How to Password Protect Directories with Nginx?

The.htaccess and.htpasswd files on the Apache server can be used to password-protect a directory. However, Nginx does not support.htaccess files.

Still, you can password protect your directories by using a basic_auth.conf file instead.

Creating the File

1. Log into your server using SSH.

2. Go to your user’s directory.

3. Check for the /home/username/nginx/example.com directory. This isn’t available by default; you need to create it by running the below command:

[server]$ mkdir -p nginx/example.com

4. In this directory, add a file named ‘basic_auth.conf’ with the below command:

location / {
auth_basic "Restricted";
auth_basic_user_file /home/username/nginx/example.com/.htpasswd;
}

• The auth_basic parameter is simply the title of the prompt seen by the user when he visits this directory.
• The auth_basic_user_file parameter showcases the location of the password file. Check how its path is set to the /nginx directory.

Note: In this example, the ‘location’ directive password protects the complete domain as it’s pointing to ‘/’.
For password protections a subdirectory, change the ‘location’ directive as below:

location /subdirectory/

5. Execute the following to create the .htpasswd file:

[server]$ htpasswd -c /home/username/nginx/example.com/.htpasswd LOGIN

• LOGIN indicates the username for authenticating in the login prompt.

6. After you type that command, enter a password and confirm it when you are asked for:

New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user LOGIN

7. You will need to reload the nginx config file.

8. Load the directory your /home/username/nginx/example.com/basic_auth.conf points to in your browser. *In the example above, this would be your domain’s root directory as the ‘location’ directive points to /.

9. Enter a user/password when asked to log in.

• In this example, LOGIN is your username and you have the password create in the above step.

This way you can password protect your directing with Nginx.