Use Apache's htpasswd password utility to create username/password combinations independent of your system login password for Web page access. You have to specify the location of the password file, and if it doesn't yet exist, you have to include a -c, or create, switch on the command line. I recommend placing the file in your /etc/httpd/conf directory, away from the DocumentRoot TRee where Web users could possibly view it. Here is an example for a first user named peter and a second named paul:

     [root@bigboy tmp]# htpasswd -c /etc/httpd/conf/.htpasswd peter
     New password:
     Re-type new password:
     Adding password for user peter
     [root@bigboy tmp]#

     [root@bigboy tmp]# htpasswd /etc/httpd/conf/.htpasswd paul
     New password:
     Re-type new password:
     Adding password for user paul
     [root@bigboy tmp]#

Make the .htpasswd file readable by all users:

     [root@bigboy tmp]# chmod 644 /etc/httpd/conf/.htpasswd

Create a .htaccess file in the directory to which you want password control with these entries:

     AuthUserFile /etc/httpd/conf/.htpasswd
     AuthGroupFile /dev/null
     AuthName EnterPassword
     AuthType Basic
     require user peter

Remember this password protects the directory and all its subdirectories. The AuthUserFile tells Apache to use the .htpasswd file. The require user statement tells Apache that only user peter in the .htpasswd file should have access. If you want all .htpasswd users to have access, replace this line with require valid-user. AuthType Basic instructs Apache to accept basic unencrypted passwords from the remote users' Web browser.

Set the correct file protections on your new .htaccess file in the directory

     /home/www:
     [root@bigboy tmp]# chmod 644 /home/www/.htaccess

Make sure your /etc/httpd/conf/http.conf file has an AllowOverride statement in a <Directory> directive for any directory in the tree above /home/www. In this example below, all directories below /var/www/ require password authorization:

     <Directory /home/www/*>
         AllowOverride AuthConfig
     </Directory>

Make sure that you have a <VirtualHost> directive that defines access to /home/www or another directory higher up in the tree:

     <VirtualHost *>
         ServerName 97.158.253.26
         DocumentRoot /home/www
     </VirtualHost>

Restart Apache.

Now, when you try accessing the Web site, you'll be prompted for a password.