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 latest version available is \u003ccode\u003e2.37.0-rc\u003c/code\u003e, and the page includes documentation for versions down to \u003ccode\u003e2.10.1\u003c/code\u003e related to overriding authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAuthentication credentials can be overridden by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and loading a service account key file, as demonstrated in the provided code example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eExamples for overriding authentication are available for various client classes, such as \u003ccode\u003ekms_inventory_v1::KeyDashboardServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003ekms_v1::KeyManagementServiceClient\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor best practices on managing service account keys, it's recommended to consult the linked guide from Google Cloud, or follow the link for more information about Authentication Components.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version latestkeyboard_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/latest/kms_inventory_v1_1_1KeyDashboardServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_inventory_v1::KeyTrackingServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/kms_inventory_v1_1_1KeyTrackingServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::AutokeyAdminClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/kms_v1_1_1AutokeyAdminClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::AutokeyClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/kms_v1_1_1AutokeyClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::EkmServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/kms_v1_1_1EkmServiceClient-service-account-snippet)\n- [`kms_v1::KeyManagementServiceClient`](/cpp/docs/reference/kms/latest/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."]]