====== Ubuntu - Squid - Authenticate Users ======

You can force your users to authenticate before they use your Linux proxy server using Apache authentication.

----

===== Create a file that will store the users =====

<code bash>
sudo touch /etc/squid/passwd
</code>

----

===== Change the ownership of the file =====

Change the ownership to squid daemon so it can access the file

<code bash>
sudo chown squid /etc/squid/passwd
</code>

----

===== Create a new user =====

Create a new user using the **htpasswd** command:

<code bash>
sudo htpasswd /etc/squid/passwd testuser
</code>

It will prompt you for the password twice.

If you open the created file, you will see the user and the hashed password.

----

===== Specify the Authentication to be used =====

Change the squid configuration to tell it about the authentication that it should use.

Add the following lines below the ACL ports and nowhere else to enable authentication:

<file bash /etc/squid/squid.conf>
....
auth_param basic program /usr/lib64/squid/basic_ncsa_auth /etc/squid/passwd

auth_param basic children 5

auth_param basic realm Squid Basic Authentication

auth_param basic credentialsttl 3 hours

acl auth_users proxy_auth REQUIRED

http_access allow auth_users
</file>

----

===== Restart Squid =====

<code bash>
sudo systemctl restart squid
</code>

Try to open the browser again.

It will prompt you for the username and the password.