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::netapp_v1::NetAppClient(
google::cloud::netapp_v1::MakeNetAppConnection(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 a guide on how to override default authentication credentials when using client libraries to interact with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials (ADC), but users can override this by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided showing how to load a service account key file for explicit authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document also contains a list of versions ranging from 2.16.0 up to 2.37.0-rc, and the corresponding links for each version's documentation on overriding authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe recommended reading for more information includes the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and the "Authentication Components" section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.27.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/latest/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.41.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.40.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.39.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.38.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.37.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.36.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.35.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.34.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.33.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.32.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.31.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.30.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.29.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.28.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.27.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.26.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.25.1/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.24.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.23.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.22.1/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.21.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.20.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.19.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.18.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.17.0/netapp-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/netapp/2.16.0/netapp-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::netapp_v1::NetAppClient(\n google::cloud::netapp_v1::MakeNetAppConnection(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."]]