My Geek Notes

This is a really handy set of instructions for when you need to restrict access to a website or a directory under a website.  You will need to have access to both the Apache config for your site and the .htaccess file you need to create/modify.

1. In the httpd.conf file put the following for the domain or directory (you can have other options, this is the minimal):

<Directory "/full/path/to/the/directory/to/restrict">
  AllowOverride AuthConfig
  Order deny,allow
  Deny from all
</Directory>

2. In the root of the domain or directory put an .htaccess file with:

AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /full/path/to/your/new/password/file
AuthName "What You Want The Popup Login Window To Say"
require valid-user
satisfy any

3. Make the password file (you will be prompted to create the password):

/usr/local/apache/bin/htpasswd -c /full/path/to/your/new/password/file username

Apache Apache, authentication