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::filestore_v1::CloudFilestoreManagerClient(
google::cloud::filestore_v1::MakeCloudFilestoreManagerConnection(
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 document provides versioned documentation for overriding authentication credentials within the Google Cloud C++ Client Library, covering versions from 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for Google Cloud Service authentication, but this can be overridden using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be explicitly loaded to override default credentials, as demonstrated in the provided C++ code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor secure management of service account keys, refer to the recommended "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Authentication Components section provides information on the factory functions to create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.26.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/latest/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.41.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.40.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.39.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.38.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.37.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.36.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.35.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.34.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.33.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.32.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.31.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.30.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.29.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.28.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.27.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.26.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.25.1/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.24.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.23.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.22.1/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.21.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.20.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.19.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.18.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.17.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.16.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.15.1/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.14.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.13.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.12.0/filestore-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/filestore/2.11.0/filestore-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::filestore_v1::CloudFilestoreManagerClient(\n google::cloud::filestore_v1::MakeCloudFilestoreManagerConnection(\n 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."]]