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::profiler_v2::ProfilerServiceClient(
google::cloud::profiler_v2::MakeProfilerServiceConnection(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 page details the various versions of the profiler, ranging from the latest release candidate version 2.37.0-rc down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content provides information on how to override default authentication credentials using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e to authenticate with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example demonstrates how to load a service account key file explicitly to override the default Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor detailed instructions and security best practices on managing service account keys, refer to the linked Google Cloud guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page also contains a link to the Authentication Components document for more details on the factory functions that create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.16.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/latest/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.41.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.40.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.39.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.38.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.37.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.36.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.35.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.34.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.33.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.32.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.31.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.30.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.29.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.28.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.27.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.26.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.25.1/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.24.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.23.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.22.1/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.21.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.20.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.19.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.18.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.17.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.16.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.15.1/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.14.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.13.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.12.0/profiler-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/profiler/2.11.0/profiler-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::profiler_v2::ProfilerServiceClient(\n google::cloud::profiler_v2::MakeProfilerServiceConnection(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."]]