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\u003eThis page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials in the C++ client libraries for Google Cloud services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate for this documentation is version 2.37.0-rc, with numerous older versions also available.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method is Application Default Credentials, but alternative methods are available, including using a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example demonstrates loading a service account key file using \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "Authentication Components" section and the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide are included for further information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.31.0keyboard_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."]]