How can PHP scripts be used to authenticate users before allowing access to specific files for download?

To authenticate users before allowing access to specific files for download, you can create a PHP script that checks the user's credentials before serving the file. This can be done by verifying the user's login information against a database or other authentication method. Once the user is authenticated, the script can then serve the file for download. 

<?php
// Check if user is logged in
session_start();
if(!isset($_SESSION['logged_in']) || $_SESSION['logged_in'] !== true) {
    header('Location: login.php');
    exit;
}

// Check if user has permission to download file
$allowed_users = ['user1', 'user2']; // List of users allowed to download
$current_user = $_SESSION['username']; // Get current user
if(!in_array($current_user, $allowed_users)) {
    die('You do not have permission to access this file.');
}

// Serve the file for download
$file_path = 'path/to/file.pdf';
header('Content-Type: application/pdf');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="file.pdf"');
readfile($file_path);
?>

Keywords

PHP authentication user access control file download

Related Questions