Unless otherwise configured, the client libraries useApplication Default Credentialsto authenticate with Google Cloud Services. While this works for most applications, in some cases you may need to override this default. You can do so by providing theUnifiedCredentialsOptionThe following example shows how to explicitly load a service account key file:
[](std::string const& keyfile) {
auto is = std::ifstream(keyfile);
is.exceptions(std::ios::badbit); // Minimal error handling in examples
auto contents = std::string(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(is.rdbuf()), {});
auto options =
google::cloud::Options{}.set<google::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption>(
google::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials(contents));
return google::cloud::memcache_v1::CloudMemcacheClient(
google::cloud::memcache_v1::MakeCloudMemcacheConnection(options));
}
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-09 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis document provides a reference for memcache override authentication across multiple versions, ranging from 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries use Application Default Credentials for authentication with Google Cloud Services unless a different configuration is set.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override default authentication by supplying the UnifiedCredentialsOption, for instance, loading a service account key file explicitly.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided code sample illustrates overriding authentication by loading a service account key file, and it is highlighted that this example is easy to understand, and a service account key guide should be consulted for best practices.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, you can consult the Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.11.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/latest/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.41.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.40.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.39.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.38.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.37.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.36.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.35.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.34.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.33.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.32.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.31.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.30.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.29.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.28.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.27.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.26.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.25.1/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.24.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.23.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.22.1/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.21.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.20.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.19.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.18.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.17.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.16.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.15.1/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.14.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.13.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.12.0/memcache-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/memcache/2.11.0/memcache-override-authentication) \n\nHow to Override the Authentication Credentials\n==============================================\n\nUnless otherwise configured, the client libraries use [Application Default Credentials](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#adc) to authenticate with Google Cloud Services. While this works for most applications, in some cases you may need to override this default. You can do so by providing the [UnifiedCredentialsOption](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/structgoogle_1_1cloud_1_1UnifiedCredentialsOption.html) The following example shows how to explicitly load a service account key file: \n\n [](std::string const& keyfile) {\n auto is = std::ifstream(keyfile);\n is.exceptions(std::ios::badbit); // Minimal error handling in examples\n auto contents = std::string(std::istreambuf_iterator\u003cchar\u003e(is.rdbuf()), {});\n auto options =\n google::cloud::Options{}.set\u003cgoogle::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption\u003e(\n google::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials(contents));\n return google::cloud::memcache_v1::CloudMemcacheClient(\n google::cloud::memcache_v1::MakeCloudMemcacheConnection(options));\n }\n\nKeep in mind that we chose this as an example because it is relatively easy to understand. Consult the [Best practices for managing service account keys](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/best-practices-for-managing-service-account-keys) guide for more details.\n\n###### See Also\n\n[Authentication Components](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/group__guac.html) - for more information on the factory functions to create [`google::cloud::Credentials`](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/classgoogle_1_1cloud_1_1Credentials.html) objects."]]