Multiple htaccess files in one folder, or conditional AuthType Basic?

Question

I am using the same .htaccess file on my local, and live servers, and want to use the same file on my test server (to made code management easier).

Currently though I have to have a different file, because my test server has htaccess password access on it, AuthType Basic.

Is there a way to either have 2 .htaccess files in the same folder (different names of course) - so that I can add the extra file on the test server, or, somehow make the AuthType conditional based on where it is, ie in a certain folder or under a certain http host? This way the same file can be used but it will act differently depending on where you are viewing it from.

Help and advice much appreciated.

Answer 1

One way would be to configure a different AccessFileName on the development server, e.g. htaccess.dev.

In httpd.conf (or similar - depending on your distro):

AccessFileName htaccess.dev

Then add both files in the directory - the htaccess.dev should be only interpreted on the development server.

You can also set AccessFileName per <VirtualHost />.

There are a way to do multiple AccessFileName directives:

AccessFileName .htaccess.first .htaccess.second .htaccess

I'm not exactly sure which is parsed first, but I imagine the last one wins, meaning it's probably .first, .second and then .htaccess and whatever is in the last one is the active setting.