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 document provides information on how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries to authenticate with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available is \u003ccode\u003e2.37.0-rc\u003c/code\u003e, with a range of other versions listed down to \u003ccode\u003e2.11.0\u003c/code\u003e, providing historical reference to how the override authentication works across different versions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding authentication can be accomplished using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, as demonstrated by an example which uses a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example given is relatively easy to understand, but it is suggested that you consult the "Best practices for managing service account keys" for more information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more details on factory functions to create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, refer to the Authentication Components section.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.17.0keyboard_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."]]