> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.chamilo.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.chamilo.org/1.11.x/developer-guide/system_administratorsauthentication_methods.md).

# System Administrators: Authentication methods

![](/files/-LioWGAEl3-8dcJrDqcC)

As a general rule of thumb, all configuration related to authentication methods can be found in a mix of the settings (inside the portal administration or the settings\_current table) and the main/inc/conf/auth.conf.php file.

In order to keep track of who's identified through what, Chamilo usually keeps track of the user's authentication source through the **auth\_source** field in the **user** table. A user identified through LDAP will use « ldap » (if synchronised automatically) or « extldap » (if first registered when logging in for the first time).