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::logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client(
google::cloud::logging_v2::MakeConfigServiceV2Connection(options));
}
Follow these links to find examples for other*Clientclasses:
[[["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 page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials in Google Cloud C++ client libraries, starting with version 2.17.0 and listing versions up to 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries typically use Application Default Credentials, but you can override this by employing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e with service account key files or other authentication methods.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided demonstrates how to load a service account key file to explicitly set authentication credentials using \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSpecific examples are available for \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::LoggingServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003elogging_v2::MetricsServiceV2Client\u003c/code\u003e demonstrating how to handle service accounts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor further information on managing service account keys and creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, consult the best practices guide and the authentication components section, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.17.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/latest/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.41.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.40.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.39.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.38.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.37.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.36.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.35.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.34.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.33.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.32.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.31.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.30.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.29.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.28.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.27.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.26.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.25.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.24.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.23.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.22.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.21.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.20.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.19.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.18.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.17.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.16.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.15.1/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.14.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.13.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.12.0/logging-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.11.0/logging-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::logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client(\n google::cloud::logging_v2::MakeConfigServiceV2Connection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`logging_v2::ConfigServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.17.0/logging_v2_1_1ConfigServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\n- [`logging_v2::LoggingServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.17.0/logging_v2_1_1LoggingServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\n- [`logging_v2::MetricsServiceV2Client`](/cpp/docs/reference/logging/2.17.0/logging_v2_1_1MetricsServiceV2Client-service-account-snippet)\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."]]