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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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\u003eThe latest release candidate version is 2.37.0-rc, and previous versions back to 2.11.0 are also available.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClient libraries primarily use Application Default Credentials for Google Cloud service authentication, but you can override this default as needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding the default authentication can be achieved using the UnifiedCredentialsOption, as demonstrated in the provided service account key file loading example.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor comprehensive insights into managing service account keys, refer to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more information about creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects you can consult the Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.36.0keyboard_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."]]