Apache restrict access based on IP address to selected directories

Posted on in Categories , , last updated October 30, 2007

Apache web server allows server access based upon various conditions. For example you just want to restrict access to url http://payroll.nixcraft.in/ (mapped to /var/www/sub/payroll directory) from 192.168.1.0/24 network (within intranet).

Apache provides access control based on client hostname, IP address, or other characteristics of the client request using mod_access module.

Open your httpd.conf file:
# vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.confLocate directory section (for example/var/www/sub/payroll) and set it as follows:
<Directory /var/www/sub/payroll/>
Order allow,deny
Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
Allow from 127
</Directory>Where,

  • Order allow,deny: The Order directive controls the default access state and the order in which Allow and Deny directives are evaluated. The (allow,deny) Allow directives are evaluated before the Deny directives. Access is denied by default. Any client which does not match an Allow directive or does match a Deny directive will be denied access to the server.
  • Allow from192.168.1.0/24: The Allow directive affects which hosts can access an area of the server (i.e. /var/www/sub/payroll/). Access is only allowed from network 192.168.1.0/24 and localhost (127.0.0.1).

Save file and restart apache web server:
# /etc/init.d/httpd restart

See also

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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11 comment

  1. Is there an easy way if I have multiple directories to restrict in different location from one rule instead of having all the above rules repeatedly for all directories.

  2. You could restrict at DocumentRoot level and then allow only for public directories, but be carefull not to disable valid directories or applications.

  3. Allow from 192.168.1.0/24 is not working for me, because I have more than 24 IPs in subnet, so I use
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/120

  4. 192.168.1.0/24 allows the IPs from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255 to access the document. 192.168.1.0/120 should be invalid…

  6. order allow,deny
    deny from 123.456.789.0
    deny from 0.987.654.321
    allow from all

    for blocking with .htaccess

  9. Is there a way to blacklist using a file that has a list of IPs and specify that within the .conf for the particular virtualhost?

  10. I would like to block access to all the portions of the site, excluding a subdirectory for everyone. Is this possible?

    I would only like for the end user to be able to access http://subdomain.domain.com/directory/
    and block everything else. Right now, I am blocking all 80 port requests with IPTables. I am guessing I would have to remove that rule and apply it on apache. Any hep will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

  11. Thanks for great post.

    Is there any way to allow perticular user from one ip address or host in apache.

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