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::gkehub_v1::GkeHubClient(
google::cloud::gkehub_v1::MakeGkeHubConnection(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 webpage provides access to documentation for various versions of the GKE Hub client library, ranging from version 2.11.0 to the latest release candidate, 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for authentication, but can be overridden using the UnifiedCredentialsOption, allowing users to specify authentication details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding default authentication can be accomplished by loading a service account key file, as demonstrated in the example code provided, utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor detailed guidance on managing service account keys, users are advised to refer to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide, available on Google Cloud's documentation site.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eMore information on the factory functions to create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the Authentication Components section of the documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.33.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/latest/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.41.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.40.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.39.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.38.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.37.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.36.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.35.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.34.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.33.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.32.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.31.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.30.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.29.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.28.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.27.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.26.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.25.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.24.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.23.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.22.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.21.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.20.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.19.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.18.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.17.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.16.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.15.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.14.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.13.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.12.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.11.0/gkehub-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::gkehub_v1::GkeHubClient(\n google::cloud::gkehub_v1::MakeGkeHubConnection(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."]]