# How to authenticate to elasticsearch via shield plugin in code part **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [July 3, 2015, 6:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-authenticate-to-elasticsearch-via-shield-plugin-in-code-part/24840 "2015-07-03T06:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PavanRGowda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce73a5/32.png) [@PavanRGowda](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/PavanRGowda)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 6:39am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-authenticate-to-elasticsearch-via-shield-plugin-in-code-part/24840/1 "2015-07-03T06:39:58Z")
I want to know is there any way to authenticate to elasticsearch via shield plugin using JSON or php. For example, to connect to mysql database through php we have a function mysqli\_connect(). Is there any similar way to authenticate in php or JSON code instead of specifying in the URL? ---
**Author:** ![Joshua\_Rich](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/joshua_rich/32/44953_2.png) [@Joshua\_Rich](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Joshua_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 6:49am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-authenticate-to-elasticsearch-via-shield-plugin-in-code-part/24840/2 "2015-07-03T06:49:44Z")
Are you using the PHP client? See [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/php-api/current/\_security.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/php-api/current/_security.html) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-authenticate-to-elasticsearch-via-shield-plugin-in-code-part/24840/3 "2017-07-06T00:03:48Z")