Add a Squid NCSA User Without Overwriting the Password File

The first user works. You add the second and the first disappears. The problem can be the password-file command, not a one-user limit in Squid.

Apache's htpasswd option -c creates a password file. Used on an existing file, it rewrites it. Do not use that option each time you add or update a user.

For an existing file maintained by your administrator, the form is:

htpasswd /etc/squid/passwords alex

Use the real file configured for basic_ncsa_auth, with the appropriate administrative permissions. The program prompts for the password rather than placing it in the command line.

The helper must be able to read the resulting file, and its supported password formats must match how entries are generated. Creating a new file somewhere else does not make Squid use it.

A stored user is not automatically authorized for every destination. Squid's authentication helper and its access rules have separate jobs.

Changing a password from a remote client is another requirement. An NCSA file does not provide a self-service password-change protocol merely because a browser can use the proxy. Use the service's established account-management process.