Apache is looking for htaccess and htpasswd files that aren't there

Question

Having an issue where Apache is requesting authentication, and looking for an .htpasswd file, based on instructions from an .htaccess file that's no longer in DocumentRoot. Background:

In my DocumentRoot, I'd previously copied an .htaccess and .htpasswd file from another machine (along with all of the other website files).

.htaccess contents:

AuthType Basic
AuthName "Password is required"
AuthUserFile /some/directory/that/was/on/the/other/server/not/this/one/.htpasswd
Require valid-user

Here's the catch: I moved .htaccess and .htpasswd out of DocumentRoot and even renamed the files. There is no longer an .htaccess file in DocumentRoot at all.

But, when I try to access localhost from a browser, I am prompted to enter the login and password.

When I enter the login and password (from the old, not-in-DocumentRoot .hpasswd file), I get a 500 Internal Server error and the log shows:

[error] [client 127.0.0.1] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /some/directory/that/was/on/the/other/server/not/this/one/.htpasswd

This has been quite a puzzle, because there's no longer a .htaccess or .htpasswd file anywhere in DocumentRoot !!

Have tried several apache restarts and also tried using a blank .htaccess file in the DocumentRoot. Even grepped the entire machine for references to AuthType Basic to see if I missed anything.

httpd.conf looks normal enough...I can post that if needed, but this question seems long enough as it is :)

Thanks for any assistance you can provide

Answer 1

Resolved. Not sure how I missed it, but there was an .htpasswd and .htaccess file one directory level above DocumentRoot. Removed those and it works fine. Not sure why this mattered since it was not in DocumentRoot but one level above it....but, that was definitely the issue.