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--><title>mod_auth - Apache HTTP Server</title><link href="/style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" /><link href="/style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" /><link href="/images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head><body><div id="page-header"><p class="menu"><a href="/mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="/mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="/faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="/glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="/sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p><p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0</p><img alt="" src="/images/feather.gif" /></div><div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="<-" alt="<-" src="/images/left.gif" /></a></div><div id="path"><a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.0</a> > <a href="./">Modules</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Apache Module mod_auth</h1><table class="module"><tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Description">Description:
</a></th><td>User authentication using text files</td></tr><tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Status">Status:
<p>This module allows the use of HTTP Basic Authentication to
restrict access by looking up users in plain text password and
group files. Similar functionality and greater scalability is
provided by <code class="module"><a href="/mod/mod_auth_dbm.html">mod_auth_dbm</a></code>. HTTP Digest
Authentication is provided by
</div><div id="quickview"><h3 class="directives">Directives</h3><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authauthoritative">AuthAuthoritative</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authgroupfile">AuthGroupFile</a></li><li><img alt="" src="/images/down.gif" /> <a href="#authuserfile">AuthUserFile</a></li></ul><h3>See also</h3><ul class="seealso"><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#require">Require</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#satisfy">Satisfy</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#authname">AuthName</a></code></li><li><code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#authtype">AuthType</a></code></li></ul></div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthAuthoritative" id="AuthAuthoritative">AuthAuthoritative</a> <a name="authauthoritative" id="authauthoritative">Directive</a></h2><table class="directive"><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:
</a></th><td>Sets whether authorization and authentication are
</a></th><td>AuthAuthoritative on|off</td></tr><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Default">Default:
</a></th><td><code>AuthAuthoritative on</code></td></tr><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:
</a></th><td>mod_auth</td></tr></table>
<div class="note">This information has not been updated for Apache 2.0, which
uses a different system for module ordering.</div>
<p>Setting the <code class="directive">AuthAuthoritative</code> directive
explicitly to <strong>'off'</strong> allows for both
authentication and authorization to be passed on to lower level
modules (as defined in the <code>Configuration</code> and
userID</strong> or <strong>rule</strong> matching the supplied
password and access checks will be applied and a failure will give
an Authorization Required reply.</p>
<p>So if a userID appears in the database of more than one module;
directive applies to more than one module; then the first module
will verify the credentials; and no access is passed on;
regardless of the AuthAuthoritative setting.</p>
<p>A common use for this is in conjunction with one of the
database modules; such as <code class="module"><a href="/mod/mod_auth_dbm.html">mod_auth_dbm</a></code>,
<code>mod_auth_msql</code>, and <code class="module"><a href="/mod/mod_auth_anon.html">mod_auth_anon</a></code>.
These modules supply the bulk of the user credential checking; but
a few (administrator) related accesses fall through to a lower
level with a well protected <code class="directive"><a href="#authuserfile">AuthUserFile</a></code>.</p>
<p>By default; control is not passed on; and an unknown userID or
rule will result in an Authorization Required reply. Not setting
it thus keeps the system secure; and forces an NCSA compliant
behaviour.</p>
<div class="note"><h3>Security</h3> Do consider the implications of
allowing a user to allow fall-through in his .htaccess file; and
verify that this is really what you want; Generally it is easier
to just secure a single .htpasswd file, than it is to secure a
database such as mSQL. Make sure that the <code class="directive"><a href="#authuserfile">AuthUserFile</a></code> and the <code class="directive"><a href="#authgroupfile">AuthGroupFile</a></code> are stored outside the
document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em> put them in the
directory that they protect. Otherwise, clients will be able to
download the <code class="directive"><a href="#authuserfile">AuthUserFile</a></code>
and the <code class="directive"><a href="#authgroupfile">AuthGroupFile</a></code>.
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthGroupFile" id="AuthGroupFile">AuthGroupFile</a> <a name="authgroupfile" id="authgroupfile">Directive</a></h2><table class="directive"><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:
</a></th><td>Sets the name of a text file containing the list
</a></th><td>AuthGroupFile <em>file-path</em></td></tr><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:
</a></th><td>mod_auth</td></tr></table>
<p>The <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code> directive sets the
name of a textual file containing the list of user groups for user
authentication. <em>File-path</em> is the path to the group
with a slash), it is treated as relative to the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a></code>.</p>
<p>Each line of the group file contains a groupname followed by a
colon, followed by the member usernames separated by spaces.
Example:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>mygroup: bob joe anne</code></p></div>
<p>Note that searching large text files is <em>very</em>
inefficient; <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_auth_dbm.html#authdbmgroupfile">AuthDBMGroupFile</a></code> should be used
instead.</p>
<div class="note"><h3>Security</h3>
<p>Make sure that the <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code> is
stored outside the document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em>
put it in the directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients will
be able to download the <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code>.</p>
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="/images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="directive-section"><h2><a name="AuthUserFile" id="AuthUserFile">AuthUserFile</a> <a name="authuserfile" id="authuserfile">Directive</a></h2><table class="directive"><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:
</a></th><td>Sets the name of a text file containing the list of users and
</a></th><td>AuthUserFile <em>file-path</em></td></tr><tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:
</a></th><td>mod_auth</td></tr></table>
<p>The <code class="directive">AuthUserFile</code> directive sets the name
of a textual file containing the list of users and passwords for
user authentication. <em>File-path</em> is the path to the user
with a slash), it is treated as relative to the <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a></code>.</p>
<p>Each line of the user file contains a username followed by
a colon, followed by the <code>crypt()</code> encrypted
password. The behavior of multiple occurrences of the same user is
undefined.</p>
which is installed as part of the binary distribution, or which
this password file. See the <code>man</code> page for more
details. In short:</p>
<p>Create a password file 'Filename' with 'username' as the
initial ID. It will prompt for the password:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>htpasswd -c Filename username</code></p></div>
<p>Add or modify 'username2' in the password file 'Filename':</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>htpasswd Filename username2</code></p></div>
<p>Note that searching large text files is <em>very</em>
inefficient; <code class="directive"><a href="/mod/mod_auth_dbm.html#authdbmuserfile">AuthDBMUserFile</a></code> should be used
instead.</p>
<div class="note"><h3>Security</h3>
<p>Make sure that the <code class="directive">AuthUserFile</code> is
stored outside the document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em>
put it in the directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients will
be able to download the <code class="directive">AuthUserFile</code>.</p>
</div>
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