HOWTO: protect a web url with a password

Today I show you how to protect a web url with a password. This can be done in several ways (you can find it in Google) and in this post I use Apache2. Follow these steps:

1. Install Apache2. Most OS have a preinstalled version (OSX has got)

2. Create a file named .htpasswd via htpasswd`:

   $ htpasswd -c /path/to/.htaccess diegor
   

   and when the prompt asks you the password, type it (twice). The file looks like (in this case the password is like the username - DON’T DO IT, EVER!!):

   diegor:HMAATyF2kQ37E
   

3. Put this file to a directory NOT accessible to web server. For example, move it above www root directory

4. Finally create a file named .htaccess in the directory to protect:

   AuthUserFile /path/to/your/safedir/.htpasswd  
   AuthGroupFile /dev/null  
   AuthName EnterPassword  
   AuthType Basic
   require user diegor
   

5. Restart Apache and go to you protected url via browser. You can’t access until you type your user and password

That’s it. If you have any issue, comment this post.