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 document provides information on how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method is Application Default Credentials, but users can override this by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e with a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function allows for explicit loading of credentials from a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples of overriding authentication are provided for \u003ccode\u003eAgentEndpointServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eOsConfigServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003eOsConfigZonalServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, all within version 2.30.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document advises users to consult the best practices for managing service account keys and also to refer to the Authentication Components for further information on credential object creation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.30.0keyboard_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/2.30.0/osconfig_agentendpoint_v1_1_1AgentEndpointServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`osconfig_v1::OsConfigServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.30.0/osconfig_v1_1_1OsConfigServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`osconfig_v1::OsConfigZonalServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/osconfig/2.30.0/osconfig_v1_1_1OsConfigZonalServiceClient-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."]]