diff --git a/__tests__/auth.test.ts b/__tests__/auth.test.ts
index 4a3119d..8e5efd4 100644
--- a/__tests__/auth.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/auth.test.ts
@@ -29,30 +29,36 @@ describe('auth tests', () => {
   }, 100000);
 
   it('creates settings.xml with username and password', async () => {
+    const id = 'packages';
     const username = 'bluebottle';
     const password = 'SingleOrigin';
 
-    await auth.configAuthentication(username, password);
+    await auth.configAuthentication(id, username, password);
 
     expect(fs.existsSync(m2Dir)).toBe(true);
     expect(fs.existsSync(settingsFile)).toBe(true);
     expect(fs.readFileSync(settingsFile, 'utf-8')).toEqual(
-      auth.generate(username, password)
+      auth.generate(id, username, password)
     );
   }, 100000);
 
   it('does not create settings.xml without username and / or password', async () => {
-    await auth.configAuthentication('FOO', '');
+    await auth.configAuthentication('FOO', '', '');
 
     expect(fs.existsSync(m2Dir)).toBe(false);
     expect(fs.existsSync(settingsFile)).toBe(false);
 
-    await auth.configAuthentication('', 'BAR');
+    await auth.configAuthentication('', 'BAR', '');
 
     expect(fs.existsSync(m2Dir)).toBe(false);
     expect(fs.existsSync(settingsFile)).toBe(false);
 
-    await auth.configAuthentication('', ''); // BAZ!!!
+    await auth.configAuthentication('', '', 'BAZ');
+
+    expect(fs.existsSync(m2Dir)).toBe(false);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(settingsFile)).toBe(false);
+
+    await auth.configAuthentication('', '', '');
 
     expect(fs.existsSync(m2Dir)).toBe(false);
     expect(fs.existsSync(settingsFile)).toBe(false);
diff --git a/src/auth.ts b/src/auth.ts
index 252423a..d3c13bc 100644
--- a/src/auth.ts
+++ b/src/auth.ts
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ import * as io from '@actions/io';
 export const M2_DIR = '.m2';
 export const SETTINGS_FILE = 'settings.xml';
 
-export async function configAuthentication(username: string, password: string) {
-  if (username && password) {
+export async function configAuthentication(id: string, username: string, password: string) {
+  if (id && username && password) {
     core.debug(`configAuthentication with ${username} and a password`);
     const directory: string = path.join(os.homedir(), M2_DIR);
     await io.mkdirP(directory);
     core.debug(`created directory ${directory}`);
-    await write(directory, generate(username, password));
+    await write(directory, generate(id, username, password));
   } else {
     core.debug(
       `no auth without username: ${username} and password: ${password}`
@@ -22,11 +22,12 @@ export async function configAuthentication(username: string, password: string) {
 }
 
 // only exported for testing purposes
-export function generate(username: string, password: string) {
+export function generate(id: string, username: string, password: string) {
   return `
   <settings>
       <servers>
         <server>
+          <id>${id}</id>
           <username>${username}</username>
           <password>${password}</password>
         </server>
diff --git a/src/setup-java.ts b/src/setup-java.ts
index 99026e3..2a73116 100644
--- a/src/setup-java.ts
+++ b/src/setup-java.ts
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ async function run() {
     const matchersPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', '.github');
     console.log(`##[add-matcher]${path.join(matchersPath, 'java.json')}`);
 
+    const id = core.getInput('id', {required: false});
     const username = core.getInput('username', {required: false});
     const password = core.getInput('password', {required: false});
 
-    if (username && password) {
-      await auth.configAuthentication(username, password);
+    if (id && username && password) {
+      await auth.configAuthentication(id, username, password);
     }
 
   } catch (error) {