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::dataplex_v1::ContentServiceClient(
google::cloud::dataplex_v1::MakeContentServiceConnection(options));
}
Follow these links to find examples for other*Clientclasses:
[[["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, specifically within the context of the Dataplex service.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest release candidate is version 2.37.0-rc, and the content lists versions ranging from 2.37.0-rc down to 2.11.0 for the Dataplex API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe method for overriding credentials involves using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and providing service account key file details, as shown in the code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples are given on how to apply this service account override across the \u003ccode\u003eContentServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eDataplexServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003eMetadataServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e classes.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are encouraged to refer to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for further details on service account key management and the "Authentication Components" for further information.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.21.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/latest/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.41.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.40.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.39.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.38.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.37.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.36.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.35.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.34.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.33.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.32.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.31.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.30.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.29.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.28.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.27.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.26.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.25.1/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.24.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.23.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.22.1/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.21.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.20.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.19.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.18.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.17.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.16.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.15.1/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.14.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.13.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.12.0/dataplex-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.11.0/dataplex-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::dataplex_v1::ContentServiceClient(\n google::cloud::dataplex_v1::MakeContentServiceConnection(options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`dataplex_v1::ContentServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.21.0/dataplex_v1_1_1ContentServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`dataplex_v1::DataplexServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.21.0/dataplex_v1_1_1DataplexServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`dataplex_v1::MetadataServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/dataplex/2.21.0/dataplex_v1_1_1MetadataServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\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."]]