.TH htpasswd 1 "February 1997"
.\" Copyright (c) 1997-1999 The Apache Group. All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\"
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 
.\"
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in
.\"    the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
.\"    distribution.
.\"
.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this
.\"    software must display the following acknowledgment:
.\"    "This product includes software developed by the Apache Group
.\"    for use in the Apache HTTP server project (http://www.apache.org/)."
.\"
.\" 4. The names "Apache Server" and "Apache Group" must not be used to
.\"    endorse or promote products derived from this software without
.\"    prior written permission. For written permission, please contact
.\"    apache@apache.org.
.\"
.\" 5. Products derived from this software may not be called "Apache"
.\"    nor may "Apache" appear in their names without prior written
.\"    permission of the Apache Group.
.\"
.\" 6. Redistributions of any form whatsoever must retain the following
.\"    acknowledgment:
.\"    "This product includes software developed by the Apache Group
.\"    for use in the Apache HTTP server project (http://www.apache.org/)."
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE APACHE GROUP ``AS IS'' AND ANY
.\" EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
.\" PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE APACHE GROUP OR
.\" ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
.\" SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
.\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
.\" LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
.\" STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
.\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED
.\" OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
.\" ====================================================================
.\"
.\" This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
.\" individuals on behalf of the Apache Group and was originally based
.\" on public domain software written at the National Center for
.\" Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
.\" For more information on the Apache Group and the Apache HTTP server
.\" project, please see <http://www.apache.org/>.
.SH NAME
htpasswd \- Create and update user authentication files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B htpasswd 
[
.B \-c
] 
[
.B \-m
] 
.I passwdfile
.I username
.br
.B htpasswd
.B \-b  
[
.B \-c
] 
[
.B \-m
] 
.I passwdfile
.I username
.I password
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B htpasswd
is used to create and update the flat-files used to store
usernames and password for basic authentication of HTTP users.
If
.B 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.
.PP
Resources available from the
.B httpd
Apache web server can be restricted to just the users listed
in the files created by 
.B htpasswd.
This program can only be used
when the usernames are stored in a flat-file. To use a
DBM database see 
\fBdbmmanage\fP.
.PP
.B htpasswd
encrypts passwords using either a version of MD5 modified for Apache,
or the system's \fIcrypt()\fP routine.  Files managed by
.B 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 \fIcrypt()\fP.
.PP
This manual page only lists the command line arguments. For details of
the directives necessary to configure user authentication in 
.B httpd 
see
the Apache manual, which is part of the Apache distribution or can be
found at <URL:http://www.apache.org/>.
.SH OPTIONS
.IP \-b 
Use batch mode; \fIi.e.\fP, get the password from the command line
rather than prompting for it. \fBThis option should be used with
extreme care, since the password is clearly visible on the command
line.\fP
.IP \-c 
Create the \fIpasswdfile\fP. If \fIpasswdfile\fP already exists, it
is rewritten and truncated.
.IP \-m 
Use MD5 encryption for passwords.  On Windows, this is the only format 
supported.
.IP \fB\fIpasswdfile\fP
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. 
.IP \fB\fIusername\fP
The username to create or update in \fBpasswdfile\fP. If
\fIusername\fP does not exist in this file, an entry is added. If it
does exist, the password is changed.
.IP \fB\fIpassword\fP
The plaintext password to be encrypted and stored in the file.  Only used
with the \fI-b\fP flag.
.SH EXIT STATUS
.B htpasswd
returns a zero status ("true") if the username and password have
been successfully added or updated in the \fIpasswdfile\fP.
.B 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 \fBRESTRICTIONS\fP section).
.SH EXAMPLES
\fBhtpasswd /usr/local/etc/apache/.htpasswd-users jsmith\fP
.IP
Adds or modifies the password for user \fIjsmith\fP.  
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
\fIcrypt()\fP routine will be used.  If the file does not
exist, 
.B htpasswd
will do nothing except return an error.
.LP
\fBhtpasswd -c /home/doe/public_html/.htpasswd jane\fP
.IP
Creates a new file and stores a record in it for user \fIjane\fP.
The user is prompted for the password.
If the file exists and cannot be read, or cannot be written,
it is not altered and
.B htpasswd
will display a message and return an error status.
.LP
\fBhtpasswd -mb /usr/web/.htpasswd-all jones Pwd4Steve\fP
.IP
Encrypts the password from the command line (\fIPwd4Steve\fP) using
the MD5 algorithm, and stores it in the specified file.
.LP
.SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
Web password files such as those managed by
.B htpasswd
should \fBnot\fP be within the Web server's URI space -- that is,
they should not be fetchable with a browser.
.PP
The use of the \fI-b\fP option is discouraged, since when it is
used the unencrypted password appears on the command line.
.SH RESTRICTIONS
On the Windows and MPE platforms, passwords encrypted with
.B htpasswd
are limited to no more than 255 characters in length.  Longer
passwords will be truncated to 255 characters.
.PP
The MD5 algorithm used by
.B htpasswd
is specific to the Apache software; passwords encrypted using it will not be
usable with other Web servers.
.PP
Usernames are limited to 255 bytes and may not include the character ':'.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR httpd(8)