nginx + directory listing + protected folder ... no luck ...

Hi forum!
I have being reading around with nginx / protected folders mess here in the forum... but to no avail... so here I go posting again.
The situation is a migration from an ISPconfig Apache setup to an Ispconfig NGINX setup.
There is a download site, that has an Apache with directory listings enabled, wich works whit nginx by issuing autoindex on on a / location (the resulting directory is very disapointing when compared with apache one, but it works...).
The problem is that protected folders / protected folder users do not work: nginx asks for password but the GUI ones do not work.

By diging in, I discovered that during migration rsync, .htpasswd .htaccess files were transfered from old server, to new one (I saw it by their contents... refering old /var/www/clients path).
I also saw how nginx added a location directive on the vhost for each protected folder, pointig with absolute path to a corresponding .htpasswd file...

So, my shot was to create such missing .htpasswd files on the referenced enpoints... but even that way, it does not work.
I also noted that by entering the GUI and click Apply on the protected folder it has no effect. and that by changing protected folder name does not create a new one (I tried this: rename, save, rename back again save, in order to "force the setup to be refreshed" to no avail).

The sensation is that the feature has become useless...
Does some one has any clue?

Best regards to everyone!

 

Partially solved it manually by installing apache2-utils and generating the .htpasswd files (I have been polite in the sense of replicating exactly the same users/passwords pairs as present on the GUI)
The only thing I miss is why ISPconfig does not create them / rewrutes them as I manipulate on the GUI...
In order to have directory listing on the protected folders, aditional locations directives had to be added to the config section of the vhost... each location with a directive autoindex on;

To meke things almost perfect hidding some files / folders (such the stats folder!) would be desirable.... but that's another history...