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::osconfig_agentendpoint_v1::AgentEndpointServiceClient(
google::cloud::osconfig_agentendpoint_v1::
MakeAgentEndpointServiceConnection(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 webpage details how to override the default Application Default Credentials for authenticating with Google Cloud Services, particularly for C++ client libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version available is 2.37.0-rc, with a history of versions ranging down to 2.11.0, all of which are accessible through the provided links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe primary method for overriding credentials involves using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and loading a service account key file as demonstrated in the code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eLinks are provided to examples for the \u003ccode\u003eosconfig_agentendpoint_v1::AgentEndpointServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eosconfig_v1::OsConfigServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e classes, showcasing service account credential usage.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBest practices for managing service account keys and further information on \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects are available through external links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/latest/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.41.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.40.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.39.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.38.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.37.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.36.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.35.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.34.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.33.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.32.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.31.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.30.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.29.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.28.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.27.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.26.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.25.1/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.24.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.23.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.22.1/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.21.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.20.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.19.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.18.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.17.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.16.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.15.1/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.14.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.13.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.12.0/osconfig-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.11.0/osconfig-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::osconfig_agentendpoint_v1::AgentEndpointServiceClient(\n google::cloud::osconfig_agentendpoint_v1::\n MakeAgentEndpointServiceConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`osconfig_agentendpoint_v1::AgentEndpointServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.13.0/osconfig_agentendpoint_v1_1_1AgentEndpointServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`osconfig_v1::OsConfigServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.13.0/osconfig_v1_1_1OsConfigServiceClient-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."]]