.htpasswd doesn't get accessed???

I'm trying to get a password lock on some directories on my Apache 1.3.12 server. My .htaccess looks like

AuthName "Accesstest"
AuthUserFile /home/dipesa/public_html/.htpasswd
AuthType Basic
require valid-user

The file /home/dipesa/public_html/.htpasswd
exists, but doens't seems to be accessed. Without a dialog box I get the message

"Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /~dipesa/index.html on this server."

Who can come up with an explanation.

ciao,
DiPesa

Check out your httpd.conf for the following block:
<Directory /home/*/public_html>

Then go to -> http://www.apache.org/docs/mod/core.html#allowoverride

You should see you need "AllowOverride All" or "AllowOverride AuthConfig".

In addition, make sure you have such line "AccessFileName .htaccess" in your httpd.conf. And make sure your public_html directory is chmod'ed 755.

[This message has been edited by freebsd (edited November 08, 2000).]

you might also want to get your .htpasswd file out of your document root and move it up a level .... so people can't grab your .htpasswd file via your webserver