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\u003eThis page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, specifically in C++.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version documented on this page is version 2.37.0-rc, with numerous other past versions also documented.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe primary method for overriding credentials is by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, which allows for explicit loading of a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content demonstrates how to load credentials from a service account key file, using the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function and mentions the importance of proper service account key management.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eMore information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the Authentication Components section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.26.0keyboard_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."]]