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::optimization_v1::FleetRoutingClient(
google::cloud::optimization_v1::MakeFleetRoutingConnection(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\u003eThe page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials in the C++ client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, with a history of documented versions ranging back to 2.11.0, accessible through provided links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e can be used to specify credentials other than Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example demonstrates loading credentials from a service account key file using \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::MakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe user should refer to the provided links for more information on factory functions to create credentials objects, and best practices for managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.23.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/latest/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.41.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.40.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.39.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.38.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.37.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.36.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.35.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.34.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.33.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.32.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.31.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.30.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.29.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.28.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.27.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.26.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.25.1/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.24.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.23.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.22.1/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.21.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.20.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.19.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.18.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.17.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.16.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.15.1/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.14.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.13.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.12.0/optimization-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/optimization/2.11.0/optimization-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::optimization_v1::FleetRoutingClient(\n google::cloud::optimization_v1::MakeFleetRoutingConnection(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."]]