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 page provides documentation for various versions of the C++ Memcache client library, ranging from version 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method for the client libraries is Application Default Credentials, but these can be overridden when needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and providing a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor best security practices regarding service account keys, it is recommended to consult the provided guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional information about the creation of \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.29.0keyboard_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."]]