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::sql_v1::SqlBackupRunsServiceClient(
google::cloud::ExperimentalTag{},
google::cloud::sql_v1::MakeSqlBackupRunsServiceConnectionRest(
google::cloud::ExperimentalTag{}, 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\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and numerous previous versions are available, ranging down to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials (ADC) for authentication with Google Cloud Services, but this default can be overridden.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo override default authentication, you can provide the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, demonstrated through an example loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for other client classes, such as \u003ccode\u003eSqlBackupRunsServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eSqlConnectServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, are linked within the documentation for quick reference.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more advanced information on service account key management, refer to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide, while additional details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in "Authentication Components".\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.12.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/latest/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.41.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.40.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.39.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.38.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.37.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.36.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.35.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.34.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.33.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.32.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.31.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.30.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.29.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.28.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.27.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.26.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.25.1/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.24.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.23.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.22.1/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.21.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.20.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.19.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.18.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.17.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.16.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.15.1/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.14.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.13.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.11.0/sql-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::sql_v1::SqlBackupRunsServiceClient(\n google::cloud::ExperimentalTag{},\n google::cloud::sql_v1::MakeSqlBackupRunsServiceConnectionRest(\n google::cloud::ExperimentalTag{}, options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`sql_v1::SqlBackupRunsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlBackupRunsServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlConnectServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlConnectServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlDatabasesServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlDatabasesServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlFlagsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlFlagsServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlInstancesServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlInstancesServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlOperationsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlOperationsServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlSslCertsServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlSslCertsServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlTiersServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlTiersServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`sql_v1::SqlUsersServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/sql/2.12.0/sql_v1_1_1SqlUsersServiceClient-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."]]