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\u003eThis webpage lists different versions of the AlloyDB documentation, 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 users can override this by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can load service account key files directly to override default credentials using an example code provided, with minimal error handling.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt is recommended to follow best practices for managing service account keys, and users can consult the provided link for more information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the Authentication Components section, which provides access to the factory functions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.18.0keyboard_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."]]