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::deploy_v1::CloudDeployClient(
google::cloud::deploy_v1::MakeCloudDeployConnection(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 release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and numerous previous versions are available, ranging down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy default, client libraries use Application Default Credentials for authenticating with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override the default authentication by providing a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, such as loading a service account key file, as demonstrated in the provided code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt is advised to review the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for detailed information on handling service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, refer to the "Authentication Components" documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.15.1keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/latest/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.41.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.40.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.39.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.38.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.37.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.36.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.35.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.34.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.33.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.32.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.31.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.30.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.29.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.28.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.27.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.26.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.25.1/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.24.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.23.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.22.1/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.21.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.20.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.19.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.18.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.17.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.16.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.15.1/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.14.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.13.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.12.0/deploy-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/deploy/2.11.0/deploy-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::deploy_v1::CloudDeployClient(\n google::cloud::deploy_v1::MakeCloudDeployConnection(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."]]