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 page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud C++ client libraries, specifically within the context of the Dataproc Metastore service.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and the page lists numerous past versions, going as far back as version 2.13.0, each with its own set of documentation on authentication override.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page explains how to override the default Application Default Credentials (ADC) by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and provides a code snippet demonstrating how to load a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples are available for both \u003ccode\u003emetastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003emetastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreFederationClient\u003c/code\u003e, with links provided to the corresponding code snippets.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation directs users to consult the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for further details on credential management and also refers to "Authentication Components" for details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.29.0keyboard_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/2.29.0/metastore_v1_1_1DataprocMetastoreClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`metastore_v1::DataprocMetastoreFederationClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/metastore/2.29.0/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."]]