How to password protect directory with Nginx .htpasswd authentication

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To password protect a directory with Nginx using .htpasswd authentication, you can follow these steps:

  1. Create a .htpasswd file that contains a list of username and password pairs. You can create this file using the “htpasswd” command. For example: htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd user1
  2. Add the following code to your Nginx server block configuration file:
location /protected/ {
auth_basic "Restricted Area";
auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
}

This will protect the “/protected/” directory and prompt for a username and password when accessed. The “auth_basic” directive sets the authentication realm, and the “auth_basic_user_file” directive specifies the location of the .htpasswd file.

  1. Reload or restart Nginx for the changes to take effect.
  2. To add more users to your .htpasswd file you can use the following command : htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd user2

Note: Keep in mind that the authentication file is stored in plain text format and can be easily read if someone has access to it. As an alternative, you can use a more secure authentication method, such as SSL/TLS certificates or OAuth2.

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