The documentation mentions GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS which implies that Goldengate (GG) uses application default credentials (ADC). We would like to use the VMs attached service account to authenticate, but when we remove all references to our service account key file we get the error:
path/to/bq-deps/clarity:/apps/oracle/product/ogg23.26.1/opt/DependencyDownloader/dependencies/bigquery_2.30.0/*. =ERROR 2026-04-07 12:33:19.991409 [main] - DWH-00026 Either property [gg.eventhandler.gcs.credentialsFile] or credential properties [gg.eventhandler.gcs.clientId], [gg.eventhandler.gcs.clientEmail], [gg.eventhandler.gcs.privateKeyId] and [gg.eventhandler.gcs.privateKey] must be set.
https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/goldengate/big-data/26/gadbd/google-bigquery.html#GUID-14C8C018-FCCC-4BFF-A531-392C57DB9D9F
Because of the use of GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS, I'm guessing that this is an unnecessary error and that the java libraries would be able to find the correct credentials if we could bypass the error.
Business purpose: Avoid creation of service account keys.