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::kms_inventory_v1::KeyDashboardServiceClient(
google::cloud::kms_inventory_v1::MakeKeyDashboardServiceConnection(
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 document details how to override the default Application Default Credentials (ADC) used by Google Cloud client libraries for authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e allows for the explicit loading of a service account key file to manage authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, and this page also provides links to documentation for versions ranging down to 2.10.1.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples of overriding authentication credentials are provided for various \u003ccode\u003e*Client\u003c/code\u003e classes, including \u003ccode\u003ekms_inventory_v1::KeyDashboardServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003ekms_v1::KeyManagementServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe document recommends checking the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide and also the "Authentication Components" guide for more details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.31.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.41.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.40.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.39.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.38.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.37.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.36.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.35.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.34.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.33.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.32.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.30.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.29.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.28.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.27.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.26.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.25.1/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.24.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.23.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.22.1/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.21.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.20.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.19.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.18.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.17.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.16.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.15.1/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.14.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.13.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.12.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.11.0/kms-override-authentication)\n- [2.10.1](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.10.1/kms-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::kms_inventory_v1::KeyDashboardServiceClient(\n google::cloud::kms_inventory_v1::MakeKeyDashboardServiceConnection(\n options));\n }\n\nFollow these links to find examples for other `*Client` classes:\n\n- [`kms_inventory_v1::KeyDashboardServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_inventory_v1_1_1KeyDashboardServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_inventory_v1::KeyTrackingServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_inventory_v1_1_1KeyTrackingServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::AutokeyAdminClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_v1_1_1AutokeyAdminClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::AutokeyClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_v1_1_1AutokeyClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::EkmServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_v1_1_1EkmServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::KeyManagementServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/2.31.0/kms_v1_1_1KeyManagementServiceClient-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."]]