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::redis_v1::CloudRedisClient(
google::cloud::redis_v1::MakeCloudRedisConnection(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 page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud services, specifically within the context of Redis and C++.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe most recent version of the documentation available is 2.37.0-rc, and it includes a list of older versions dating back to 2.11.0, all concerning the override authentication process.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation demonstrates how to override the default authentication by using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and explicitly loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt is recommended to review the best practices for managing service account keys, as the provided example is simplified for educational purposes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation also references additional resources for \u003ccode\u003eAuthentication Components\u003c/code\u003e to learn more about the \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.12.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/latest/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.41.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.40.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.39.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.38.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.37.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.36.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.35.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.34.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.33.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.32.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.31.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.30.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.29.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.28.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.27.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.26.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.25.1/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.24.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.23.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.22.1/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.21.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.20.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.19.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.18.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.17.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.16.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.15.1/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.14.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.13.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.12.0/redis-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/redis/2.11.0/redis-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::redis_v1::CloudRedisClient(\n google::cloud::redis_v1::MakeCloudRedisConnection(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."]]