How to configure a password-protected directory in Plesk

Question

How to set up a password-protected directory for a domain in Plesk?

Answer

1. In Plesk, find which directory is the Document Root directory for the domain at Domains > example.com > Hosting Settings > Document root.

   

2. Additional step for Plesk on Windows Server (if you are on Linux, move to step 3):

   Go to Domains > example.com > IIS Settings and make sure that Anonymous authentication is enabled:

   

3. Go to Domains > example.com > Password-Protected Directories and click Add Protected Directory.

   

4. Specify the directory, located inside Document Root from step 1 (‘httpdocs’ in this example), that should be secured. In this case, we are restricting an access to the /httpdocs/img folder (https://example.com/img). Click OK.

   Note: Specify “/” to protect the whole website with a password authentication.

   

5. Now, click on the directory name.

   

6. Click Add a User to create a user that will be used to access the password protected directory. Click OK. Add other users if required.

   

7. Open the now protected URL in a web-browser (in this example, example.com/img) and log in using the username and password from step 6.

   Note: If Apache restart interval is set at Tools & Settings > Apache Web Server, Apache must be restarted manually to apply the changes.

Additional Information

The command-line instructions are available at:

• protdir: Site Directories Protection – Plesk Docs

To learn more about password-protected directories, visit:

• Restricting Access to Content – Plesk Docs