Protecting Apache Served Directories

Surprised I haven’t written this up before now. It is very simple to do.

This assumes you are using apache on a unix based system. This should work on any OS running apache though.

1. In the directory you want to restrict create a file named .htaccess that contains the following:

   AuthType Basic
   AuthName "RESTRICTED ACCESS"
   AuthUserFile /home3/speedtow/.htpasswd
   Require valid-user

   • Note: AuthName can be anything you want it to say and AuthUserFile must be an absolute path to the .htpasswd file.  It can be anywhere, I wouldn’t recommend putting it in the directory you are restricting though, or any apache served directory for that matter.
2. Create the .htpasswd file by running htpasswd in the location you want it to live.  It will go something like this:

   $ htpasswd -c .htpasswd username
   New password:
   Re-type new password:
   Adding password for user username

Thats it,  your done.