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::gkehub_v1::GkeHubClient(
google::cloud::gkehub_v1::MakeGkeHubConnection(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 various versions of the GKE Hub client library, ranging from version 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest stable version documented is 2.36.0, but users can also access documentation for previous releases.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content explains how to override default authentication credentials by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and loading a service account key file, which is demonstrated through an example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are directed to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for more security-related information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe page also includes a link to "Authentication Components" for further details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/latest/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.41.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.40.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.39.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.38.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.37.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.36.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.35.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.34.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.33.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.32.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.31.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.30.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.29.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.28.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.27.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.26.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.25.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.24.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.23.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.22.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.21.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.20.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.19.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.18.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.17.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.16.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.15.1/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.14.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.13.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.12.0/gkehub-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkehub/2.11.0/gkehub-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::gkehub_v1::GkeHubClient(\n google::cloud::gkehub_v1::MakeGkeHubConnection(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."]]