Simple Password Protection with basic_auth

Have simple password protection for your nginx website by using basic_auth.

Setting it up

This method is tested on Debian 12.

  1. Install nginx and apache2-utils

    # apt install nginx apache2-utils -y

  2. Set up the password and user

    Replace username with the name you want to use for the login.

    # htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd username

    The -c parameter creates the file. If you want to add more users later, omit the -c parameter.

  3. Edit the server config file

    Edit your nginx server config file located at /etc/nginx/sites-available/default:

    server {
    listen 80;
    server_name WEBSERVER;

    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        auth_basic "Restricted Content";
        auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    }
}

  4. Testing the configuration

    # nginx -t

    If the test was successful, open the IPv4 address of your server in a browser.

    A login prompt should appear. Only after entering the correct username and password will you be able to access the website content.