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<div id="preamble"><h1>Apache Module mod_authz_groupfile</h1>
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<table class="module"><tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Group authorization using plaintext files</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#ModuleIdentifier">Module&nbsp;Identifier:</a></th><td>authz_groupfile_module</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#SourceFile">Source&nbsp;File:</a></th><td>mod_authz_groupfile.c</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="module-dict.html#Compatibility">Compatibility:</a></th><td>Available in Apache 2.1 and later</td></tr></table>
<h3>Summary</h3>

    <p>This module provides authorization capabilities so that
    authenticated users can be allowed or denied access to portions
    of the web site by group membership. Similar functionality is
    provided by <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_dbm.html">mod_authz_dbm</a></code>.</p>
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<div id="quickview"><h3>Topics</h3>
<ul id="topics">
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif"> <a href="#requiredirectives">The Require Directives</a></li>
</ul><h3 class="directives">Directives</h3>
<ul id="toc">
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif"> <a href="#authgroupfile">AuthGroupFile</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Bugfix checklist</h3><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="https://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/CHANGES_2.4">httpd changelog</a></li><li><a href="https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_status=__open__&amp;list_id=144532&amp;product=Apache%20httpd-2&amp;query_format=specific&amp;order=changeddate%20DESC%2Cpriority%2Cbug_severity&amp;component=mod_authz_groupfile">Known issues</a></li><li><a href="https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Apache%20httpd-2&amp;component=mod_authz_groupfile">Report a bug</a></li></ul><h3>See also</h3>
<ul class="seealso">
<li><code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_core.html#require">Require</a></code></li>
<li><a href="mod_authz_core.html#authzresults">Authorization Result States</a></li>
</ul></div>
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<div class="section">
<h2 id="requiredirectives">The Require Directives <a title="Permanent link" href="#requiredirectives" class="permalink">&para;</a></h2>

    <p>Apache's <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_core.html#require">Require</a></code>
    directives are used during the authorization phase to ensure that
    a user is allowed to access a resource.  mod_authz_groupfile extends the
    authorization types with <code>group</code> and <code>group-file</code>.
    </p>

    <p>Since v2.4.8, <a href="../expr.html">expressions</a> are supported
    within the groupfile require directives.</p>

<h3 id="reqgroup">Require group</h3>

    <p>This directive specifies group membership that is required for the
    user to gain access.</p>

    <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">Require group admin</pre>




<h3 id="reqfilegroup">Require file-group</h3>

    <p>When this directive is specified, the filesystem permissions on
    the file being accessed are consulted. The user must be a member of
    a group with the same name as the group that owns the file.
    See <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_owner.html">mod_authz_owner</a></code> for more
    details.</p>

    <pre class="prettyprint lang-config">Require file-group</pre>




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<div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif"></a></div>
<div class="directive-section"><h2 id="authgroupfile"><span id="AuthGroupFile">AuthGroupFile</span> Directive <a title="Permanent link" href="#authgroupfile" class="permalink">&para;</a></h2>
<table class="directive">
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Description">Description:</a></th><td>Sets the name of a text file containing the list
of user groups for authorization</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Syntax">Syntax:</a></th><td><code>AuthGroupFile <var>file-path</var></code></td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Context">Context:</a></th><td>directory, .htaccess</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Override">Override:</a></th><td>AuthConfig</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Status">Status:</a></th><td>Base</td></tr>
<tr><th><a href="directive-dict.html#Module">Module:</a></th><td>mod_authz_groupfile</td></tr>
</table>
    <p>The <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code> directive sets the
    name of a textual file containing the list of user groups for user
    authorization. <var>File-path</var> is the path to the group
    file. If it is not absolute, it is treated as relative to the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a></code>.</p>

    <p>Each line of the group file contains a groupname followed by a
    colon, followed by the member usernames separated by spaces.</p>

    <div class="example"><h3>Example:</h3><p><code>
      mygroup: bob joe anne
    </code></p></div>

    <p>Note that searching large text files is <em>very</em>
    inefficient; <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_authz_dbm.html#authdbmgroupfile">AuthDBMGroupFile</a></code> provides a much better performance.</p>

    <div class="warning"><h3>Security</h3>
      <p>Make sure that the <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code> is
      stored outside the document tree of the web-server; do <em>not</em>
      put it in the directory that it protects. Otherwise, clients may
      be able to download the <code class="directive">AuthGroupFile</code>.</p>
    </div>

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