HTPASSWD(1)							     htpasswd							       HTPASSWD(1)

NAME

       htpasswd - Manage user files for basic authentication

SYNOPSIS

       htpasswd [ -c ] [ -m ] [ -D ] passwdfile username

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

       htpasswd -n [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username

       htpasswd -nb [ -m | -d | -s | -p ] username password

SUMMARY

       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 Apache HTTP 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 http://httpd.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, Netware and TPF, this is the default.

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

       -D     Delete user. If the username exists in the specified htpasswd file, it will be deleted.

       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), 6 if the username contains illegal characters (see the Restrictions section), and 7 if the
       file is not a valid password file.

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 password 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.

       This program is not safe as a setuid executable. Do not make it setuid.

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

       When using the crypt() algorithm, note that only the first 8 characters of the password are used to form  the  password.  If  the  supplied
       password is longer, the extra characters will be silently discarded.

       The  SHA encryption format does not use salting: for a given password, there is only one encrypted representation. The crypt() and MD5 for-
       mats permute the representation by prepending a random salt string, to make dictionary attacks against the passwords more difficult.

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 :.

Apache HTTP Server						    2007-04-24							       HTPASSWD(1)