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::connectors_v1::ConnectorsClient(
google::cloud::connectors_v1::MakeConnectorsConnection(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 in the Google Cloud C++ client libraries, specifically for various connector versions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate is version 2.37.0-rc, with documentation provided for versions spanning from 2.11.0 to 2.36.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy default, the client libraries use Application Default Credentials (ADC) for authentication, but users can override this behavior.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override default authentication by providing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, as shown in the provided example of loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation directs users to consult the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for more information and provides a link to "Authentication Components" for detailed information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.19.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/latest/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.41.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.40.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.39.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.38.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.37.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.36.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.35.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.34.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.33.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.32.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.31.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.30.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.29.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.28.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.27.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.26.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.25.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.24.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.23.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.22.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.21.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.20.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.19.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.18.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.17.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.16.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.15.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.14.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.13.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.12.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.11.0/connectors-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::connectors_v1::ConnectorsClient(\n google::cloud::connectors_v1::MakeConnectorsConnection(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."]]