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::networksecurity_v1::NetworkSecurityClient(
google::cloud::networksecurity_v1::MakeNetworkSecurityConnection(
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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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 webpage provides documentation for various versions of the C++ Network Security client library, ranging from version 2.13.0 to 2.37.0-rc, with the latter being the latest.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content explains how to override the default authentication credentials, which use Application Default Credentials, by providing a UnifiedCredentialsOption.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided to illustrate loading a service account key file to override the default authentication credentials for the Google Cloud Network Security client.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are directed to the "Best practices for managing service account keys" guide for more detailed information on managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe documentation also points to the "Authentication Components" section for further information on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,[]]
