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::secretmanager_v1::SecretManagerServiceClient(
google::cloud::secretmanager_v1::MakeSecretManagerServiceConnection(
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 2025-03-14 UTC."],[[["This webpage provides documentation for various versions of the Secret Manager service, ranging from version 2.10.1 up to the latest release candidate, 2.37.0-rc."],["The documentation details how to override default authentication credentials using `UnifiedCredentialsOption` and specifically demonstrates loading a service account key file for explicit authentication."],["The content references using [Application Default Credentials](https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication#adc) as the default method for authenticating with Google Cloud Services, and recommends overriding it where required."],["The example in the documentation illustrates a clear method for loading a service account key file, but also advises consulting [Best practices for managing service account keys](https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/best-practices-for-managing-service-account-keys) for more comprehensive practices."],["For further information on creating `google::cloud::Credentials` objects, readers are directed to the [Authentication Components](https://cloud.google.com/cpp/docs/reference/common/latest/group__guac.html) section."]]],[]]