diff --git a/apache/conf/omny.conf b/apache/conf/omny.conf
index 284416c..1fb8c30 100644
--- a/apache/conf/omny.conf
+++ b/apache/conf/omny.conf
@@ -1,11 +1,114 @@
+# ============================================================
+# omny-test.psi.ch — HTTPS test instance
+#
+# Based on the admin-provided vhost skeleton, extended with:
+#   * HTTPS vhost + HTTP->HTTPS redirect (ACME path excepted)
+#   * DirectoryIndex, -Indexes
+#   * deny rules for .htpasswd/.gen/.inc/backup files
+#   * auth-gate rewrite rules
+#
+# Requirements (for the administrators):
+#   * mod_rewrite and mod_ssl enabled. The vhost will
+#     intentionally FAIL to load without mod_rewrite, rather
+#     than silently serving everything unauthenticated.
+#   * PHP execution active for .php files in /var/www/omny.
+#   * SSLCertificateFile / SSLCertificateKeyFile paths below
+#     are PLACEHOLDERS (Let's Encrypt layout) — please adjust
+#     to the actual certificate location for omny-test.psi.ch.
+# ============================================================
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------
+# Port 80: redirect everything to HTTPS, except ACME challenges
+# (exception only matters if certbot webroot renewal is used;
+#  harmless otherwise)
+# ------------------------------------------------------------
 <VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerName omny-test.psi.ch
     DocumentRoot /var/www/omny
 
-    <Directory "/var/www/omny">
-        Options +ExecCGI
-        AllowOverride None
-        Require all granted
-    </Directory>
+    RewriteEngine On
+    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/
+    RewriteRule ^ https://omny-test.psi.ch%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]
+    # Query strings are preserved automatically on [R] redirects.
 </VirtualHost>
 
+# ------------------------------------------------------------
+# Port 443: the actual site
+# ------------------------------------------------------------
+<VirtualHost *:443>
+    ServerName omny-test.psi.ch
+    DocumentRoot /var/www/omny
+
+    SSLEngine on
+    # PLACEHOLDER paths — adjust to the real certificate:
+    SSLCertificateFile    /etc/letsencrypt/live/omny-test.psi.ch/fullchain.pem
+    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/omny-test.psi.ch/privkey.pem
+
+    ErrorLog  ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/omny-test_error.log
+    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/omny-test_access.log combined
+
+    # Optional hardening (requires mod_headers). Deliberately
+    # disabled on the test instance; enable on production:
+    # Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000"
+
+    <Directory "/var/www/omny">
+        Options +ExecCGI -Indexes
+        AllowOverride None
+        Require all granted
+        # Bare "/" is normally caught by the catch-all rewrite
+        # below; DirectoryIndex kept as fallback.
+        DirectoryIndex login.php index.html index.php
+    </Directory>
+
+    # --------------------------------------------------------
+    # Block direct filesystem access to sensitive / junk files.
+    # (Apache's default "^\.ht" rule does NOT cover
+    #  users.htpasswd / session.htpasswd — they don't start
+    #  with ".ht".)
+    # --------------------------------------------------------
+    <FilesMatch "(\.htpasswd|\.gen|\.inc|~)$">
+        Require all denied
+    </FilesMatch>
+
+    RewriteEngine On
+
+    # 0. URL-level deny before any rewriting.
+    RewriteRule \.(htpasswd|gen)$ - [F,L]
+
+    # 1. Guard: forbid direct client requests that pass the
+    #    internal _file parameter to the gate scripts (would
+    #    otherwise let a logged-in user stream PHP source incl.
+    #    TOKEN_SECRET). Internal rewrites are unaffected: the
+    #    gate rewrites below use [END], which skips rule
+    #    re-processing.
+    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)_file=
+    RewriteRule ^/(samples/)?auth_gate\.php$ - [F,L]
+
+    # 2. Pass-throughs (no cookie check) — first match wins.
+    RewriteRule ^/login\.php$                    - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/upload\.php$                   - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/session_query\.php$            - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/set_password\.php$             - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/info\.php$                     - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/auth_gate\.php$                - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/samples/auth_gate\.php$        - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/\.well-known/acme-challenge/   - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/samples/upload\.php$           - [L]
+    RewriteRule ^/samples/newmeasurement\.php$   - [L]
+
+    # 3. Normalize /samples -> /samples/ so it hits the samples
+    #    gate instead of falling through to the main gate.
+    RewriteRule ^/samples$ /samples/ [R=301,L]
+
+    # 4. Samples area: fixed users only.
+    #    [END] (not [L]) is essential: Apache re-runs the rule
+    #    set after internal redirects; without END this rule
+    #    would match its own output and loop.
+    #    [QSA] appends the original query string, e.g.
+    #    /samples/x.json?t=1 -> _file=x.json&t=1
+    #    (auth_gate.php handles this form via strtok).
+    RewriteRule ^/samples/(.*)$ /samples/auth_gate.php?_file=$1 [END,QSA]
+
+    # 5. Everything else: main auth gate.
+    RewriteRule ^/(.*)$ /auth_gate.php?_file=$1 [END,QSA]
+</VirtualHost>
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