htpasswd(1) - phpMan

HTPASSWD(1)                        htpasswd                        HTPASSWD(1)

NAME
       htpasswd - Manage user files for basic authentication

SYNOPSIS
       htpasswd  [  -c  ] [ -i ] [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds ] [ -C
       cost ] [ -D ] [ -v ] passwdfile username

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

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

       htpasswd -nb [ -m | -B | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds ] [ -C cost ] user-
       name 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 or htdbm.

       +htpasswd encrypts passwords using either bcrypt, a version of MD5 mod-
       ified for Apache, SHA-1, or the system's crypt()  routine.  SHA-2-based
       hashes  (SHA-256  and SHA-512) are supported for crypt(). Files managed
       by htpasswd may contain a mixture of different encoding types of  pass-
       words;  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 necessary 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 visible on the  com-
              mand line. For script use see the -i option.
       -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
              argument (usually the first one) is omitted. It cannot  be  com-
              bined with the -c option.
       -m     Use  MD5  encryption  for  passwords. This is the default (since
              version 2.2.18).
       -2     Use SHA-256 crypt() based hashes for  passwords.  This  is  sup-
              ported on most Unix platforms.
       -5     Use  SHA-512  crypt()  based  hashes for passwords. This is sup-
              ported on most Unix platforms.
       -B     Use bcrypt encryption for passwords. This is  currently  consid-
              ered to be very secure.
       -C     This flag is only allowed in combination with -B (bcrypt encryp-
              tion). It sets the computing time used for the bcrypt  algorithm
              (higher is more secure but slower, default: 5, valid: 4 to 31).
       -r     This  flag is only allowed in combination with -2 or -5. It sets
              the number of hash rounds used for the SHA-2 algorithms  (higher
              is more secure but slower; the default is 5,000).
       -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-1  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.
       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 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  opera-
       tion  was  interrupted,  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 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 mes-
       sage 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 fetch-
       able 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-1 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.

       The SHA-1 and crypt() formats are insecure by today's standards.

       The  SHA-2-based crypt() formats (SHA-256 and SHA-512) are supported on
       most  modern  Unix   systems,   and   follow   the   specification   at
       https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/SHA-crypt.txt

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 :.


Apache HTTP Server                2013-07-06                       HTPASSWD(1)