A website hosted in Plesk is not accessible: 401 Authorization Required

Dmitry Bystrov

10 months ago

Symptoms

A website is asking for a username and a password. When clicking Cancel, one of the following errors appear in a web-browser:

Authentication required

401 Authorization Required
When opening the phpinfo() page at Domains > example.com > PHP Settings > View the phpinfo() page, the following error message is shown in Plesk:

Error: Unable to retrieve information about the PHP configuration.

Cause

The website's Document Root ("/") is protected either at Domains > example.com > Password-Protected Directories or in the .htaccess file (Linux).

As a result, website visitors unable to see the website content without authorization.

Resolution

Apply one of the following solutions:

Solution I: Disable the password protection for the Document Root ("/") of the website

1. Log in to Plesk.
2. Go to Domains > example.com > Password-Protected Directories.
3. Select the document root directory and click Remove Protection:
  
  On a Linux server, if the password protection directory for "/" does not exist, open the .htaccess file via Plesk File Manager and remove the following lines:
  
  AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Secure Content"
  AuthUserFile /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/.htpasswd
  require valid-user

Solution II: Add a user in Plesk and allow him to access the website with the password

Add a user in Plesk and allow him to access the website with a password using the steps from this KB article.

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