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-======Simplifying Authentication with mkhtaccess  ======
-As you have seen in the other documents in this section, in order to protect your web site using password authentication, you will inevitably need to create a .htaccess file. The mkhtaccess command was created in order to assist you in building your .htaccess files error free.
-Here are the mkhtaccess command-line options:
-<code>
--a <message> - change authorization title (default: "Authorization Required")
--d <dist> - allow users in distribution list <dist>
--f - force output file to be overwritten if it exists
--g <group> - allow group <group>
--G <file> - specify Apache user-defined groups file
--o <file> - output to <file> instead of standard out
--u <user> - allow user <user>
--U <file> - specify Apache user-defined password file
--S - use system password file/group file
-</code>
-The best way to look at how mkhtaccess works is with a few simple examples.
-Create an .htaccess file for a web site that permits access to anyone with a valid account on our systems:
-  % mkhtaccess -S -o .htaccess
-Create an .htaccess file for a web site that permits access to only users in group faculty or tech, or system user ulya:
-  % mkhtaccess -S -g faculty -g tech -u ulya -o .htaccess
-Taking the last example, now allow all EECS3401M students to access the site as well:
-  % mkhtaccess -S -g faculty -g tech -d /eecs/dept/dist_archive/2016-17/W/EECS3401M -o .htaccess
-Why not add EECS3421M students as well?
-  % mkhtaccess -S -g faculty -g tech -d /eecs/dept/dist_archive/2016-17/W/EECS3401M -d /eecs/dept/dist_archive/2016-17/W/EECS3421M -o .htaccess
-mkhtaccess will also work with web sites that implement ONLY user-defined usernames and passwords and groups.
-Allow any user in the user-defined password file /tmp/userfile (created with htpasswd) access to the site:
-  % mkhtaccess -U /tmp/userfile -o .htaccess
-You can even combine both user-defined usernames and passwords and system-defined usernames and passwords or groups. For example, to allow all users in 3421M or users defined in the password file "/tmp/userfile":
-  % mkhtaccess -S -U /tmp/userfile -d /eecs/dept/dist_archive/2016-17/W/EECS3421M -o .htaccess
-As you can see, mkhtaccess can be used to build any of the .htaccess files referred to in the web documentation on Password-Protecting Web Areas. If you have needs that differ, you can always create your .htaccess file manually.
-Full details on Apache authentication can be found in the Apache authentication documentation.
-Notes
-  * If your .htaccess file already exists, and you are rebuilding it, use the -f flag to mkhtaccess to overwrite the file.
-  * You must specify -S, -U, and -G options to mkhtaccess before -d, -g, or -u.
-  * If you do not specify any users, groups, or distribution lists, any valid user will be allowed access.
-  * When specifying the paths to a user-defined password file, group file, or even distribution lists, you can use relative paths. The program will convert them to absolute paths.
-  * If you intend on protecting your web site using course distribution lists, please keep a few things in mind:
-    * The distribution lists are updated on a daily basis, so you will need to re-update your .htaccess file on a daily basis.
-    * In order to schedule automatic updates to your .htaccess file, please see the system manual pages for cron and crontab.
-    * If you automate the daily rebuild of your .htaccess file through cron, keep in mind that you probably want to use the distribution files in /eecs/dept/dist_archive instead of /eecs/dept/dist. While /eecs/dept/dist is a symlink to the distribution lists in the current session and term, this is a link that changes at the beginning of a new term, which would automatically remove all access to your site at a time that may not be convenient for you.