diff --git a/controllers/nginx/README.md b/controllers/nginx/README.md
index fa0d89237..ae62c3a2e 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/README.md
+++ b/controllers/nginx/README.md
@@ -213,6 +213,29 @@ This means only one of the rules should define annotations to configure the upst
 
 Please check the [auth](examples/custom-upstream-check/README.md) example
 
+ ### Authentication
+ 
+ Is possible to add authentication adding additional annotations in the Ingress rule. The source of the authentication is a secret that contains usernames and passwords inside the the key `auth`
+ 
+ The annotations are:
+ 
+ ```
+ ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-type:[basic|digest]
+ ```
+ 
+ Indicates the [HTTP Authentication Type: Basic or Digest Access Authentication](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2617).
+ 
+ ```
+ ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-secret:secretName
+ ```
+ 
+ Name of the secret that contains the usernames and passwords with access to the `path/s` defined in the Ingress Rule.
+ The secret must be created in the same namespace than the Ingress rule
+ 
+ ```
+ ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-realm:"realm string"
+ ```
+
 
 ### NGINX status page
 
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/auth/main.go b/controllers/nginx/auth/main.go
index 4d74267d8..5169a74c7 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/auth/main.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/auth/main.go
@@ -17,10 +17,13 @@ limitations under the License.
 package auth
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"regexp"
+
+	"github.com/golang/glog"
 
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/extensions"
@@ -33,11 +36,19 @@ const (
 	authRealm  = "ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-realm"
 
 	defAuthRealm = "Authentication Required"
+
+	// DefAuthDirectory default directory used to store files
+	// to authenticate request in NGINX
+	DefAuthDirectory = "/etc/nginx/auth"
 )
 
+func init() {
+	// TODO: check permissions required
+	os.MkdirAll(DefAuthDirectory, 0655)
+}
+
 var (
-	authTypeRegex = "basic|digest"
-	authDir       = "/etc/nginx/auth"
+	authTypeRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`basic|digest`)
 
 	// ErrInvalidAuthType is return in case of unsupported authentication type
 	ErrInvalidAuthType = errors.New("invalid authentication type")
@@ -47,14 +58,27 @@ var (
 
 	// ErrMissingSecretName is returned when the name of the secret is missing
 	ErrMissingSecretName = errors.New("secret name is missing")
+
+	// ErrMissingAuthInSecret is returned when there is no auth key in secret data
+	ErrMissingAuthInSecret = errors.New("the secret does not contains the auth key")
 )
 
+// ErrMissingAnnotations is returned when the ingress rule
+// does not contains annotations related with authentication
+type ErrMissingAnnotations struct {
+	msg string
+}
+
+func (e ErrMissingAnnotations) Error() string {
+	return e.msg
+}
+
 // Nginx returns authentication configuration for an Ingress rule
 type Nginx struct {
-	Type   string
-	Secret *api.Secret
-	Realm  string
-	File   string
+	Type    string
+	Realm   string
+	File    string
+	Secured bool
 }
 
 type ingAnnotations map[string]string
@@ -65,7 +89,8 @@ func (a ingAnnotations) authType() (string, error) {
 		return "", ErrMissingAuthType
 	}
 
-	if val != "basic" || val != "digest" {
+	if !authTypeRegex.MatchString(val) {
+		glog.Warningf("%v is not a valid authentication type", val)
 		return "", ErrInvalidAuthType
 	}
 
@@ -90,52 +115,59 @@ func (a ingAnnotations) secretName() (string, error) {
 	return val, nil
 }
 
-// Parse parses the annotations contained in the ingress rule
-// used to add authentication in the paths defined in the rule
+// ParseAnnotations parses the annotations contained in the ingress
+// rule used to add authentication in the paths defined in the rule
 // and generated an htpasswd compatible file to be used as source
 // during the authentication process
-func Parse(kubeClient client.Interface, ing *extensions.Ingress) (*Nginx, error) {
+func ParseAnnotations(kubeClient client.Interface, ing *extensions.Ingress, authDir string) (*Nginx, error) {
+	if ing.GetAnnotations() == nil {
+		return &Nginx{}, ErrMissingAnnotations{"missing authentication annotations"}
+	}
+
 	at, err := ingAnnotations(ing.GetAnnotations()).authType()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return &Nginx{}, err
 	}
 
 	s, err := ingAnnotations(ing.GetAnnotations()).secretName()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return &Nginx{}, err
 	}
 
 	secret, err := kubeClient.Secrets(ing.Namespace).Get(s)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return &Nginx{}, err
 	}
 
 	realm := ingAnnotations(ing.GetAnnotations()).realm()
 
 	passFile := fmt.Sprintf("%v/%v-%v.passwd", authDir, ing.GetNamespace(), ing.GetName())
-	err = dumpSecret(passFile, at, secret)
+	err = dumpSecret(passFile, secret)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return &Nginx{}, err
 	}
 
-	n := &Nginx{
-		Type:   at,
-		Secret: secret,
-		Realm:  realm,
-		File:   passFile,
-	}
-
-	return n, nil
+	return &Nginx{
+		Type:    at,
+		Realm:   realm,
+		File:    passFile,
+		Secured: true,
+	}, nil
 }
 
 // dumpSecret dumps the content of a secret into a file
 // in the expected format for the specified authorization
-func dumpSecret(filename, auth string, secret *api.Secret) error {
-	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
-
-	for key, value := range secret.Data {
-		fmt.Fprintf(buf, "%v:%s\n", key, value)
+func dumpSecret(filename string, secret *api.Secret) error {
+	val, ok := secret.Data["auth"]
+	if !ok {
+		return ErrMissingAuthInSecret
 	}
 
-	return ioutil.WriteFile(filename, buf.Bytes(), 600)
+	// TODO: check permissions required
+	err := ioutil.WriteFile(filename, val, 0777)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/auth/main_test.go b/controllers/nginx/auth/main_test.go
index 2a11dd494..eed975e94 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/auth/main_test.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/auth/main_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 package auth
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/extensions"
@@ -65,15 +69,20 @@ type secretsClient struct {
 	unversioned.Interface
 }
 
-func mockClient() *testclient.Fake {
-	secretObj := &api.Secret{
+// dummySecret generates a secret with one user inside the auth key
+// foo:md5(bar)
+func dummySecret() *api.Secret {
+	return &api.Secret{
 		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
 			Namespace: api.NamespaceDefault,
 			Name:      "demo-secret",
 		},
+		Data: map[string][]byte{"auth": []byte("foo:$apr1$OFG3Xybp$ckL0FHDAkoXYIlH9.cysT0")},
 	}
+}
 
-	return testclient.NewSimpleFake(secretObj)
+func mockClient() *testclient.Fake {
+	return testclient.NewSimpleFake(dummySecret())
 }
 
 func TestAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
@@ -121,21 +130,77 @@ func TestAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 func TestIngressWithoutAuth(t *testing.T) {
 	ing := buildIngress()
 	client := mockClient()
-	_, err := Parse(client, ing)
+	_, err := ParseAnnotations(client, ing, "")
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Error("Expected error with ingress without annotations")
 	}
 
-	if err != ErrMissingAuthType {
+	if err == ErrMissingAuthType {
 		t.Errorf("Expected MissingAuthType error but returned %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
-func TestIngressBasicAuth(t *testing.T) {
+func TestIngressAuth(t *testing.T) {
+	ing := buildIngress()
+
+	data := map[string]string{}
+	data[authType] = "basic"
+	data[authSecret] = "demo-secret"
+	data[authRealm] = "-realm-"
+	ing.SetAnnotations(data)
+
+	_, dir, _ := dummySecretContent(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	client := mockClient()
+	nginxAuth, err := ParseAnnotations(client, ing, dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Uxpected error with ingress: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if nginxAuth.Type != "basic" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected basic as auth type but returned %s", nginxAuth.Type)
+	}
+	if nginxAuth.Realm != "-realm-" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected -realm- as realm but returned %s", nginxAuth.Realm)
+	}
+	if nginxAuth.Secured != true {
+		t.Errorf("Expected true as secured but returned %v", nginxAuth.Secured)
+	}
 }
 
-func TestIngressDigestAuth(t *testing.T) {
+func dummySecretContent(t *testing.T) (string, string, *api.Secret) {
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", fmt.Sprintf("%v", time.Now().Unix()))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	tmpfile, err := ioutil.TempFile("", "example-")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	defer tmpfile.Close()
+
+	s := dummySecret()
+
+	return tmpfile.Name(), dir, s
 }
 
-func TestIngressMissingAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
+func TestDumpSecret(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpfile, dir, s := dummySecretContent(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	sd := s.Data
+	s.Data = nil
+
+	err := dumpSecret(tmpfile, s)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Errorf("Expected error with secret without auth")
+	}
+
+	s.Data = sd
+	err = dumpSecret(tmpfile, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error creating htpasswd file %v: %v", tmpfile, err)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/README.md b/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba0f0c866
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+
+This example shows how to add authentication in a Ingress rule using a secret that contains a file generated with `htpasswd`.
+
+
+```
+$ htpasswd -c auth foo
+New password: <bar>
+New password:
+Re-type new password:
+Adding password for user foo
+```
+
+```
+$ kubectl create secret generic basic-auth --from-file=auth
+secret "basic-auth" created
+```
+
+```
+$ kubectl get secret basic-auth -o yaml
+apiVersion: v1
+data:
+  auth: Zm9vOiRhcHIxJE9GRzNYeWJwJGNrTDBGSERBa29YWUlsSDkuY3lzVDAK
+kind: Secret
+metadata:
+  name: basic-auth
+  namespace: default
+type: Opaque
+```
+
+```
+echo "
+apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
+kind: Ingress
+metadata:
+  name: ingress-with-auth
+  annotations:
+    # type of authentication
+    ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-type: basic
+    # name of the secret that contains the user/password definitions
+    ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-secret: basic-auth
+    # message to display with an appropiate context why the authentication is required
+    ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-realm: "Authentication Required - foo"
+spec:
+  rules:
+  - host: foo.bar.com
+    http:
+      paths:
+      - path: /
+        backend:
+          serviceName: echoheaders
+          servicePort: 80
+" | kubectl create -f -
+```
+
+```
+$ curl -v http://10.2.29.4/ -H 'Host: foo.bar.com'
+*   Trying 10.2.29.4...
+* Connected to 10.2.29.4 (10.2.29.4) port 80 (#0)
+> GET / HTTP/1.1
+> Host: foo.bar.com
+> User-Agent: curl/7.43.0
+> Accept: */*
+>
+< HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
+< Server: nginx/1.10.0
+< Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 05:27:23 GMT
+< Content-Type: text/html
+< Content-Length: 195
+< Connection: keep-alive
+< WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Authentication Required - foo"
+<
+<html>
+<head><title>401 Authorization Required</title></head>
+<body bgcolor="white">
+<center><h1>401 Authorization Required</h1></center>
+<hr><center>nginx/1.10.0</center>
+</body>
+</html>
+* Connection #0 to host 10.2.29.4 left intact
+```
+
+```
+$ curl -v http://10.2.29.4/ -H 'Host: foo.bar.com' -u 'foo:bar'
+*   Trying 10.2.29.4...
+* Connected to 10.2.29.4 (10.2.29.4) port 80 (#0)
+* Server auth using Basic with user 'foo'
+> GET / HTTP/1.1
+> Host: foo.bar.com
+> Authorization: Basic Zm9vOmJhcg==
+> User-Agent: curl/7.43.0
+> Accept: */*
+>
+< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
+< Server: nginx/1.10.0
+< Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 06:05:26 GMT
+< Content-Type: text/plain
+< Transfer-Encoding: chunked
+< Connection: keep-alive
+< Vary: Accept-Encoding
+<
+CLIENT VALUES:
+client_address=10.2.29.4
+command=GET
+real path=/
+query=nil
+request_version=1.1
+request_uri=http://foo.bar.com:8080/
+
+SERVER VALUES:
+server_version=nginx: 1.9.11 - lua: 10001
+
+HEADERS RECEIVED:
+accept=*/*
+authorization=Basic Zm9vOmJhcg==
+connection=close
+host=foo.bar.com
+user-agent=curl/7.43.0
+x-forwarded-for=10.2.29.1
+x-forwarded-host=foo.bar.com
+x-forwarded-port=80
+x-forwarded-proto=http
+x-real-ip=10.2.29.1
+BODY:
+* Connection #0 to host 10.2.29.4 left intact
+-no body in request-
+```
diff --git a/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/auth-ingress.yaml b/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/auth-ingress.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 0942cbb69..000000000
--- a/controllers/nginx/examples/auth/auth-ingress.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-# An Ingress with 2 hosts and 3 endpoints
-apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
-kind: Ingress
-metadata:
-  name: echo-with-auth
-annotations:
-  ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-type: basic
-  ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-secret: echo-auth-secret
-  ingress-nginx.kubernetes.io/auth-realm: "Ingress with Basic Authentication"
-spec:
-  rules:
-  - host: foo.bar.com
-    http:
-      paths:
-      - path: /
-        backend:
-          serviceName: echoheaders-x
-          servicePort: 80