MNR’s Blog

Password Protection

December 31st, 2005

Here is the way to password protect your pages without the assistance of the administrator. You even have not to work in this strange UNIX-Environment.

The only things you need are :

- a text editor
- an ftp-program to move the created files to your WWW-Server and to do some other stuff (I used FileZilla - a very nice free program that is even understandable for an amateur like me. Therefore the following description will assume the use of this program.)
- a browser because we have to link to a certain page for some help
- a pen and a piece of paper.

Furthermore you have to have the permission to create directories and change the properties of self-created files and directories on your Web-Server. If you have all that it is quite easy:

Step 1:
Think of a nice username and password that later on have to be typed in from everyone who wants to see your protected pages. Take the pen and the piece of paper and write these down. And don’t forget: Wherever you use capital letters those who want to access your pages will have to use capital letters as well!!!

Step 2:
Use your ftp-Program to access your Web-Server. There you create a directory where you want to place the password protected files using the ‘make new dir’ command from the Commands menu (you can name it whatever you want). Then you create a second directory where you will later place the file with the password information (again use the ‘make new dir’ command). Now take the pen and the paper and write down the complete and exact path of the directory you created for the password information file(the ftp-program should display this if you open the directory).

Step 3:
Open your text editor and write the following lines:

AuthUserFile xxx/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName yyy
AuthType Basic

After you have done this you replace the xxx with the path you have written down on your piece of paper. Furthermore you replace the yyy with one ore more nice words. These words are only there to make the procedure of accessing your protected pages a little bit nicer. Because if someone wants to access these pages he will first see a nice box that asks him for the username and password. The first sentence in the box will be: Enter username for yyy. Then you replace the zzz with the username you have written down on your piece of paper. Finally you save this file somewhere on you computer under the name htaccess.txt

Step 4:
Open your browser and go to the page http://www.euronet.nl/~arnow/htpasswd/ There you fill in the form with the data from your piece of paper and push the calculate button. A new page will appear on which you will find a line in large letters that starts off with the username you have written on your piece of paper and some strange letters afterwards. Take again your pen and write the whole (!!!) line down.

Step 5:
Open your editor again and type the line you have just written down on your piece of paper. Push Return to create an empty line below. Now save this file under the name htpasswd.txt

Step 6:
Now open your ftp-program again and access your WWW-Server. First go to the directory where you want to place your protected pages and copy the file htaccess.txt from your computer to this directory. The name of the file should appear on the Remote side of the ftp-program. Mark this file and execute the ‘Rename’command from the Commands menu to rename the file to .htaccess (don’t forget the dot!!!) Now execute the ‘change file attributes’-command from the Commands menu. A box appears where you type in 644 where it says ‘manual’.

Now you change to the directory where you want to place the password information. To there you copy the file htpasswd.txt You then rename it to .htpasswd (again don’t forget the dot!!!). Then you do what you already did to the htaccess file, i.e. you mark the file, execute the ‘change file attributes’-command from the Commands menu and type in 644 where it says ‘manual’. Now we are nearly done. The last thing you have to do is to close the directory where you are in, mark it and once again execute the ‘change file attributes’-command from the Commands menu. But now you type in 711 where it says manual.

That should be it. Whatever pages you place in the directory you created for protected pages can only be watched in the browser if the username and password are typed in.

Password Protection - Lotus Notes

There is a way of having Password Protected pages without going through your webmaster. But, this would only apply to Internet users that use Lotus Notes. Lotus provides a product called “Domino Web Server” that allows you to take any Lotus Notes database and publish it over the Internet. The originator of the database, not the webmaster, using assigned access levels gives the pages/database, password protection. What that means is, that you the originator of documents (HTML-coded, etc.), stored in a database, can give an anonymous web user “No Access” to that page(s)/database.

You give the users of your pages/database access by assigning the access level through the database, not the server. You assign the “Login (UserID)” and “Password” to an individual user or group and assign them access above “No Access” level.
In summary, the database originator can assign his own “Password Protection” without having to go to his webmaster, service tech, etc.

Entry Filed under: Internet and Technology

Tags : password protection, protect pages, protect databases, password, authentication

Childhood Illness Spy Cameras - Spycams

See Also :

• Prostate Cancer Symptoms & Prostate Treatment
• Choose the Right Auto Insurance Company
• Free Software Targets Piracy