Protecting a single .exe-file for downloading with htaccess and htpasswd

.htaccessauthenticationhtpasswd

I have this, and only this, in a .htaccess file inside my downloads folder:

<FilesMatch "\.(exe)$">
  AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Downloads"
  AuthUserFile path/to/.htpasswd
  Require valid-user
</FilesMatch>

Once I click the link to download a href="fileName.exe">FileName</a>, I'm getting a 500 server error.

If I leave out the <FilesMatch>-part; The protection part is working, I guess, since I get the login box.
But once I get into the protected area, the 500 server error occurs.

What am I doing wrong here?

My intention was to protect only a single .exe file to prevent downloaded by anyone.

Is there any easier or more correct way of doing this?

Best Answer

If you didn't make a typo when asking firs line should be <FilesMatch ~ "\.(exe)$"> All info you can get from http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0

Related Topic