What is WebAuth?
WebAuth is a web
site protection scheme that allows you to restrict
access to your web pages. You can decide who sees
your pages: only members of the Brown Community, or
specific individuals. Users log in with their NetIDs
and passwords to gain access to restricted sites.
How do I use WebAuth?
If you want to restrict
your entire web site (Not
Recommended), simply
upload an .htaccess file into the top level directory.
To create a .htaccess file, you can use a tool that
has been created for this purpose. The tool simply
asks for you to fill in the type of restriction you
would like, and will return to you the text to use.
Copy the text into a plain file,
save the file as ".htaccess". Don't forget
the dot in the front and make sure no other extension
gets put on the file. The entire name of the file
should be ".htaccess" (without the quotes).
Then, upload the file to your top level directory,
and test it out.
Restricting an entire web site
is not recommended as response times could be dramatically
slowed. Put ONLY files that contain sensitive information
behind WebAuth. For example, if your web page has
images or pictures that are not sensitive, put them
in an unrestricted directory. If all html files need
to be restricted, but the pages use images, pictures,
includes, or style sheets that are not sensitive,
set up two directories, one for restricted items and
the other for unrestricted. This will help speed your
page response times.
If you only want to restrict access
to a few pages, create a new subdirectory on the web
server, put the pages to be restricted and the .htaccess
file in this directory.
Use
.htaccess Tool
What different ways can I restrict access to my pages?
One way is to restrict your pages
to only members of the Brown community (i.e., anyone
with a valid NetID and password). To do that, simply
check the "Restrict access to the greater Brown community"
box in the htaccess Tool, leave everything else as
is, and click the Generate .htaccess file button.
Another way is to specify the
NetIDs, DNS, or IP address of the individuals who
should have access to your pages. Put these NetIDs
into the text area in the form (NetIDs should either
be separated from one another by spaces, or one on
each line, whatever is easier for you), check the
box associated with that field, and click the Generate
.htaccess file button.
You can also restrict access
to specific student class year, all undergraduates,
all graduate students or a combination of these. Here
are the groups that you would use in your .htaccess
file:
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.UNDERGRAD.ALL
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.UNDERGRADUATE.FRESHMAN
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.UNDERGRADUATE.SOPHOMORE
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.UNDERGRADUATE.JUNIOR
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.UNDERGRADUATE.SENIOR
COMMUNITY.STUDENT.GRADUATE
(Note: This is slightly advanced and you'd need to know the format of what an
.htaccess file needs to contain)
What happens after I submit the
.htaccess form?
Once you have
submitted your form from the .htaccess Tool, you will
then be taken to a web page that has the exact contents
of your .htaccess file in it. You simply need to copy
that text, paste it into a plain text file, save it
as .htaccess, and upload it using an FTP client. (More
specific instructions are available on that page.)
Use
the .htaccess Tool
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