== link:index.html[Index] -> link:modules.html[Modules] -> link:modules_validators.html[Validators]

Validator: Plain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plain validator uses a flat-file to authenticate users.

Syntax
^^^^^^

Each line defines a user.  The username and password are delimited by a ``:``
colon.

[[parameters]]
Parameters
^^^^^^^^^^

[cols="20%,80%",options="header"]
|=============================================================
|Parameter      |Description
|__passwdfile__ |Required. The location of the user/pass file.
|=============================================================

The parameter that specifies the file containing the pairs
'user:password' is mandatory. `Plain` authentication can use both
`Basic` and `Digest` schemes.

You can and should place the password file outside the web tree to
prevent remote users from accessing the list.

.Security tab
image::media/images/admin_validators_plain.png[Validator Plain]

This could be the contents of the the file `/var/www/passwd` specified
in this example:

****
testuser:testpassword

cherokee:webserver
****

This would only allow access to the users `cherokee` and `testuser`.

[[compatibility]]
Compatibility
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This validator is compatible with both **basic** and **digest** schemes.