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::datastream_v1::DatastreamClient(
google::cloud::datastream_v1::MakeDatastreamConnection(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\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with numerous other versions from 2.36.0 down to 2.11.0 also being accessible.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for authentication with Google Cloud Services, but there is an option to override this behavior if necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default credentials by providing a UnifiedCredentialsOption, such as loading a service account key file explicitly, which is shown in the provided example code.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor detailed information on managing service account keys, it's recommended to consult the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Authentication Components page provides further information on factory functions for creating Credentials objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.11.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/latest/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.41.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.40.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.39.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.38.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.37.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.36.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.35.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.34.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.33.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.32.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.31.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.30.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.29.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.28.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.27.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.26.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.25.1/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.24.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.23.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.22.1/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.21.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.20.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.19.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.18.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.17.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.16.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.15.1/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.14.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.13.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.12.0/datastream-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/datastream/2.11.0/datastream-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::datastream_v1::DatastreamClient(\n google::cloud::datastream_v1::MakeDatastreamConnection(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."]]