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::gkeconnect_gateway_v1::GatewayControlClient(
google::cloud::gkeconnect_gateway_v1::MakeGatewayControlConnectionRest(
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 details how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries when interacting with Google Cloud Services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy default, client libraries utilize Application Default Credentials, but you can provide a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e to change this behavior.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example demonstrates how to explicitly load authentication credentials from a service account key file using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eRefer to the provided links for further information on authentication components and best practices for managing service account keys, as this is an example of a way to change the default.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe available versions for this content range from 2.29.0 up to 2.37.0-rc, with 2.37.0-rc being the latest version.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version latestkeyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/latest/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.41.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.40.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.39.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.38.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.37.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.36.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.35.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.34.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.33.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.32.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.31.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.30.0/gkeconnect-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/gkeconnect/2.29.0/gkeconnect-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::gkeconnect_gateway_v1::GatewayControlClient(\n google::cloud::gkeconnect_gateway_v1::MakeGatewayControlConnectionRest(\n 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."]]