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\u003eThis page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, with version-specific information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version for which documentation is provided is \u003ccode\u003e2.37.0-rc\u003c/code\u003e, and it extends down to version \u003ccode\u003e2.11.0\u003c/code\u003e, including several intermediate versions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, users can specify their authentication method instead of relying on Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page uses the loading of a service account key file as a simplified example to demonstrate how to override the authentication defaults.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are directed to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and the "Authentication Components" for a more comprehensive understanding.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.12.0keyboard_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."]]