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::connectors_v1::ConnectorsClient(
google::cloud::connectors_v1::MakeConnectorsConnection(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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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 document provides a reference for connectors and how to override authentication credentials using the C++ client library, covering a range of versions from 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe default authentication method for client libraries is Application Default Credentials, but you can override this by using the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can explicitly load a service account key file by providing the key file content to the \u003ccode\u003eMakeServiceAccountCredentials\u003c/code\u003e function.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more details on managing service account keys, you can consult the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe "Authentication Components" section provides further information on factory functions to create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version 2.33.0keyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.42.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/latest/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.41.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.41.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.40.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.40.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.39.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.39.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.38.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.38.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.37.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.37.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.36.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.36.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.35.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.35.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.34.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.34.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.33.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.33.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.32.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.32.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.31.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.31.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.30.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.30.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.29.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.29.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.28.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.28.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.27.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.27.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.26.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.26.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.25.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.25.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.24.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.24.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.23.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.23.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.22.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.22.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.21.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.21.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.20.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.20.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.19.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.19.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.18.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.18.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.17.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.17.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.16.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.16.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.15.1](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.15.1/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.14.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.13.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.12.0/connectors-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/connectors/2.11.0/connectors-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::connectors_v1::ConnectorsClient(\n google::cloud::connectors_v1::MakeConnectorsConnection(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."]]