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::orgpolicy_v2::OrgPolicyClient(
google::cloud::orgpolicy_v2::MakeOrgPolicyConnection(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 lists different versions of the orgpolicy documentation, ranging from version 2.11.0 to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries utilize Application Default Credentials for authentication with Google Cloud Services, unless alternative configurations are implemented.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override the default credentials by providing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, demonstrated in an example that loads a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eAuthentication Components\u003c/code\u003e documentation provides additional details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eService accounts must be handled carefully, for more information the provided link to the best practices for managing service account keys should be consulted.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/latest/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.41.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.40.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.39.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.38.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.37.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.36.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.35.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.34.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.33.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.32.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.31.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.30.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.29.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.28.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.27.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.26.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.25.1/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.24.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.23.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.22.1/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.21.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.20.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.19.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.18.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.17.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.16.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.15.1/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.14.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.13.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.12.0/orgpolicy-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/orgpolicy/2.11.0/orgpolicy-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::orgpolicy_v2::OrgPolicyClient(\n google::cloud::orgpolicy_v2::MakeOrgPolicyConnection(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."]]