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::logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client(
google::cloud::logging_v2::MakeConfigServiceV2Connection(options));
}
Follow these links to find examples for other*Clientclasses:
[[["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 provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials in Google Cloud C++ client libraries for logging, covering versions from 2.11.0 up to 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, but the content primarily focuses on version 2.20.0 and how to manage service account authentication for that version.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication is managed using Application Default Credentials, but can be overridden by loading a service account key file using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, in order to provide specified credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples are provided for \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::LoggingServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::MetricsServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e classes on how to override authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide is referenced for further information on managing service account keys securely.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.20.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/latest/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.41.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.40.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.39.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.38.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.37.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.36.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.35.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.34.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.33.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.32.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.31.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.30.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.29.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.28.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.27.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.26.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.25.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.24.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.23.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.22.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.21.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.20.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.19.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.18.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.17.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.16.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.15.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.14.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.13.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.12.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.11.0/logging-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::logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client(\n google::cloud::logging_v2::MakeConfigServiceV2Connection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.20.0/logging_v2_1_1ConfigServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\n- [`logging_v2::LoggingServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.20.0/logging_v2_1_1LoggingServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\n- [`logging_v2::MetricsServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.20.0/logging_v2_1_1MetricsServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\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."]]