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::assuredworkloads_v1::AssuredWorkloadsServiceClient(
google::cloud::assuredworkloads_v1::
MakeAssuredWorkloadsServiceConnection(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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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 webpage documents the different versions of the Assured Workloads override authentication, ranging from version 2.37.0-rc as the latest, to version 2.11.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method uses Application Default Credentials, but these can be overridden for specific use cases.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAuthentication credentials can be overridden by providing the UnifiedCredentialsOption, such as explicitly loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eService account key management should adhere to best practices, as detailed in the provided guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Authentication Components documentation offers further details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects using factory functions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.13.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/latest/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.41.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.40.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.39.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.38.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.37.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.36.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.35.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.34.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.33.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.32.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.31.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.30.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.29.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.28.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.27.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.26.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.25.1/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.24.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.23.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.22.1/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.21.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.20.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.19.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.18.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.17.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.16.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.15.1/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.14.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.13.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.12.0/assuredworkloads-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/assuredworkloads/2.11.0/assuredworkloads-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::assuredworkloads_v1::AssuredWorkloadsServiceClient(\n google::cloud::assuredworkloads_v1::\n MakeAssuredWorkloadsServiceConnection(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."]]