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 provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, specifically for the Composer service.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version documentation available is 2.37.0-rc, and this document includes documentation for versions from 2.11.0 up to 2.37.0-rc, including multiple minor version releases.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding authentication can be done by providing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, exemplified by loading a service account key file via the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for \u003ccode\u003eEnvironmentsClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eImageVersionsClient\u003c/code\u003e classes are provided to demonstrate overriding authentication in specific client contexts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation links to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and the "Authentication Components" for further details on managing service account keys and creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.27.0keyboard_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/2.27.0/composer_v1_1_1EnvironmentsClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`composer_v1::ImageVersionsClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/composer/2.27.0/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."]]