Restricts static files to a specific people using Apache/PHP.

I built this because I needed to protect some static files on a shared web host that offers Apache (without mod-auth-openid) and PHP.

To restrict access a folder located at http://example.com/path/:

• Copy .htaccess and _auth/ under /path
• In .htaccess, change RewriteBase to /path
• In _auth/, copy config.sample.php to config.php, and
  • change $AUTH_PATH to http://example.com/path/
  • add allowed email IDs to function allow()

1. .htaccess redirects all requests to _auth/authorize.php.
2. _auth/authorize.php logs the user in via their Google ID. (This uses uses HybridAuth. You can use Twitter, Facebook, OpenID, etc instead of Google.)
3. If the user is allowed by your function allow(), it reads & shows the file.

This is tolerably efficient. On my laptop, static files are served at 2,500/s. With this module, it still managed 1,700/s.

1. mod-auth-openid
2. AppEngine

ProtectStatic is released under dual licence MIT and GPL. Same as HybridAuth licences.