user-sites.conf

server {
  listen 8000;

  # user to redirect to if none is passed in the URL
  # set to the empty string ("") to disable
  set $default_user maddy;

  # Private user directories, e.g. localhost:8000/~user/private/secrets.txt
  location ~ ^/~(.+?)/private(/.*)?$ {
    auth_basic "Private directory for ~$1";
    auth_basic_user_file /home/$1/www/public_html/private/.htpasswd;

    alias     /home/$1/www/public_html/private$2;
    index     index.html index.htm;
    autoindex on;
  }

  # Prevent access to .htpasswd files
  location ~ ^/~(.+?)/private/.htpasswd$ {
    return 404;
  }

  # User directories, e.g. localhost:8000/~user/
  location ~ ^/~(.+?)(/.*)?$ {
    alias     /home/$1/www/public_html$2;
    index     index.html index.htm;
    autoindex on;
  }

  location ~ ^(/(index.html?)?)?$ {
    if ($default_user) {
      return 303 /~$default_user;
    }
    return 404;
  }
}

# vim: set ft=nginx: