Maintaining HTTP service security

Editing the /etc/httpd.access file

About the /etc/httpd.access file

The /etc/httpd.access file contains directives that govern authentication for each directory. The filer supports the following directives:

Directory--Specifies the directory you want to protect. The directory directive encloses all other directives.
AuthName--Specifies an alias for the directory that appears instead of the directory name in the browser password dialog box when a user tries to access the directory.
require user--Specifies the users who can access the directory.
require group--Specifies the groups that can access the directory.
Note
The directives require user and require group are only required for Basic authentication.

Format for directive information

Directive information for each directory in the /etc/httpd.access file is given in the following format:

<Directory directory>

directive ...

</Directory>

directory is the specific directory tree name for which you want to enable authorized access.

Editing the /etc/httpd.access file

To edit the /etc/httpd.access file, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Open the /etc/httpd.access file for editing.
2	Specify the directory tree you want to protect in the following line: *<Directory directory>* directory is the specific directory tree name you want protected.
	If...	Then...
	You are configuring authentication using /etc/httpd.passwd and /etc/httpd.group files	Specify the alias for the directory in the following line: AuthName title_phrase title_phrase is any string you specify that appears instead of the directory name in the browser password dialog box when a user tries to access the directory; this name can contain spaces. Example AuthName Secured Area
	You are configuring NTLM authentication	Specify the following: AuthName Windows(tm) Authentication Note The above line should appear in the /etc/httpd.access file exactly as shown. Go to Step 5.
3	Specify the users who can access the directory in the following line: *require user user_id* [, user_id, ...]** user_id is the specific user ID for each user who should have access to the directory.
4	Specify the groups that can access the directory in the following line: *require group group_id* [, group_id, ...]** group_id is the specific group ID for each group that should have access to the directory.
5	End the list of directives for the specified directory using the following line: </Directory>
6	Save the file.

Example

The following example shows the use of multiple Directory directives in a /etc/httpd.access file to use either Basic or NTLM authentication on a filer.

<Directory /vol/vol0/web1>

AuthName Windows(tm) Authentication

</Directory>

<Directory /vol/vol0/web2>

AuthName Web2 directory

require user test1

require group testg1

</Directory>

<Directory /vol/vol0/web3>

AuthName Windows(tm) Authentication

</Directory>

<Directory /vol/vol0/web4>

AuthName Web4 directory

require user test2

</Directory>

In this example, web1 and web3 use NTLM authentication and web2 and web4 use Basic authentication. Access to web2 is limited to user test1 and members of group testg1, and access to web4 is limited to user test2.