Unless otherwise configured, the client libraries use Application Default Credentials 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 The 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::advisorynotifications_v1::
AdvisoryNotificationsServiceClient(
google::cloud::advisorynotifications_v1::
MakeAdvisoryNotificationsServiceConnection(options));
}
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis page provides documentation for overriding default authentication credentials when using Google Cloud C++ client libraries, specifically through the use of \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version of the documentation is for version \u003ccode\u003e2.37.0-rc\u003c/code\u003e, and the page includes a historical list of prior versions ranging from \u003ccode\u003e2.36.0\u003c/code\u003e down to \u003ccode\u003e2.11.0\u003c/code\u003e for the documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided demonstrates how to explicitly load a service account key file to override the default credentials, utilizing \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e and the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are encouraged to review the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for security considerations, and can also reference "Authentication Components" for more information on authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.28.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/latest/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.41.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.40.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.39.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.38.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.37.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.36.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.35.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.34.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.33.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.32.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.31.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.30.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.29.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.28.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.27.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.26.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.25.1/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.24.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.23.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.22.1/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.21.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.20.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.19.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.18.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.17.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.16.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.15.1/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.14.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.13.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.12.0/advisorynotifications-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/advisorynotifications/2.11.0/advisorynotifications-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::advisorynotifications_v1::\n AdvisoryNotificationsServiceClient(\n google::cloud::advisorynotifications_v1::\n MakeAdvisoryNotificationsServiceConnection(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."]]