diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fdd66ca4..34a98a7d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-Netdisco/environments/development.yml
 test.pl
diff --git a/Netdisco/environments/development.yml b/Netdisco/environments/development.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3143f76a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Netdisco/environments/development.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# configuration file for development environment
+
+# the logger engine to use
+# console: log messages to STDOUT (your console where you started the
+#          application server)
+# file:    log message to a file in log/
+logger: "console"
+
+# the log level for this environement
+# core is the lowest, it shows Dancer's core log messages as well as yours
+# (debug, warning and error)
+log: "core"
+
+# should Dancer consider warnings as critical errors?
+warnings: 1
+
+# should Dancer show a stacktrace when an error is caught?
+show_errors: 1
+
+plugins:
+  DBIC:
+    netdisco:
+      schema_class: 'Netdisco::DB'
+      dsn: 'dbi:Pg:dbname=netdisco;host=localhost'
+      user: 'netdisco'
+      pass: 'netdisco'
+      options:
+        RaiseError: 1
+        AutoCommit: 1
+
+# for dev env only, this will force login so that a restarting server
+# doesn't persist in requiring reauth.
+# no_auth: 1
+
+# will be stripped from fqdn when displayed in the web UI
+# don't forget the leading dot
+# domain_suffix: '.example.com'
diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/Netdisco/Web/AuthN.pm b/Netdisco/lib/Netdisco/Web/AuthN.pm
index 79fb3ce9..379461f0 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/Netdisco/Web/AuthN.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/Netdisco/Web/AuthN.pm
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 package Netdisco::Web::AuthN;
 
 use Dancer ':syntax';
+use Dancer::Plugin::DBIC;
+
 use Digest::MD5 ();
 
 hook 'before' => sub {
     if (! session('user') && request->path !~ m{^/login}) {
-        if (setting('environment') eq 'development') {
+        if (setting('environment') eq 'development' and setting('no_auth')) {
             session(user => 'developer');
         }
         else {