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::iot_v1::DeviceManagerClient(
google::cloud::iot_v1::MakeDeviceManagerConnection(options));
}
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe client libraries typically use Application Default Credentials for Google Cloud Services authentication, but this default can be overridden.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can override default credentials by providing a \u003ccode\u003eUnifiedCredentialsOption\u003c/code\u003e, which allows for custom authentication methods.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided demonstrating how to explicitly load a service account key file for authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided code example is simplified for clarity, and it is recommended to review best practices for managing service account keys.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFurther details on creating \u003ccode\u003egoogle::cloud::Credentials\u003c/code\u003e objects can be found in the Authentication Components documentation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Version latestkeyboard_arrow_down\n\n- [2.15.0-rc (latest)](/cpp/docs/reference/iot/latest/iot-override-authentication)\n- [2.14.0](/cpp/docs/reference/iot/2.14.0/iot-override-authentication)\n- [2.13.0](/cpp/docs/reference/iot/2.13.0/iot-override-authentication)\n- [2.12.0](/cpp/docs/reference/iot/2.12.0/iot-override-authentication)\n- [2.11.0](/cpp/docs/reference/iot/2.11.0/iot-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::iot_v1::DeviceManagerClient(\n google::cloud::iot_v1::MakeDeviceManagerConnection(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."]]