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::edgenetwork_v1::EdgeNetworkClient(
google::cloud::edgenetwork_v1::MakeEdgeNetworkConnection(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 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis page details how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method is Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example demonstrates loading a service account key file to explicitly set credentials, using \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e to build the credential object.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided content lists available versions for EdgeNetwork, ranging from version 2.37.0-rc (latest) down to 2.19.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eAuthentication Components\u003c/code\u003e link provides more information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.34.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/latest/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.41.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.40.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.39.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.38.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.37.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.36.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.35.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.34.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.33.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.32.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.31.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.30.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.29.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.28.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.27.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.26.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.25.1/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.24.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.23.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.22.1/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.21.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.20.0/edgenetwork-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/edgenetwork/2.19.0/edgenetwork-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::edgenetwork_v1::EdgeNetworkClient(\n google::cloud::edgenetwork_v1::MakeEdgeNetworkConnection(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."]]