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::metastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreClient(
google::cloud::metastore_v1::MakeDataprocMetastoreConnection(options));
}
Follow these links to find examples for other*Clientclasses:
[[["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 when using Google Cloud C++ client libraries, covering versions from 2.13.0 up to 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe C++ client libraries default to using Application Default Credentials, but you can override this by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided that demonstrates loading a service account key file to override the default credentials, and how to create an options instance.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for other client classes like \u003ccode\u003emetastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003emetastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreFederationClient\u003c/code\u003e are provided with links to their documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe user should review the best practices guide for managing service account keys and the Authentication Components documentation to better understand credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.23.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/latest/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.41.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.40.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.39.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.38.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.37.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.36.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.35.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.34.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.33.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.32.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.31.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.30.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.29.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.28.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.27.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.26.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.25.1/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.24.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.23.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.22.1/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.21.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.20.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.19.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.18.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.17.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.16.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.15.1/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.14.0/metastore-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.13.0/metastore-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::metastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreClient(\n google::cloud::metastore_v1::MakeDataprocMetastoreConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`metastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.23.0/metastore_v1_1_1DataprocMetastoreClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`metastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreFederationClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.23.0/metastore_v1_1_1DataprocMetastoreFederationClient-service-account-snippet)\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."]]