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::domains_v1::DomainsClient(
google::cloud::domains_v1::MakeDomainsConnection(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 2.12.0, also accessible via their respective links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method for client libraries is Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden when required for certain applications.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can utilize the UnifiedCredentialsOption to override the default authentication, using a service account key file as a method to authenticate.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided demonstrates loading a service account key file to manage the override, and the link to the best practices for managing service account keys is also provided.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, you can refer to the Authentication Components section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.14.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/latest/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.41.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.40.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.39.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.38.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.37.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.36.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.35.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.34.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.33.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.32.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.31.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.30.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.29.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.28.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.27.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.26.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.25.1/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.24.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.23.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.22.1/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.21.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.20.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.19.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.18.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.17.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.16.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.15.1/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.14.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.13.0/domains-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/domains/2.12.0/domains-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::domains_v1::DomainsClient(\n google::cloud::domains_v1::MakeDomainsConnection(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."]]