htpasswd(1)						      General Commands Manual						       htpasswd(1)

NAME

       htpasswd - Create and update user authentication files

SYNOPSIS

       htpasswd [ -c ] [ -m ] passwdfile username
       htpasswd -b [ -c ] [ -m | -d | -p | -s ] passwdfile username password
       htpasswd -n [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username
       htpasswd -nb [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username password

DESCRIPTION

       htpasswd  is  used  to  create  and  update the flat-files used to store usernames and password for basic authentication of HTTP users.	If
       htpasswd cannot access a file, such as not being able to write to the output file or not being able to read the file in order to update it,
       it returns an error status and makes no changes.

       Resources  available  from  the	httpd Apache web server can be restricted to just the users listed in the files created by htpasswd.  This
       program can only manage usernames and passwords stored in a flat-file. It can encrypt and display password information  for  use  in  other
       types of data stores, though.  To use a DBM database see dbmmanage.

       htpasswd  encrypts passwords using either a version of MD5 modified for Apache, or the system's crypt() routine.  Files managed by htpasswd
       may contain both types of passwords; some user records may have MD5-encrypted passwords while others in the same file  may  have  passwords
       encrypted with crypt().

       This  manual  page only lists the command line arguments. For details of the directives necessary to configure user authentication in httpd
       see the Apache manual, which is part of the Apache distribution or can be found at <URL:http://www.apache.org/>.

OPTIONS

       -b     Use batch mode; i.e., get the password from the command line rather than prompting for it. This option should be used  with  extreme
	      care, since the password is clearly visible on the command line.

       -c     Create  the  passwdfile.	If  passwdfile	already exists, it is rewritten and truncated.	This option cannot be combined with the -n
	      option.

       -n     Display the results on standard output rather than updating a file.  This is useful for generating password  records  acceptable	to
	      Apache  for  inclusion  in  non-text data stores.  This option changes the syntax of the command line, since the passwdfile argument
	      (usually the first one) is omitted.  It cannot be combined with the -c option.

       -m     Use MD5 encryption for passwords. On Windows and TPF, this is the default.

       -d     Use crypt() encryption for passwords. The default on all platforms but Windows and TPF. Though possibly supported by htpasswd on all
	      platforms, it is not supported by the httpd server on Windows and TPF.

       -s     Use SHA encryption for passwords. Facilitates migration from/to Netscape servers using the LDAP Directory Interchange Format (ldif).

       -p     Use  plaintext passwords. Though htpasswd will support creation on all platforms, the httpd daemon will only accept plain text pass-
	      words on Windows and TPF.

       passwdfile
	      Name of the file to contain the user name and password. If -c is given, this file is created  if	it  does  not  already	exist,	or
	      rewritten and truncated if it does exist.

       username
	      The  username  to  create or update in passwdfile. If username does not exist in this file, an entry is added. If it does exist, the
	      password is changed.

       password
	      The plaintext password to be encrypted and stored in the file.  Only used with the -b flag.

EXIT STATUS

       htpasswd returns a zero status ("true") if the username and password have been successfully added or updated in the  passwdfile.   htpasswd
       returns	1  if  it  encounters  some  problem accessing files, 2 if there was a syntax problem with the command line, 3 if the password was
       entered interactively and the verification entry didn't match, 4 if its operation was interrupted, 5 if a  value  is  too  long	(username,
       filename, password, or final computed record), and 6 if the username contains illegal characters (see the RESTRICTIONS section).

EXAMPLES

       htpasswd /usr/local/etc/apache/.htpasswd-users jsmith

	      Adds  or	modifies the password for user jsmith.	The user is prompted for the password.	If executed on a Windows system, the pass-
	      word will be encrypted using the modified Apache MD5 algorithm; otherwise, the system's crypt() routine will be used.  If  the  file
	      does not exist, htpasswd will do nothing except return an error.

       htpasswd -c /home/doe/public_html/.htpasswd jane

	      Creates  a  new file and stores a record in it for user jane.  The user is prompted for the password.  If the file exists and cannot
	      be read, or cannot be written, it is not altered and htpasswd will display a message and return an error status.

       htpasswd -mb /usr/web/.htpasswd-all jones Pwd4Steve

	      Encrypts the password from the command line (Pwd4Steve) using the MD5 algorithm, and stores it in the specified file.

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

       Web password files such as those managed by htpasswd should not be within the Web server's URI space -- that is, they should not be  fetch-
       able with a browser.

       The use of the -b option is discouraged, since when it is used the unencrypted password appears on the command line.

RESTRICTIONS

       On the Windows and MPE platforms, passwords encrypted with htpasswd are limited to no more than 255 characters in length.  Longer passwords
       will be truncated to 255 characters.

       The MD5 algorithm used by htpasswd is specific to the Apache software; passwords encrypted using it will  not  be  usable  with	other  Web
       servers.

       Usernames are limited to 255 bytes and may not include the character ':'.

SEE ALSO

       httpd(8) and the scripts in support/SHA1 which come with the distribution.

								     May 2000							       htpasswd(1)