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::backupdr_v1::BackupDRClient(
google::cloud::backupdr_v1::MakeBackupDRConnection(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 document provides guidance on overriding default authentication credentials when interacting with Google Cloud Services, which are typically managed using Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override default credentials by providing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, exemplified by explicitly loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example demonstrates setting custom authentication options using \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e to authenticate.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThere are multiple client library versions available, ranging from 2.23.0 to 2.37.0-rc, each offering a documentation link to the \u003ccode\u003e/backupdr-override-authentication\u003c/code\u003e reference page.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdditional information on managing service account keys and creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects is available in the linked guides and documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.23.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/latest/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.41.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.40.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.39.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.38.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.37.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.36.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.35.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.34.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.33.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.32.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.31.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.30.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.29.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.28.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.27.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.26.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.25.1/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.24.0/backupdr-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/backupdr/2.23.0/backupdr-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::backupdr_v1::BackupDRClient(\n google::cloud::backupdr_v1::MakeBackupDRConnection(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."]]