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 when using Google Cloud client libraries, with version-specific information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and the content provides access to documentation spanning from that version down to 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation demonstrates overriding the default Application Default Credentials by explicitly loading a service account key file using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt highlights the usage of the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function to override authentication, specifically with the example of loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are directed to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for comprehensive details and the "Authentication Components" section for more information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.28.0keyboard_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."]]