HTPASSWD(1) - man - phpman

HTPASSWD(1)                                   htpasswd                                   HTPASSWD(1)



NAME
       htpasswd - Manage user files for basic authentication


SYNOPSIS
       htpasswd  [ -c ] [ -i ] [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -C cost ] [ -D ] [ -v ] passwdfile user‐
       name


       htpasswd -b [ -c ] [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -C cost ] [ -D ] [ -v ]  passwdfile  username
       password


       htpasswd -n [ -i ] [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -C cost ] username


       htpasswd -nb [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -C cost ] 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 re‐
       turns 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 or htdbm.


       htpasswd  encrypts passwords using either bcrypt, a version of MD5 modified for Apache, SHA1,
       or the system's crypt() routine. Files managed by htpasswd may contain a mixture of different
       encoding  types  of  passwords;  some user records may have bcrypt or 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  neces‐
       sary  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 visi‐‐
              ble on the command line. For script use see the -i  option.  Available  in  2.4.4  and
              later.

       -i     Read the password from stdin without verification (for script usage).

       -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 argu‐
              ment (usually the first one) is omitted. It cannot be combined with the -c option.

       -m     Use MD5 encryption for passwords. This is the default (since version 2.2.18).

       -B     Use bcrypt encryption for passwords. This is currently considered to be very secure.

       -C     This flag is only allowed in combination with -B (bcrypt encryption). It sets the com‐
              puting time used for the bcrypt algorithm (higher is more secure but slower,  default:
              5, valid: 4 to 17).

       -d     Use  crypt()  encryption  for  passwords. This is not supported by the httpd server on
              Windows and Netware. This algorithm limits the password length to 8  characters.  This
              algorithm  is insecure by today's standards. It used to be the default algorithm until
              version 2.2.17.

       -s     Use SHA encryption for passwords. Facilitates migration from/to Netscape servers using
              the  LDAP  Directory  Interchange Format (ldif). This algorithm is insecure by today's
              standards.

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

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

       -v     Verify password. Verify that the given password  matches  the  password  of  the  user
              stored in the specified htpasswd file. Available in 2.4.5 and later.

       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 access‐
       ing files, 2 if there was a syntax problem with the command line, 3 if the password  was  en‐
       tered  interactively  and  the verification entry didn't match, 4 if its operation was inter‐
       rupted, 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.  The
       password  will be encrypted using the modified Apache MD5 algorithm. If the file does not ex‐
       ist, 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 -db /usr/web/.htpasswd-all jones Pwd4Steve



       Encrypts the password from the command line (Pwd4Steve)  using  the  crypt()  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  ap‐
       pears 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 en‐
       crypted representation. The crypt() and MD5 formats permute the representation by  prepending
       a random salt string, to make dictionary attacks against the passwords more difficult.


       The SHA and crypt() formats are insecure by today's standards.


RESTRICTIONS
       On  the  Windows  platform, 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 :.


       The cost of computing a bcrypt password hash value increases with the number of rounds speci‐
       fied by the -C option. The apr-util library enforces a maximum number of rounds of 17 in ver‐
       sion 1.6.0 and later.




Apache HTTP Server                           2019-08-09                                  HTPASSWD(1)