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::alloydb_v1::AlloyDBAdminClient(
google::cloud::alloydb_v1::MakeAlloyDBAdminConnection(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\u003eThe webpage provides documentation for various versions of AlloyDB, ranging from version 2.11.0 to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method uses Application Default Credentials, but this can be overridden using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA service account key file can be explicitly loaded to override the default credentials for specific use cases, as demonstrated in the provided example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example uses minimal error handling for simplicity, and users are encouraged to consult best practices for managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, users can refer to the Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.15.1keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/latest/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.41.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.40.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.39.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.38.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.37.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.36.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.35.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.34.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.33.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.32.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.31.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.30.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.29.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.28.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.27.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.26.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.25.1/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.24.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.23.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.22.1/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.21.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.20.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.19.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.18.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.17.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.16.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.15.1/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.14.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.13.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.12.0/alloydb-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/alloydb/2.11.0/alloydb-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::alloydb_v1::AlloyDBAdminClient(\n google::cloud::alloydb_v1::MakeAlloyDBAdminConnection(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."]]