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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 authen-
tication 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 Inter-
change Format (ldif).
-p Use plaintext passwords. Though htpasswd will support creation on all platforms, the httpd daemon will only accept
plain text passwords 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 pass-
wdfile. htpasswd returns 1 if it encounters some problem accessing files, 2 if there was a syntax problem with the com-
mand 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 con-
tains 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 fetchable 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 formats 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)
