diff --git a/lib/vmpooler.rb b/lib/vmpooler.rb
index 844aa6e..05468d3 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,19 @@ module Vmpooler
       parsed_config = YAML.load_file(config_file)
     end
 
+    # Bail out if someone attempts to start vmpooler with dummy authentication
+    # without enbaling debug mode.
+    if parsed_config[:auth]['provider'] == 'dummy'
+      unless ENV['VMPOOLER_DEBUG']
+        warning = [
+          "Dummy authentication should not be used outside of debug mode",
+          "please set environment variable VMPOOLER_DEBUG to 'true' if you want to use dummy authentication",
+        ]
+
+        raise warning.join(";\s")
+      end
+    end
+
     # Set some configuration defaults
     parsed_config[:redis]             ||= {}
     parsed_config[:redis]['server']   ||= 'localhost'
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/api/helpers.rb b/lib/vmpooler/api/helpers.rb
index 47c9062..0bd6275 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/api/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/api/helpers.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ module Vmpooler
 
       def authenticate(auth, username_str, password_str)
         case auth['provider']
+          when 'dummy'
+            return (username_str != password_str)
           when 'ldap'
             require 'rubygems'
             require 'net/ldap'
diff --git a/vmpooler.yaml.example b/vmpooler.yaml.example
index 76dcb25..c128b5d 100644
--- a/vmpooler.yaml.example
+++ b/vmpooler.yaml.example
@@ -137,8 +137,22 @@
 # This section contains information related to authenticating users
 # for token operations.
 #
-# Currently the only supported provider is LDAP; the following parameters
-# will all be under an ':ldap:' subsection (see example below).
+# Supported Auth Providers:
+#   - Dummy
+#   - LDAP
+#
+# - Dummy Auth Provider
+# The Dummy Authentication provider should only be used during development or testing
+# If the Username and Password are different then validation succeeds
+# If the Username and Password are the same then validation fails
+#
+# Example:
+# :auth:
+#   provider: 'dummy'
+#
+# - LDAP Auth Provider
+# The LDAP Authentication provider will validate usernames and passwords against an
+# existing LDAP service
 #
 # Available configuration parameters:
 #
@@ -154,8 +168,15 @@
 #
 #   - user_object
 #     The LDAP object-type used to designate a user object.
-
+#
 # Example:
+# :auth:
+#   provider: 'ldap'
+#   :ldap:
+#     host: 'localhost'
+#     port: 389
+#     base: 'ou=users,dc=company,dc=com'
+#     user_object: 'uid'
 
 :auth:
   provider: 'ldap'