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::edgenetwork_v1::EdgeNetworkClient(
google::cloud::edgenetwork_v1::MakeEdgeNetworkConnection(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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe latest version available is 2.37.0-rc, with several previous versions also listed, ranging down to version 2.19.0.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOverriding authentication can be achieved by using \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e and providing credentials, such as from a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided uses a service account key file to override the default authentication, however it is recommended to consult the provided link for the best way to manage service accounts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor additional information on creating credentials objects you can consult the Authentication Components section via the link provided.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,[]]