it will not authenticate you. You need to setup a correct permission using chown command. Usually apache use www-data user. Use the following command to find out Apache username. If you are using Debian Linux use pache2.conf, type the following command:
# grep -e '^User' /etc/apache2/apache2.confOutput:
www-data
Now allow apache user www-data to read our password file:
# chown www-data:www-data /home/secure/apasswords
# chmod 0660 /home/secure/apasswordsIf you are using RedHat and Fedora core, type the following commands :
# grep -e '^User' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.confOutput:
apache
Now allow apache user apache to read our password file:
# chown apache:apache /home/secure/apasswords
# chmod 0660 /home/secure/apasswordsNow our user samba is added but you need to configure the Apache web server to request a password and tell the server which users are allowed access. Let us assume you have directory called /var/www/docs and you would like to protect it with a password.
Create a directory /var/www/docs if it does not exist:
# mkdir -p /var/www/docsCreate .htaccess file using text editor:
# cd /var/www/docs
# vi .htaccessAdd following text:
AuthType Basic AuthName "Restricted Access" AuthUserFile /home/secure/apasswords Require user samba
Save file and exit to shell prompt.
Step # 3: Test your configuration
Fire your browser type url http://yourdomain.com/docs/ or http://localhost/docs/ or http://ip-address/docs
When prompted for username and password please supply username samba and password. You can add following lines to any file <Diretory> entry in httpd.conf file:
AuthType Basic AuthName "Restricted Access" AuthUserFile /home/secure/apasswords Require user samba
To change or setup new user use htpasswd command again.
Troubleshooting
If password is not accepted or if you want to troubleshoot authentication related problems, open and see apache access.log/error.log files:
Fedora Core/CentOS/RHEL Linux log file location:
Debian Linux Apache 2 log file location:
# tail -f /var/log/httpd/access_log
# tail -f /var/log/httpd/error_logDebian Linux Apache 2 log file location:
# tailf -f /var/log/apache2/access.log
# tailf -f /var/log/apache2/error.log