How to restrict user access to content in folders using PHP?

How to restrict user access to content in folders using PHP?

The method is quite simple. A .htaccess file in the base directory has a list of folders you want to restrict access to. Whenever a client tries to access some content in one of these folders Apache redirects(rewrite) to a PHP file. This PHP file authenticates the user and checks if the user should be allowed access to this folder.

How to prevent direct access to a PHP include file?

Prevent direct access to a PHP file. This is a guide on how to prevent a user from directly accessing a PHP include file in their browser. Certain include files may rely on external variables from other files. As a result, they could throw errors and provide sensitive system information if a user were to load them directly.

How to deny access to a PHP file?

Deny access to all files in your include directory. If your PHP include files are located in a particular directory, you can tell your web server to deny all access to it.

How does Apache redirect to a PHP file?

Whenever a client tries to access some content in one of these folders Apache redirects (rewrite) to a PHP file This PHP file authenticates the user and checks if the user should be allowed access to this folder If successful the PHP file will try to open the file and outputs its contents to the user

How to prevent PHP server from accessing include files?

By placing the include files in this directory, you can ensure that the php server gets to access them, while hotlinking is denied to the user. Even if the webserver’s filesystem access configuration wasn’t done properly, this method would prevent those files from becoming public accidentally.

Where do I place my PHP files on my server?

Place include files outside of the document root. You can also place your PHP files outside of the document root of your web server. This will make them inaccessible via a HTTP URL. The document root is typically called public_html, www or html, depending on your setup.