1HTPASSWD(1) htpasswd HTPASSWD(1)
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6 htpasswd - Manage user files for basic authentication
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10 htpasswd [ -c ] [ -i ] [ -m | -B | -2 | -5 | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds
11 ] [ -C cost ] [ -D ] [ -v ] passwdfile username
12 htpasswd -b [ -c ] [ -m | -B | -2 | -5 | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds ] [
15 -C cost ] [ -D ] [ -v ] passwdfile username password
16 htpasswd -n [ -i ] [ -m | -B | -2 | -5 | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds ] [
19 -C cost ] username
20 htpasswd -nb [ -m | -B | -2 | -5 | -d | -s | -p ] [ -r rounds ] [ -C
23 cost ] username password
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28 htpasswd is used to create and update the flat-files used to store
29 usernames and password for basic authentication of HTTP users. If
30 htpasswd cannot access a file, such as not being able to write to the
31 output file or not being able to read the file in order to update it,
32 it returns an error status and makes no changes.
33 Resources available from the Apache HTTP server can be restricted to
36 just the users listed in the files created by htpasswd. This program
37 can only manage usernames and passwords stored in a flat-file. It can
38 encrypt and display password information for use in other types of data
39 stores, though. To use a DBM database see dbmmanage or htdbm.
40 htpasswd encrypts passwords using either bcrypt, a version of MD5 modi‐
43 fied for Apache, SHA-1, or the system's crypt() routine. SHA-2-based
44 hashes (SHA-256 and SHA-512) are supported for crypt(). Files managed
45 by htpasswd may contain a mixture of different encoding types of pass‐
46 words; some user records may have bcrypt or MD5-encrypted passwords
47 while others in the same file may have passwords encrypted with
48 crypt().
49 This manual page only lists the command line arguments. For details of
52 the directives necessary to configure user authentication in httpd see
53 the Apache manual, which is part of the Apache distribution or can be
54 found at http://httpd.apache.org/.
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59 -b Use batch mode; i.e., get the password from the command line
60 rather than prompting for it. This option should be used with
61 extreme care, since the password is clearly visible on the com‐
62 mand line. For script use see the -i option. Available in 2.4.4
63 and later.
64 -i Read the password from stdin without verification (for script
66 usage).
67 -c Create the passwdfile. If passwdfile already exists, it is
69 rewritten and truncated. This option cannot be combined with the
70 -n option.
71 -n Display the results on standard output rather than updating a
73 file. This is useful for generating password records acceptable
74 to Apache for inclusion in non-text data stores. This option
75 changes the syntax of the command line, since the passwdfile
76 argument (usually the first one) is omitted. It cannot be com‐
77 bined with the -c option.
78 -m Use MD5 encryption for passwords. This is the default (since
80 version 2.2.18).
81 -2 Use SHA-256 crypt() based hashes for passwords. This is sup‐
83 ported on most Unix platforms.
84 -5 Use SHA-512 crypt() based hashes for passwords. This is sup‐
86 ported on most Unix platforms.
87 -B Use bcrypt encryption for passwords. This is currently consid‐
89 ered to be very secure.
90 -C This flag is only allowed in combination with -B (bcrypt encryp‐
92 tion). It sets the computing time used for the bcrypt algorithm
93 (higher is more secure but slower, default: 5, valid: 4 to 17).
94 -r This flag is only allowed in combination with -2 or -5. It sets
96 the number of hash rounds used for the SHA-2 algorithms (higher
97 is more secure but slower; the default is 5,000).
98 -d Use crypt() encryption for passwords. This is not supported by
100 the httpd server on Windows and Netware. This algorithm limits
101 the password length to 8 characters. This algorithm is insecure
102 by today's standards. It used to be the default algorithm until
103 version 2.2.17.
104 -s Use SHA-1 (160-bit) encryption for passwords. Facilitates migra‐
106 tion from/to Netscape servers using the LDAP Directory Inter‐
107 change Format (ldif). This algorithm is insecure by today's
108 standards.
109 -p Use plaintext passwords. Though htpasswd will support creation
111 on all platforms, the httpd daemon will only accept plain text
112 passwords on Windows and Netware.
113 -D Delete user. If the username exists in the specified htpasswd
115 file, it will be deleted.
116 -v Verify password. Verify that the given password matches the
118 password of the user stored in the specified htpasswd file.
119 Available in 2.4.5 and later.
120 passwdfile
122 Name of the file to contain the user name and password. If -c is
123 given, this file is created if it does not already exist, or
124 rewritten and truncated if it does exist.
125 username
127 The username to create or update in passwdfile. If username does
128 not exist in this file, an entry is added. If it does exist, the
129 password is changed.
130 password
132 The plaintext password to be encrypted and stored in the file.
133 Only used with the -b flag.
134
137 htpasswd returns a zero status ("true") if the username and password
138 have been successfully added or updated in the passwdfile. htpasswd
139 returns 1 if it encounters some problem accessing files, 2 if there was
140 a syntax problem with the command line, 3 if the password was entered
141 interactively and the verification entry didn't match, 4 if its opera‐
142 tion was interrupted, 5 if a value is too long (username, filename,
143 password, or final computed record), 6 if the username contains illegal
144 characters (see the Restrictions section), and 7 if the file is not a
145 valid password file.
146
149 htpasswd /usr/local/etc/apache/.htpasswd-users jsmith
150 Adds or modifies the password for user jsmith. The user is prompted for
154 the password. The password will be encrypted using the modified Apache
155 MD5 algorithm. If the file does not exist, htpasswd will do nothing
156 except return an error.
157 htpasswd -c /home/doe/public_html/.htpasswd jane
160 Creates a new file and stores a record in it for user jane. The user is
164 prompted for the password. If the file exists and cannot be read, or
165 cannot be written, it is not altered and htpasswd will display a mes‐
166 sage and return an error status.
167 htpasswd -db /usr/web/.htpasswd-all jones Pwd4Steve
170 Encrypts the password from the command line (Pwd4Steve) using the
174 crypt() algorithm, and stores it in the specified file.
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178 Web password files such as those managed by htpasswd should not be
179 within the Web server's URI space -- that is, they should not be fetch‐
180 able with a browser.
181 This program is not safe as a setuid executable. Do not make it setuid.
184 The use of the -b option is discouraged, since when it is used the
187 unencrypted password appears on the command line.
188 When using the crypt() algorithm, note that only the first 8 characters
191 of the password are used to form the password. If the supplied password
192 is longer, the extra characters will be silently discarded.
193 The SHA-1 encryption format does not use salting: for a given password,
196 there is only one encrypted representation. The crypt() and MD5 formats
197 permute the representation by prepending a random salt string, to make
198 dictionary attacks against the passwords more difficult.
199 The SHA-1 and crypt() formats are insecure by today's standards.
202 The SHA-2-based crypt() formats (SHA-256 and SHA-512) are supported on
205 most modern Unix systems, and follow the specification at
206 https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/SHA-crypt.txt.
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210 On the Windows platform, passwords encrypted with htpasswd are limited
211 to no more than 255 characters in length. Longer passwords will be
212 truncated to 255 characters.
213 The MD5 algorithm used by htpasswd is specific to the Apache software;
216 passwords encrypted using it will not be usable with other Web servers.
217 Usernames are limited to 255 bytes and may not include the character :.
220 The cost of computing a bcrypt password hash value increases with the
223 number of rounds specified by the -C option. The apr-util library
224 enforces a maximum number of rounds of 17 in version 1.6.0 and later.
225Apache HTTP Server 2019-08-09 HTPASSWD(1)