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::composer_v1::EnvironmentsClient(
google::cloud::composer_v1::MakeEnvironmentsConnection(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 details how to override the default authentication credentials for Google Cloud client libraries, specifically using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe most recent release candidate is version 2.37.0-rc, with the most recent stable release being 2.36.0, and this page also displays a history of releases down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided demonstrating how to load a service account key file using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e to override the default credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eLinks are available for examples related to \u003ccode\u003ecomposer_v1::EnvironmentsClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003ecomposer_v1::ImageVersionsClient\u003c/code\u003e for overriding the default authentication in other clients.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis page links to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and the "Authentication Components" documentation for further information on authentication and managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.21.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/latest/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.41.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.40.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.39.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.38.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.37.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.36.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.35.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.34.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.33.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.32.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.31.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.30.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.29.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.28.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.27.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.26.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.25.1/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.24.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.23.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.22.1/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.21.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.20.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.19.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.18.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.17.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.16.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.15.1/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.14.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.13.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.12.0/composer-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.11.0/composer-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::composer_v1::EnvironmentsClient(\n google::cloud::composer_v1::MakeEnvironmentsConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`composer_v1::EnvironmentsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.21.0/composer_v1_1_1EnvironmentsClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`composer_v1::ImageVersionsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.21.0/composer_v1_1_1ImageVersionsClient-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."]]