password protect website with .htaccess and .htpasswd - error - "Could not open password file:"
<p>We have Plesk site builder through our webhosting with Charter. Using it to create a simple development website.</p>

<p>I am trying to password protect the site using .htaccess / .htpasswd. </p>

<p>I keep getting this error no matter what I do:</p>

<pre><code>[Wed Apr 06 09:02:57 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /.htpasswd
[Wed Apr 06 09:02:57 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] access to / failed, reason: verification of user id 'heather' not configured
[Wed Apr 06 09:03:52 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /etc/httpd/.htpasswd
[Wed Apr 06 09:03:52 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] access to / failed, reason: verification of user id 'admin' not configured
[Wed Apr 06 09:03:56 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /etc/httpd/.htpasswd
[Wed Apr 06 09:03:56 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] access to / failed, reason: verification of user id 'heather' not configured
[Wed Apr 06 09:05:11 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /etc/httpd/HTTP/.htpasswd
[Wed Apr 06 09:05:11 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] access to / failed, reason: verification of user id 'admin' not configured
[Wed Apr 06 09:05:15 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] (2)No such file or directory: Could not open password file: /etc/httpd/HTTP/.htpasswd
[Wed Apr 06 09:05:15 2016] [error] [client 66.169.84.65] access to / failed, reason: verification of user id 'heather' not configured
</code></pre>

<p>I'm not very familiar with Parallels Plesk - and getting a hold of their support is like pulling teeth. </p>

<ul>
<li>I've checked and double checked the path to the .htpasswd file; seems right. </li>
<li>I've moved it and the .htaccess file to see if I just
don't have it in the right place</li>
</ul>

<p>I'm not sure what the problem is. I get the authentication box (I notice it doesn't have my "Please Login" message though...</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z9OYS.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Z9OYS.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>here is the code for the .htaccess file:</p>

<pre><code>#
#           AUTHENTICATION
#
### BASIC PASSWORD PROTECTION
AuthUserFile /etc/httpd/HTTP/.htpasswd
AuthName "Please Login"
AuthType basic

&lt;Limit GET POST&gt;
Require valid-user
&lt;/Limit&gt;
</code></pre>

<p>ANY Help is greatly appreciated or leads in the right direction. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!</p>