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::vmmigration_v1::VmMigrationClient(
google::cloud::vmmigration_v1::MakeVmMigrationConnection(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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14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 lists various versions of the vmmigration documentation, ranging from version 2.11.0 up to the latest release candidate, 2.37.0-rc.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe content details how to override the default authentication credentials used by client libraries, which typically rely on Application Default Credentials.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can override authentication by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, demonstrated with an example of loading a service account key file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe example provided is easy to understand, and users are directed to the best practices guide for managing service account keys for further details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor more information on the factory functions to create \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects, the Authentication Components page is referenced.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,[]]