How can I use Basic HTTP Authentication in PHP?

Question

I\'m trying to use Basic HTTP Authentication and followed the example on the PHP manual page. But it doesn\'t work for me. The variable $_SERVER[\'PHP_AUTH_USER\']

Answer 1

I think the PHP methods rely on Basic Authentication being configured on the Web Server. An easy way to do this is to include a .htaccess file in the directory you want to enable basic authentication for.

Most unix-based web hosts allow you to do this by just uploading this file. A separate file (call this .htauth) will hold the user logins that are allowed to access the site or directory.