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::dlp_v2::DlpServiceClient(
google::cloud::dlp_v2::MakeDlpServiceConnection(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 provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud client libraries, specifically for the DLP service, with a focus on C++ implementations.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available for the DLP service is 2.37.0-rc, and the page includes links to documentation for multiple previous versions, dating back to 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy utilizing \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, users can override the default Application Default Credentials and specify custom credentials, such as those from a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example code shows how to load credentials from a service account key file using \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e and setting it within the \u003ccode\u003eOptions\u003c/code\u003e for the DLP service client.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content directs users to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" and "Authentication Components" guides for more information on managing service account keys and creating credentials objects, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/latest/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.41.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.40.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.39.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.38.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.37.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.36.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.35.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.34.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.33.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.32.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.31.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.30.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.29.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.28.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.27.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.26.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.25.1/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.24.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.23.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.22.1/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.21.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.20.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.19.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.18.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.17.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.16.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.15.1/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.14.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.13.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.12.0/dlp-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dlp/2.11.0/dlp-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::dlp_v2::DlpServiceClient(\n google::cloud::dlp_v2::MakeDlpServiceConnection(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."]]