.htaccess
is used to password protect a directory
PASSWORD PROTECTING WITH HTACCESS
What is '.htaccess'?
NOTE: Do NOT edit the '.htaccess'
file if you are using MS FrontPage! FrontPage uses the '.htaccess'
file, and editing it may cause errors in your configuration.
Also, modifying the .htaccess file is recommended for
"advanced users only". Filter settings must be enabled
on your ftp client to view these hidden files.
First you want to create a '.htaccess' file
in the directory that you want to protect. Moreover,
the '.htaccess' file can be placed in one or more of
your /home/username/your_domain-www sub-directories
Among other things, this file can be used to restrict access
to other files and web pages.
When a request for a web page is made, the web server first
checks for an '.htaccess' file.
The server begins this check by looking for '.htaccess'
in the root of the current web directory, and on
down the directory tree until it reaches the the directory
where the requested file resides. Since the placement of the
'.htaccess' file determines
when it is executed, this fact can be used to restrict access
only in certain sub-directories
Restricting Access: Password Protection
The directory you want protected must have an '.htaccess'
file in it that looks like the following:
AuthUserFile /home/username/.passwd
AuthGroupFile /home/username/.group
AuthName "Access by password Only"
AuthType Basic
<Limit GET POST>
require group groupname
require user username
</Limit>
Groups and users are stored in the '.group'
file, and passwords are stored in '.passwd'.
The '.htaccess' file looks for these files in the /home/username/
directory. Do not attempt to edit these manually!
Atlanta Virtual has a special script you can use to manage
your '.group' and '.passwd' files (the "Webmister"
script).
Redirects
Redirecting allows you to send the user to, for example,
'new.html' when they attempt to access 'old.html'.
To see this example in practice, simply add the following
line (This should be typed as one single line without breaks)
to the '.htaccess' file:
Redirect /directory_name/old.html
http://your_domain.com/directory_name/new.html
Apache
has a nice FAQ on redirects.