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 within the context of C++ and the Domains API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version documented is 2.37.0-rc, with a list of previous versions ranging down to 2.12.0, all of which are related to overriding authentication in the Domains API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials, but you can override this by supplying the UnifiedCredentialsOption, demonstrated with an example of loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more details and best practices on managing service account keys, it's advised to consult the provided guide, as the example used is simplified for demonstration purposes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional information can be found in the Authentication Components documentation for creating google::cloud::Credentials objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.30.0keyboard_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."]]