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::vmmigration_v1::VmMigrationClient(
google::cloud::vmmigration_v1::MakeVmMigrationConnection(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\u003eThe webpage provides documentation for various versions of the vmmigration component, ranging from version 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate, 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest stable version available is 2.36.0, followed by a series of previous stable releases down to version 2.11.0 for those looking for specific older versions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content details how to override default authentication using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, which allows explicitly loading a service account key file for Google Cloud services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe authentication mechanism for the client libraries will default to Application Default Credentials, unless it is configured otherwise by the user.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation section includes links to more detailed information on authentication components and best practices for managing service account keys, aiding users who need to set up or manage their credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.27.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/latest/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.41.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.40.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.39.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.38.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.37.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.36.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.35.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.34.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.33.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.32.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.31.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.30.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.29.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.28.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.27.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.26.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.25.1/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.24.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.23.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.22.1/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.21.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.20.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.19.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.18.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.17.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.16.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.15.1/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.14.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.13.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.12.0/vmmigration-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/vmmigration/2.11.0/vmmigration-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::vmmigration_v1::VmMigrationClient(\n google::cloud::vmmigration_v1::MakeVmMigrationConnection(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."]]