Htaccess

htaccess configuration using custom templates

Problem

You want to implement secure authorised access to folders/subfolders in your sme server ibays.

The default settings in sme server allow you to secure the ibays using the Information Bay panel in server manager, by creating an ibay password which is used to allow authorised access to the ibay from the Internet, but this does not control access to individual folders.

Solution

The use of a .htaccess file and associated password file can control the security of subfolders within ibays by username and password. Htaccess is not enabled by default and .htaccess files are inherently exposed to the Internet and require the correct permissions to be applied to ensure that unauthorised access is not allowed, therefore creating a security risk.

The recommended way to implement .htaccess on a SME server, is to use custom templates, which are only under the control of the administrator and cannot be tampered with by anonymous Internet users. Using this method you do NOT need to install any contrib rpm.

Determining contents of htaccess fragment

This method involves creating a httpd.conf custom template fragment with the required information.

Initially you will need to determine the contents of your .htacess file to be used in the fragment. Refer to the .htaccess web site links below for more details but a basic .htaccess file would contain the following (see specific examples in following sections):

AuthUserFile /etc/passwordfilename

AuthGroupFile /dev/null

AuthName "My Site Security Group"

AuthType Basic

<Limit GET>

order deny,allow

require valid-user

</Limit>

The AuthUserFile will be the location on your sme server of the htaccess password file. You can choose whichever name and location you want, but the password file SHOULD NOT be placed in a publicly accessible area ie NOT in web site folders. Note that this file is created using the htpasswd command (see steps later).

The AuthName can be any name you want.

The rest of the details are basic and can be amended to suit your particular requirements.

	Warning:
	Please choose your AuthUserFile password file name carefully so that it does not correspond with existing filenames. Do not name the file passwd as that filename already exists, and you will overwrite the original system file and make your server inaccessible. Choose a meaningful name like ibaypasswords or similar.

Procedure - authentication against a user password file

Determine the contents of your .htacess file to be used in the fragment, as mentioned previously. The contents shown below will suffice for standard situations.

Custom template creation

Next you need to create the custom template.

Log on to your server command prompt as root or with root privileges and do: (assuming that it does not already exist)

mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

Create a fragment with a name of your choice

cd /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
pico -w 50AddSecureIbayFolder

Using the htaccess file contents example from above, and assuming we want to secure an ibay subfolder called /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername

edit the fragment file to contain the following

<Directory /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername>
AuthUserFile /etc/passwordfilename
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName "My Site Security Group"
AuthType Basic
<Limit GET>
order deny,allow
require valid-user
</Limit>
</Directory>

then do

expand-template /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
sv t /service/httpd-e-smith

It is recommended practise to check that the service has started and is running, so do

sv s /service/httpd-e-smith

Password file creation

Now you need to create the password file, change to the location you want the password file in

cd /etc

then do

htpasswd -c passwordfilename user1

then you will be asked to enter the password

and then asked to confirm the password

The user name and password will be encoded into the password file

To add a second user and password do

htpasswd passwordfilename user2

then you will be asked to enter the password

and then asked to confirm the password

To add a third user and password do

htpasswd passwordfilename user3

then you will be asked to enter the password

and then asked to confirm the password

and so on.

You should only use the -c switch when entering the first user.

If you use the -c switch when entering additional user details you will overwrite the password file completely and only have the one user entry there.

Procedure - authentication against all sme users

Determine the contents of your .htacess file to be used in the fragment, as mentioned previously. The contents shown below will suffice for standard situations.

Custom template creation

mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
cd /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
pico -w 50AddSecureIbayFolder

Assuming we want to secure an ibay subfolder called /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername

edit the fragment file to contain the following

<Directory /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername>
AuthName "My Site Security Group"
AuthType Basic
AuthExternal pwauth
<Limit GET>
order deny,allow
require valid-user
</Limit>
</Directory>

(the "valid-user" setting will allow any valid sme user to gain access)

then do

expand-template /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
sv t /service/httpd-e-smith
sv s /service/httpd-e-smith

Procedure - authentication against specified sme users

Determine the contents of your .htacess file to be used in the fragment, as mentioned previously. The contents shown below will suffice for standard situations.

Custom template creation

mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
cd /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
pico -w 50AddSecureIbayFolder

Assuming we want to secure an ibay subfolder called /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername

edit the fragment file to contain the following

<Directory /home/e-smith/files/ibays/ibayname/html/foldername/subfoldername>
AuthName "My Site Security Group"
AuthType Basic
AuthExternal pwauth
<Limit GET>
order deny,allow
require user admin smeusername1 smeusername2 smeusername3 smeusername4
</Limit>
</Directory>

(where admin, smeusername1, smeusername2 etc are valid users on the sme server)

then do

expand-template /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
sv t /service/httpd-e-smith
sv s /service/httpd-e-smith

Testing

Now you can test the web site access.

Ensure you have created the actual web site folder or subfolder, and then browse to your newly secured location ie

www./yourdomain.com/ibayname/foldername/subfoldername

You will be asked for a user Id and password.

Enter any combination that is allowed by your configuration to gain access, ie is in your password file, is any sme user, or is a specfied sme user.

Deletion procedure

To undo any changes you make using this method, do the following, replacing filenames with those actually used

rm /etc/passwordfilename
rm /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf 50AddSecureIbayFolder
expand-template /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
sv t /service/httpd-e-smith
sv s /service/httpd-e-smith

Additional Information

See these resources for further information about creating and using htaccess although much of that information is not applicable to the method outlined in this HOWTO.

It will assist you to determine the contents of the htaccess file that will be placed into the custom template fragment.

http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/htaccess/

http://www.its.queensu.ca/network/policy/htaccess.shtml

http://www.washington.edu/computing/web/publishing/htaccess.html

http://www.htmlite.com/HTA003.php

http://www.cs.hmc.edu/qref/web/htaccess.html

For further information about custom templates see:

http://wiki.contribs.org/SME_Server:Documentation:Developers_Manual

---