nginx http auth with cookies

create_credential.sh

# create the password file for user 'admin' 
sudo htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd admin

nginx.conf

# Admin Panel
location /Admin/ {
    set $auth_basic "closed site";
    if ($cookie_adminCookie = "secretCookieValue") {
        set $auth_basic off;
    }
    auth_basic $auth_basic;
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    error_page 404 = @admin;
 }

location @admin {
    root /var/www;

    # you can use rewrite here, for example:  
    # rewrite ^/Admin/(.*)$ /public/index.php?Admin/$1 break;
                
    # set php fascgi params:
    # fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
    # include fastcgi_params;
    # fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $request_filename;
                
    # set cookie life for 1 year
    add_header Set-Cookie "adminCookie=secretCookieValue;max-age=3153600000;path=/" always;
}