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diff --git a/docs/FAQ b/docs/FAQ new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bed125e50 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/FAQ @@ -0,0 +1,1382 @@ +Updated: October 6, 2010 (http://curl.haxx.se/docs/faq.html) + _ _ ____ _ + ___| | | | _ \| | + / __| | | | |_) | | + | (__| |_| | _ <| |___ + \___|\___/|_| \_\_____| + +FAQ + + 1. Philosophy + 1.1 What is cURL? + 1.2 What is libcurl? + 1.3 What is curl not? + 1.4 When will you make curl do XXXX ? + 1.5 Who makes curl? + 1.6 What do you get for making curl? + 1.7 What about CURL from curl.com? + 1.8 I have a problem who do I mail? + 1.9 Where do I buy commercial support for curl? + 1.10 How many are using curl? + 1.11 Why don't you update ca-bundle.crt + 1.12 I have a problem who can I chat with? + 1.13 curl's ECCN number? + 1.14 How do I submit my patch? + + 2. Install Related Problems + 2.1 configure doesn't find OpenSSL even when it is installed + 2.1.1 native linker doesn't find OpenSSL + 2.1.2 only the libssl lib is missing + 2.2 Does curl work/build with other SSL libraries? + 2.3 Where can I find a copy of LIBEAY32.DLL? + 2.4 Does curl support SOCKS (RFC 1928) ? + + 3. Usage Problems + 3.1 curl: (1) SSL is disabled, https: not supported + 3.2 How do I tell curl to resume a transfer? + 3.3 Why doesn't my posting using -F work? + 3.4 How do I tell curl to run custom FTP commands? + 3.5 How can I disable the Pragma: nocache header? + 3.6 Does curl support ASP, XML, XHTML or HTML version Y? + 3.7 Can I use curl to delete/rename a file through FTP? + 3.8 How do I tell curl to follow HTTP redirects? + 3.9 How do I use curl in my favorite programming language? + 3.10 What about SOAP, WebDAV, XML-RPC or similar protocols over HTTP? + 3.11 How do I POST with a different Content-Type? + 3.12 Why do FTP specific features over HTTP proxy fail? + 3.13 Why does my single/double quotes fail? + 3.14 Does curl support Javascript or PAC (automated proxy config)? + 3.15 Can I do recursive fetches with curl? + 3.16 What certificates do I need when I use SSL? + 3.17 How do I list the root dir of an FTP server? + 3.18 Can I use curl to send a POST/PUT and not wait for a response? + 3.19 How do I get HTTP from a host using a specific IP address? + + 4. Running Problems + 4.1 Problems connecting to SSL servers. + 4.2 Why do I get problems when I use & or % in the URL? + 4.3 How can I use {, }, [ or ] to specify multiple URLs? + 4.4 Why do I get downloaded data even though the web page doesn't exist? + 4.5 Why do I get return code XXX from a HTTP server? + 4.5.1 "400 Bad Request" + 4.5.2 "401 Unauthorized" + 4.5.3 "403 Forbidden" + 4.5.4 "404 Not Found" + 4.5.5 "405 Method Not Allowed" + 4.5.6 "301 Moved Permanently" + 4.6 Can you tell me what error code 142 means? + 4.7 How do I keep user names and passwords secret in Curl command lines? + 4.8 I found a bug! + 4.9 Curl can't authenticate to the server that requires NTLM? + 4.10 My HTTP request using HEAD, PUT or DELETE doesn't work! + 4.11 Why does my HTTP range requests return the full document? + 4.12 Why do I get "certificate verify failed" ? + 4.13 Why is curl -R on Windows one hour off? + 4.14 Redirects work in browser but not with curl! + 4.15 FTPS doesn't work + 4.16 My HTTP POST or PUT requests are slow! + 4.17 Non-functional connect timeouts on Windows + 4.18 file:// URLs containing drive letters (Windows, NetWare) + 4.19 Why doesn't cURL return an error when the network cable is unplugged? + + 5. libcurl Issues + 5.1 Is libcurl thread-safe? + 5.2 How can I receive all data into a large memory chunk? + 5.3 How do I fetch multiple files with libcurl? + 5.4 Does libcurl do Winsock initing on win32 systems? + 5.5 Does CURLOPT_WRITEDATA and CURLOPT_READDATA work on win32 ? + 5.6 What about Keep-Alive or persistent connections? + 5.7 Link errors when building libcurl on Windows! + 5.8 libcurl.so.X: open failed: No such file or directory + 5.9 How does libcurl resolve host names? + 5.10 How do I prevent libcurl from writing the response to stdout? + 5.11 How do I make libcurl not receive the whole HTTP response? + 5.12 Can I make libcurl fake or hide my real IP address? + 5.13 How do I stop an ongoing transfer? + 5.14 Using C++ non-static functions for callbacks? + 5.15 How do I get an FTP directory listing? + + 6. License Issues + 6.1 I have a GPL program, can I use the libcurl library? + 6.2 I have a closed-source program, can I use the libcurl library? + 6.3 I have a BSD licensed program, can I use the libcurl library? + 6.4 I have a program that uses LGPL libraries, can I use libcurl? + 6.5 Can I modify curl/libcurl for my program and keep the changes secret? + 6.6 Can you please change the curl/libcurl license to XXXX? + 6.7 What are my obligations when using libcurl in my commercial apps? + + 7. PHP/CURL Issues + 7.1 What is PHP/CURL? + 7.2 Who write PHP/CURL? + 7.3 Can I perform multiple requests using the same handle? + +============================================================================== + +1. Philosophy + + 1.1 What is cURL? + + cURL is the name of the project. The name is a play on 'Client for URLs', + originally with URL spelled in uppercase to make it obvious it deals with + URLs. The fact it can also be pronounced 'see URL' also helped, it works as + an abbreviation for "Client URL Request Library" or why not the recursive + version: "Curl URL Request Library". + + The cURL project produces two products: + + libcurl + + A free and easy-to-use client-side URL transfer library, supporting DICT, + FILE, FTP, FTPS, GOPHER, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, IMAPS, LDAP, LDAPS, POP3, + POP3S, RTMP, RTSP, SCP, SFTP, SMTP, SMTPS, TELNET and TFTP. + + libcurl supports HTTPS certificates, HTTP POST, HTTP PUT, FTP uploading, + kerberos, HTTP form based upload, proxies, cookies, user+password + authentication, file transfer resume, http proxy tunneling and more! + + libcurl is highly portable, it builds and works identically on numerous + platforms, including Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Darwin, HPUX, + IRIX, AIX, Tru64, Linux, UnixWare, HURD, Windows, Amiga, OS/2, BeOs, Mac + OS X, Ultrix, QNX, OpenVMS, RISC OS, Novell NetWare, DOS, Symbian, OSF, + Android, Minix, IBM TPF and more... + + libcurl is free, thread-safe, IPv6 compatible, feature rich, well + supported and fast. + + curl + + A command line tool for getting or sending files using URL syntax. + + Since curl uses libcurl, curl supports the same wide range of common + Internet protocols that libcurl does. + + We pronounce curl and cURL with an initial k sound: [kurl]. + + There are numerous sub-projects and related projects that also use the word + curl in the project names in various combinations, but you should take + notice that this FAQ is directed at the command-line tool named curl (and + libcurl the library), and may therefore not be valid for other curl-related + projects. (There is however a small section for the PHP/CURL in this FAQ.) + + 1.2 What is libcurl? + + libcurl is a reliable and portable library which provides you with an easy + interface to a range of common Internet protocols. + + You can use libcurl for free in your application, be it open source, + commercial or closed-source. + + libcurl is most probably the most portable, most powerful and most often + used C-based multi-platform file transfer library on this planet - be it + open source or commercial. + + 1.3 What is curl not? + + Curl is not a wget clone. That is a common misconception. Never, during + curl's development, have we intended curl to replace wget or compete on its + market. Curl is targeted at single-shot file transfers. + + Curl is not a web site mirroring program. If you want to use curl to mirror + something: fine, go ahead and write a script that wraps around curl to make + it reality (like curlmirror.pl does). + + Curl is not an FTP site mirroring program. Sure, get and send FTP with curl + but if you want systematic and sequential behavior you should write a + script (or write a new program that interfaces libcurl) and do it. + + Curl is not a PHP tool, even though it works perfectly well when used from + or with PHP (when using the PHP/CURL module). + + Curl is not a program for a single operating system. Curl exists, compiles, + builds and runs under a wide range of operating systems, including all + modern Unixes (and a bunch of older ones too), Windows, Amiga, BeOS, OS/2, + OS X, QNX etc. + + 1.4 When will you make curl do XXXX ? + + We love suggestions of what to change in order to make curl and libcurl + better. We do however believe in a few rules when it comes to the future of + curl: + + * Curl -- the command line tool -- is to remain a non-graphical command line + tool. If you want GUIs or fancy scripting capabilities, you should look + for another tool that uses libcurl. + + * We do not add things to curl that other small and available tools already + do very fine at the side. Curl's output is fine to pipe into another + program or redirect to another file for the next program to interpret. + + * We focus on protocol related issues and improvements. If you wanna do more + magic with the supported protocols than curl currently does, chances are + big we will agree. If you wanna add more protocols, we may very well + agree. + + * If you want someone else to make all the work while you wait for us to + implement it for you, that is not a very friendly attitude. We spend a + considerable time already on maintaining and developing curl. In order to + get more out of us, you should consider trading in some of your time and + efforts in return. + + * If you write the code, chances are bigger that it will get into curl + faster. + + 1.5 Who makes curl? + + curl and libcurl are not made by any single individual. Daniel Stenberg is + project leader and main developer, but other persons' submissions are + important and crucial. Anyone can contribute and post their changes and + improvements and have them inserted in the main sources (of course on the + condition that developers agree on that the fixes are good). + + The full list of all contributors is found in the docs/THANKS file. + + curl is developed by a community, with Daniel at the wheel. + + 1.6 What do you get for making curl? + + Project cURL is entirely free and open. No person gets paid for developing + (lib)curl on full or even part time. We do this voluntarily on our spare + time. Occasionally companies pay individual developers to work on curl, but + that's up to each company and developer. It is not controlled by nor + supervised in any way by the project. + + We still get help from companies. Haxx provides web site, bandwidth, mailing + lists etc and sourceforge.net hosts project services we take advantage from, + like the bug tracker. Also again, some companies have sponsored certain + parts of the development in the past and I hope some will continue to do so + in the future. + + If you want to support our project, consider a donation or a banner-program + or even better: by helping us coding, documenting, testing etc. + + 1.7 What about CURL from curl.com? + + During the summer 2001, curl.com was busy advertising their client-side + programming language for the web, named CURL. + + We are in no way associated with curl.com or their CURL programming + language. + + Our project name curl has been in effective use since 1998. We were not the + first computer related project to use the name "curl" and do not claim any + first-hand rights to the name. + + We recognize that we will be living in parallel with curl.com and wish them + every success. + + 1.8 I have a problem who do I mail? + + Please do not mail any single individual unless you really need to. Keep + curl-related questions on a suitable mailing list. All available mailing + lists are listed in the MANUAL document and online at + http://curl.haxx.se/mail/ + + Keeping curl-related questions and discussions on mailing lists allows + others to join in and help, to share their ideas, contribute their + suggestions and spread their wisdom. Keeping discussions on public mailing + lists also allows for others to learn from this (both current and future + users thanks to the web based archives of the mailing lists), thus saving us + from having to repeat ourselves even more. Thanks for respecting this. + + If you have found or simply suspect a security problem in curl or libcurl, + mail curl-security at haxx.se (closed list of receivers, mails are not + disclosed) and tell. Then we can produce a fix in a timely manner before the + flaw is announced to the world, thus lessen the impact the problem will have + on existing users. + + 1.9 Where do I buy commercial support for curl? + + curl is fully open source. It means you can hire any skilled engineer to fix + your curl-related problems. + + We list available alternatives on the curl web site: + http://curl.haxx.se/support.html + + 1.10 How many are using curl? + + It is impossible to tell. + + We don't know how many users that knowingly have installed and use curl. + + We don't know how many users that use curl without knowing that they are in + fact using it. + + We don't know how many users that downloaded or installed curl and then + never use it. + + Some facts to use as input to the math: + + curl packages are downloaded from the curl.haxx.se and mirrors over a + million times per year. curl is installed by default with most Linux + distributions. curl is installed by default with Mac OS X. curl and libcurl + as used by numerous applications that include libcurl binaries in their + distribution packages (like Adobe Acrobat Reader and Google Earth). + + More than a hundred known named companies use curl in commercial + environments and products and more than a hundred known named open source + projects depend on (lib)curl. + + In a poll on the curl web site mid-2005, more than 50% of the 300+ answers + estimated a user base of one million users or more. + + In March 2005, the "Linux Counter project" estimated a total Linux user base + of some 29 millions, while Netcraft detected some 4 million "active" Linux + based web servers. A guess is that a fair amount of these Linux + installations have curl installed. + + The Debian project maintains statistics on packages installed by people + who have voluntarily run their package counting application. In mid-2010, + libcurl3 was installed on over 55000 such systems (62% of reporting systems) + and was one of the 320 most popular installed packages (out of about 107000 + possible packages). + + All this taken together, there is no doubt that there are millions of + (lib)curl users. + + http://curl.haxx.se/docs/companies.html + http://curl.haxx.se/docs/programs.html + http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/using/apps.html + http://counter.li.org/estimates.php + http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/03/14/fedora_makes_rapid_progress.html + http://qa.debian.org/popcon.php?package=curl + + 1.11 Why don't you update ca-bundle.crt + + The ca-bundle.crt file that used to be bundled with curl was very outdated + (it being last modified year 2000 should tell) and must be replaced with a + much more modern and up-to-date version by anyone who wants to verify peers + anyway. It is no longer provided, the last curl release that shipped it was + curl 7.18.0. + + In the cURL project we've decided not to attempt to keep this file updated + (or even present anymore) since deciding what to add to a ca cert bundle is + an undertaking we've not been ready to accept, and the one we can get from + Mozilla is perfectly fine so there's no need to duplicate that work. + + Today, with many services performed over HTTPS, every operating system + should come with a default ca cert bundle that can be deemed somewhat + trustworthy and that collection (if reasonably updated) should be deemed to + be a lot better than a private curl version. + + If you want the most recent collection of ca certs that Mozilla Firefox + uses, we recommend that you extract the collection yourself from Mozilla + Firefox (by running 'make ca-bundle), or by using our online service setup + for this purpose: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/caextract.html + + 1.12 I have a problem who can I chat with? + + There's a bunch of friendly people hanging out in the #curl channel on the + IRC network irc.freenode.net. If you're polite and nice, chances are big + that you can get -- or provide -- help instantly. + + 1.13 curl's ECCN number? + + The US government restricts exports of software that contains or uses + cryptography. When doing so, the Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) + is used to identify the level of export control etc. + + ASF gives a good explanation at http://www.apache.org/dev/crypto.html + + We believe curl's number might be ECCN 5D002, another possibility is + 5D992. It seems necessary to write them, asking to confirm. + + Comprehensible explanations of the meaning of such numbers and how to + obtain them (resp.) are here + + http://www.bis.doc.gov/licensing/exportingbasics.htm + http://www.bis.doc.gov/licensing/do_i_needaneccn.html + + An incomprehensible description of the two numbers above is here + http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/pdf/ccl5-pt2.pdf + + 1.14 How do I submit my patch? + + When you have made a patch or a change of whatever sort, and want to submit + that to the project, there are a few different ways we prefer: + + o send a patch to the curl-library mailing list. We're many subscribers + there and there are lots of people who can review patches, comment on them + and "receive" them properly. + + o if your patch changes or fixes a bug, you can also opt to submit a bug + report in the bug tracker and attach your patch there. There are less + people involved there. + + Lots of more details are found in the CONTRIBUTE and INTERNALS docs. + + +2. Install Related Problems + + 2.1 configure doesn't find OpenSSL even when it is installed + + This may be because of several reasons. + + 2.1.1 native linker doesn't find openssl + + Affected platforms: + Solaris (native cc compiler) + HPUX (native cc compiler) + SGI IRIX (native cc compiler) + SCO UNIX (native cc compiler) + + When configuring curl, I specify --with-ssl. OpenSSL is installed in + /usr/local/ssl Configure reports SSL in /usr/local/ssl, but fails to find + CRYPTO_lock in -lcrypto + + Cause: The cc for this test places the -L/usr/local/ssl/lib AFTER + -lcrypto, so ld can't find the library. This is due to a bug in the GNU + autoconf tool. + + Workaround: Specifying "LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/ssl/lib" in front of + ./configure places the -L/usr/local/ssl/lib early enough in the command + line to make things work + + 2.1.2 only the libssl lib is missing + + If all include files and the libcrypto lib is present, with only the + libssl being missing according to configure, this is mostly likely because + a few functions are left out from the libssl. + + If the function names missing include RSA or RSAREF you can be certain + that this is because libssl requires the RSA and RSAREF libs to build. + + See the INSTALL file section that explains how to add those libs to + configure. Make sure that you remove the config.cache file before you + rerun configure with the new flags. + + 2.2 Does curl work/build with other SSL libraries? + + Curl has been written to use OpenSSL, GnuTLS, yassl, NSS or PolarSSL, + although there should not be many problems using a different library. If + anyone does "port" curl to use a different SSL library, we are of course + very interested in getting the patch! + + 2.3 Where can I find a copy of LIBEAY32.DLL? + + That is an OpenSSL binary built for Windows. + + Curl uses OpenSSL to do the SSL stuff. The LIBEAY32.DLL is what curl needs + on a windows machine to do https://. Check out the curl web site to find + accurate and up-to-date pointers to recent OpenSSL DLLs and other binary + packages. + + 2.4 Does curl support SOCKS (RFC 1928) ? + + Yes, SOCKS 4 and 5 are supported. + + +3. Usage problems + + 3.1 curl: (1) SSL is disabled, https: not supported + + If you get this output when trying to get anything from a https:// server, + it means that the configure script couldn't find all libs and include files + it requires for SSL to work. If the configure script fails to find them, + curl is simply built without SSL support. + + To get the https:// support into a curl that was previously built but that + reports that https:// is not supported, you should dig through the document + and logs and check out why the configure script doesn't find the SSL libs + and/or include files. + + Also, check out the other paragraph in this FAQ labelled "configure doesn't + find OpenSSL even when it is installed". + + 3.2 How do I tell curl to resume a transfer? + + Curl supports resumed transfers both ways on both FTP and HTTP. + + Try the -C option. + + 3.3 Why doesn't my posting using -F work? + + You can't simply use -F or -d at your choice. The web server that will + receive your post assumes one of the formats. If the form you're trying to + "fake" sets the type to 'multipart/form-data', then and only then you must + use the -F type. In all the most common cases, you should use -d which then + causes a posting with the type 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'. + + This is described in some detail in the MANUAL and TheArtOfHttpScripting + documents, and if you don't understand it the first time, read it again + before you post questions about this to the mailing list. Also, try reading + through the mailing list archives for old postings and questions regarding + this. + + 3.4 How do I tell curl to run custom FTP commands? + + You can tell curl to perform optional commands both before and/or after a + file transfer. Study the -Q/--quote option. + + Since curl is used for file transfers, you don't use curl to just perform + FTP commands without transferring anything. Therefore you must always specify + a URL to transfer to/from even when doing custom FTP commands. + + 3.5 How can I disable the Pragma: nocache header? + + You can change all internally generated headers by adding a replacement with + the -H/--header option. By adding a header with empty contents you safely + disable that one. Use -H "Pragma:" to disable that specific header. + + 3.6 Does curl support ASP, XML, XHTML or HTML version Y? + + To curl, all contents are alike. It doesn't matter how the page was + generated. It may be ASP, PHP, Perl, shell-script, SSI or plain + HTML-files. There's no difference to curl and it doesn't even know what kind + of language that generated the page. + + See also item 3.14 regarding javascript. + + 3.7 Can I use curl to delete/rename a file through FTP? + + Yes. You specify custom FTP commands with -Q/--quote. + + One example would be to delete a file after you have downloaded it: + + curl -O ftp://download.com/coolfile -Q '-DELE coolfile' + + or rename a file after upload: + + curl -T infile ftp://upload.com/dir/ -Q "-RNFR infile" -Q "-RNTO newname" + + 3.8 How do I tell curl to follow HTTP redirects? + + Curl does not follow so-called redirects by default. The Location: header + that informs the client about this is only interpreted if you're using the + -L/--location option. As in: + + curl -L http://redirector.com + + Not all redirects are HTTP ones, see 4.14 + + 3.9 How do I use curl in my favorite programming language? + + There exist many language interfaces/bindings for curl that integrates it + better with various languages. If you are fluid in a script language, you + may very well opt to use such an interface instead of using the command line + tool. + + Find out more about which languages that support curl directly, and how to + install and use them, in the libcurl section of the curl web site: + http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/ + + In October 2009, there were interfaces available for the following + languages: Ada95, Basic, C, C++, Ch, Cocoa, D, Dylan, Eiffel, Euphoria, + Ferite, Gambas, glib/GTK+, Haskell, ILE/RPG, Java, Lisp, Lua, Mono, .NET, + Object-Pascal, O'Caml, Pascal, Perl, PHP, PostgreSQL, Python, R, Rexx, Ruby, + Scheme, S-Lang, Smalltalk, SP-Forth, SPL, Tcl, Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro, + Q, wxwidgets and XBLite. By the time you read this, additional ones may have + appeared! + + 3.10 What about SOAP, WebDAV, XML-RPC or similar protocols over HTTP? + + Curl adheres to the HTTP spec, which basically means you can play with *any* + protocol that is built on top of HTTP. Protocols such as SOAP, WEBDAV and + XML-RPC are all such ones. You can use -X to set custom requests and -H to + set custom headers (or replace internally generated ones). + + Using libcurl is of course just as fine and you'd just use the proper + library options to do the same. + + 3.11 How do I POST with a different Content-Type? + + You can always replace the internally generated headers with -H/--header. + To make a simple HTTP POST with text/xml as content-type, do something like: + + curl -d "datatopost" -H "Content-Type: text/xml" [URL] + + 3.12 Why do FTP specific features over HTTP proxy fail? + + Because when you use a HTTP proxy, the protocol spoken on the network will + be HTTP, even if you specify a FTP URL. This effectively means that you + normally can't use FTP specific features such as FTP upload and FTP quote + etc. + + There is one exception to this rule, and that is if you can "tunnel through" + the given HTTP proxy. Proxy tunneling is enabled with a special option (-p) + and is generally not available as proxy admins usually disable tunneling to + other ports than 443 (which is used for HTTPS access through proxies). + + 3.13 Why does my single/double quotes fail? + + To specify a command line option that includes spaces, you might need to + put the entire option within quotes. Like in: + + curl -d " with spaces " url.com + + or perhaps + + curl -d ' with spaces ' url.com + + Exactly what kind of quotes and how to do this is entirely up to the shell + or command line interpreter that you are using. For most unix shells, you + can more or less pick either single (') or double (") quotes. For + Windows/DOS prompts I believe you're forced to use double (") quotes. + + Please study the documentation for your particular environment. Examples in + the curl docs will use a mix of both these ones as shown above. You must + adjust them to work in your environment. + + Remember that curl works and runs on more operating systems than most single + individuals have ever tried. + + 3.14 Does curl support Javascript or PAC (automated proxy config)? + + Many web pages do magic stuff using embedded Javascript. Curl and libcurl + have no built-in support for that, so it will be treated just like any other + contents. + + .pac files are a netscape invention and are sometimes used by organizations + to allow them to differentiate which proxies to use. The .pac contents is + just a Javascript program that gets invoked by the browser and that returns + the name of the proxy to connect to. Since curl doesn't support Javascript, + it can't support .pac proxy configuration either. + + Some workarounds usually suggested to overcome this Javascript dependency: + + - Depending on the Javascript complexity, write up a script that + translates it to another language and execute that. + + - Read the Javascript code and rewrite the same logic in another language. + + - Implement a Javascript interpreter, people have successfully used the + Mozilla Javascript engine in the past. + + - Ask your admins to stop this, for a static proxy setup or similar. + + 3.15 Can I do recursive fetches with curl? + + No. curl itself has no code that performs recursive operations, such as + those performed by wget and similar tools. + + There exist wrapper scripts with that functionality (for example the + curlmirror perl script), and you can write programs based on libcurl to do + it, but the command line tool curl itself cannot. + + 3.16 What certificates do I need when I use SSL? + + There are three different kinds of "certificates" to keep track of when we + talk about using SSL-based protocols (HTTPS or FTPS) using curl or libcurl. + + - Client certificate. The server you communicate may require that you can + provide this in order to prove that you actually are who you claim to be. + If the server doesn't require this, you don't need a client certificate. + + A client certificate is always used together with a private key, and the + private key has a pass phrase that protects it. + + - Server certificate. The server you communicate with has a server + certificate. You can and should verify this certificate to make sure that + you are truly talking to the real server and not a server impersonating + it. + + - Certificate Authority certificate ("CA cert"). You often have several CA + certs in a CA cert bundle that can be used to verify a server certificate + that was signed by one of the authorities in the bundle. curl does not + come with a CA cert bundle but most curl installs provide one. You can + also override the default. + + The server certificate verification process is made by using a Certificate + Authority certificate ("CA cert") that was used to sign the server + certificate. Server certificate verification is enabled by default in curl + and libcurl and is often the reason for problems as explained in FAQ entry + 4.12 and the SSLCERTS document + (http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html). Server certificates that are + "self-signed" or otherwise signed by a CA that you do not have a CA cert + for, cannot be verified. If the verification during a connect fails, you + are refused access. You then need to explicitly disable the verification + to connect to the server. + + 3.17 How do I list the root dir of an FTP server? + + There are two ways. The way defined in the RFC is to use an encoded slash + in the first path part. List the "/tmp" dir like this: + + curl ftp://ftp.sunet.se/%2ftmp/ + + or the not-quite-kosher-but-more-readable way, by simply starting the path + section of the URL with a slash: + + curl ftp://ftp.sunet.se//tmp/ + + 3.18 Can I use curl to send a POST/PUT and not wait for a response? + + No. + + But you could easily write your own program using libcurl to do such stunts. + + 3.19 How do I get HTTP from a host using a specific IP address? + + For example, you may be trying out a web site installation that isn't yet in + the DNS. Or you have a site using multiple IP addresses for a given host + name and you want to address a specific one out of the set. + + Set a custom Host: header that identifies the server name you want to reach + but use the target IP address in the URL: + + curl --header "Host: www.example.com" http://127.0.0.1/ + + +4. Running Problems + + 4.1 Problems connecting to SSL servers. + + It took a very long time before we could sort out why curl had problems to + connect to certain SSL servers when using SSLeay or OpenSSL v0.9+. The + error sometimes showed up similar to: + + 16570:error:1407D071:SSL routines:SSL2_READ:bad mac decode:s2_pkt.c:233: + + It turned out to be because many older SSL servers don't deal with SSLv3 + requests properly. To correct this problem, tell curl to select SSLv2 from + the command line (-2/--sslv2). + + There have also been examples where the remote server didn't like the SSLv2 + request and instead you had to force curl to use SSLv3 with -3/--sslv3. + + 4.2 Why do I get problems when I use & or % in the URL? + + In general unix shells, the & symbol is treated specially and when used, it + runs the specified command in the background. To safely send the & as a part + of a URL, you should quote the entire URL by using single (') or double (") + quotes around it. Similar problems can also occur on some shells with other + characters, including ?*!$~(){}<>\|;`. When in doubt, quote the URL. + + An example that would invoke a remote CGI that uses &-symbols could be: + + curl 'http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?text=yes&q=curl' + + In Windows, the standard DOS shell treats the %-symbol specially and you + need to use TWO %-symbols for each single one you want to use in the URL. + + Also note that if you want the literal %-symbol to be part of the data you + pass in a POST using -d/--data you must encode it as '%25' (which then also + needs the %-symbol doubled on Windows machines). + + 4.3 How can I use {, }, [ or ] to specify multiple URLs? + + Because those letters have a special meaning to the shell, and to be used in + a URL specified to curl you must quote them. + + An example that downloads two URLs (sequentially) would do: + + curl '{curl,www}.haxx.se' + + To be able to use those letters as actual parts of the URL (without using + them for the curl URL "globbing" system), use the -g/--globoff option: + + curl -g 'www.site.com/weirdname[].html' + + 4.4 Why do I get downloaded data even though the web page doesn't exist? + + Curl asks remote servers for the page you specify. If the page doesn't exist + at the server, the HTTP protocol defines how the server should respond and + that means that headers and a "page" will be returned. That's simply how + HTTP works. + + By using the --fail option you can tell curl explicitly to not get any data + if the HTTP return code doesn't say success. + + 4.5 Why do I get return code XXX from a HTTP server? + + RFC2616 clearly explains the return codes. This is a short transcript. Go + read the RFC for exact details: + + 4.5.1 "400 Bad Request" + + The request could not be understood by the server due to malformed + syntax. The client SHOULD NOT repeat the request without modifications. + + 4.5.2 "401 Unauthorized" + + The request requires user authentication. + + 4.5.3 "403 Forbidden" + + The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it. + Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be repeated. + + 4.5.4 "404 Not Found" + + The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No indication + is given of whether the condition is temporary or permanent. + + 4.5.5 "405 Method Not Allowed" + + The method specified in the Request-Line is not allowed for the resource + identified by the Request-URI. The response MUST include an Allow header + containing a list of valid methods for the requested resource. + + 4.5.6 "301 Moved Permanently" + + If you get this return code and an HTML output similar to this: + + <H1>Moved Permanently</H1> The document has moved <A + HREF="http://same_url_now_with_a_trailing_slash/">here</A>. + + it might be because you request a directory URL but without the trailing + slash. Try the same operation again _with_ the trailing URL, or use the + -L/--location option to follow the redirection. + + 4.6 Can you tell me what error code 142 means? + + All curl error codes are described at the end of the man page, in the + section called "EXIT CODES". + + Error codes that are larger than the highest documented error code means + that curl has exited due to a crash. This is a serious error, and we + appreciate a detailed bug report from you that describes how we could go + ahead and repeat this! + + 4.7 How do I keep user names and passwords secret in Curl command lines? + + This problem has two sides: + + The first part is to avoid having clear-text passwords in the command line + so that they don't appear in 'ps' outputs and similar. That is easily + avoided by using the "-K" option to tell curl to read parameters from a file + or stdin to which you can pass the secret info. curl itself will also + attempt to "hide" the given password by blanking out the option - this + doesn't work on all platforms. + + To keep the passwords in your account secret from the rest of the world is + not a task that curl addresses. You could of course encrypt them somehow to + at least hide them from being read by human eyes, but that is not what + anyone would call security. + + Also note that regular HTTP (using Basic authentication) and FTP passwords + are sent in clear across the network. All it takes for anyone to fetch them + is to listen on the network. Eavesdropping is very easy. Use more secure + authentication methods (like Digest, Negotiate or even NTLM) or consider the + SSL-based alternatives HTTPS and FTPS. + + 4.8 I found a bug! + + It is not a bug if the behavior is documented. Read the docs first. + Especially check out the KNOWN_BUGS file, it may be a documented bug! + + If it is a problem with a binary you've downloaded or a package for your + particular platform, try contacting the person who built the package/archive + you have. + + If there is a bug, read the BUGS document first. Then report it as described + in there. + + 4.9 Curl can't authenticate to the server that requires NTLM? + + NTLM support requires OpenSSL, GnuTLS, NSS or Microsoft Windows libraries at + build-time to provide this functionality. + + NTLM is a Microsoft proprietary protocol. Proprietary formats are evil. You + should not use such ones. + + 4.10 My HTTP request using HEAD, PUT or DELETE doesn't work! + + Many web servers allow or demand that the administrator configures the + server properly for these requests to work on the web server. + + Some servers seem to support HEAD only on certain kinds of URLs. + + To fully grasp this, try the documentation for the particular server + software you're trying to interact with. This is not anything curl can do + anything about. + + 4.11 Why does my HTTP range requests return the full document? + + Because the range may not be supported by the server, or the server may + choose to ignore it and return the full document anyway. + + 4.12 Why do I get "certificate verify failed" ? + + You invoke curl 7.10 or later to communicate on a https:// URL and get an + error back looking something similar to this: + + curl: (35) SSL: error:14090086:SSL routines: + SSL3_GET_SERVER_CERTIFICATE:certificate verify failed + + Then it means that curl couldn't verify that the server's certificate was + good. Curl verifies the certificate using the CA cert bundle that comes with + the curl installation. + + To disable the verification (which makes it act like curl did before 7.10), + use -k. This does however enable man-in-the-middle attacks. + + If you get this failure but are having a CA cert bundle installed and used, + the server's certificate is not signed by one of the CA's in the bundle. It + might for example be self-signed. You then correct this problem by obtaining + a valid CA cert for the server. Or again, decrease the security by disabling + this check. + + Details are also in the SSLCERTS file in the release archives, found online + here: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/sslcerts.html + + 4.13 Why is curl -R on Windows one hour off? + + During daylight savings time, when -R is used, curl will set a time that + appears one hour off. This happens due to a flaw in how Windows stores and + uses file modification times and it is not easily worked around. For details + on this problem, read this: http://www.codeproject.com/datetime/dstbugs.asp + + 4.14 Redirects work in browser but not with curl! + + curl supports HTTP redirects fine (see item 3.8). Browsers generally support + at least two other ways to perform directs that curl does not: + + - Meta tags. You can write a HTML tag that will cause the browser to + redirect to another given URL after a certain time. + + - Javascript. You can write a Javascript program embedded in a HTML page + that redirects the browser to another given URL. + + There is no way to make curl follow these redirects. You must either + manually figure out what the page is set to do, or you write a script that + parses the results and fetches the new URL. + + 4.15 FTPS doesn't work + + curl supports FTPS (sometimes known as FTP-SSL) both implicit and explicit + mode. + + When a URL is used that starts with FTPS://, curl assumes implicit SSL on + the control connection and will therefore immediately connect and try to + speak SSL. FTPS:// connections default to port 990. + + To use explicit FTPS, you use a FTP:// URL and the --ftp-ssl option (or one + of its related flavours). This is the most common method, and the one + mandated by RFC4217. This kind of connection then of course uses the + standard FTP port 21 by default. + + 4.16 My HTTP POST or PUT requests are slow! + + libcurl makes all POST and PUT requests (except for POST requests with a + very tiny request body) use the "Expect: 100-continue" header. This header + allows the server to deny the operation early so that libcurl can bail out + already before having to send any data. This is useful in authentication + cases and others. + + However, many servers don't implement the Expect: stuff properly and if the + server doesn't respond (positively) within 1 second libcurl will continue + and send off the data anyway. + + You can disable libcurl's use of the Expect: header the same way you disable + any header, using -H / CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, or by forcing it to use HTTP 1.0. + + 4.17 Non-functional connect timeouts + + In most Windows setups having a timeout longer than 21 seconds make no + difference, as it will only send 3 TCP SYN packets and no more. The second + packet sent three seconds after the first and the third six seconds after + the second. No more than three packets are sent, no matter how long the + timeout is set. + + See option TcpMaxConnectRetransmissions on this page: + http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B175523&x=6&y=7 + + Also, even on non-Windows systems there may run a firewall or anti-virus + software or similar that accepts the connection but does not actually do + anything else. This will make (lib)curl to consider the connection connected + and thus the connect timeout won't trigger. + + 4.18 file:// URLs containing drive letters (Windows, NetWare) + + When using cURL to try to download a local file, one might use a URL + in this format: + + file://D:/blah.txt + + You'll find that even if D:\blah.txt does exist, cURL returns a 'file + not found' error. + + According to RFC 1738 (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1738.html), + file:// URLs must contain a host component, but it is ignored by + most implementations. In the above example, 'D:' is treated as the + host component, and is taken away. Thus, cURL tries to open '/blah.txt'. + If your system is installed to drive C:, that will resolve to 'C:\blah.txt', + and if that doesn't exist you will get the not found error. + + To fix this problem, use file:// URLs with *three* leading slashes: + + file:///D:/blah.txt + + Alternatively, if it makes more sense, specify 'localhost' as the host + component: + + file://localhost/D:/blah.txt + + In either case, cURL should now be looking for the correct file. + + 4.19 Why doesn't cURL return an error when the network cable is unplugged? + + Unplugging the cable is not an error situation. The TCP/IP protocol stack + was designed to be fault tolerant, so even though there may be a physical + break somewhere the connection shouldn't be affected, just possibly + delayed. Eventually, the physical break will be fixed or the data will be + re-routed around the physical problem. + + In such cases, the TCP/IP stack is responsible for detecting when the + network connection is irrevocably lost. Since with some protocols it is + perfectly legal for the client wait indefinitely for data, the stack may + never report a problem, and even when it does, it can take up to 20 minutes + for it to detect an issue. The curl option --keepalive-time enables + keep-alive support in the TCP/IP stack which makes it periodically probe the + connection to make sure it is still available to send data. That should + reliably detect any TCP/IP network failure. + + But even that won't detect the network going down before the TCP/IP + connection is established (e.g. during a DNS lookup) or using protocols that + don't use TCP. To handle those situations, curl offers a number of timeouts + on its own. --speed-limit/--speed-time will abort if the data transfer rate + falls too low, and --connect-timeout and --max-time can be used to put an + overall timeout on the connection phase or the entire transfer. + + +5. libcurl Issues + + 5.1 Is libcurl thread-safe? + + Yes. + + We have written the libcurl code specifically adjusted for multi-threaded + programs. libcurl will use thread-safe functions instead of non-safe ones if + your system has such. + + If you use a OpenSSL-powered libcurl in a multi-threaded environment, you + need to provide one or two locking functions: + + http://www.openssl.org/docs/crypto/threads.html + + If you use a GnuTLS-powered libcurl in a multi-threaded environment, you + need to provide locking function(s) for libgcrypt (which is used by GnuTLS + for the crypto functions). + + http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/manual/html_node/Multi_002dthreaded-applications.html + + No special locking is needed with a NSS-powered libcurl. NSS is thread-safe. + + 5.2 How can I receive all data into a large memory chunk? + + [ See also the examples/getinmemory.c source ] + + You are in full control of the callback function that gets called every time + there is data received from the remote server. You can make that callback do + whatever you want. You do not have to write the received data to a file. + + One solution to this problem could be to have a pointer to a struct that you + pass to the callback function. You set the pointer using the + CURLOPT_WRITEDATA option. Then that pointer will be passed to the callback + instead of a FILE * to a file: + + /* imaginary struct */ + struct MemoryStruct { + char *memory; + size_t size; + }; + + /* imaginary callback function */ + size_t + WriteMemoryCallback(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, void *data) + { + size_t realsize = size * nmemb; + struct MemoryStruct *mem = (struct MemoryStruct *)data; + + mem->memory = (char *)realloc(mem->memory, mem->size + realsize + 1); + if (mem->memory) { + memcpy(&(mem->memory[mem->size]), ptr, realsize); + mem->size += realsize; + mem->memory[mem->size] = 0; + } + return realsize; + } + + 5.3 How do I fetch multiple files with libcurl? + + libcurl has excellent support for transferring multiple files. You should + just repeatedly set new URLs with curl_easy_setopt() and then transfer it + with curl_easy_perform(). The handle you get from curl_easy_init() is not + only reusable, but you're even encouraged to reuse it if you can, as that + will enable libcurl to use persistent connections. + + 5.4 Does libcurl do Winsock initialization on win32 systems? + + Yes, if told to in the curl_global_init() call. + + 5.5 Does CURLOPT_WRITEDATA and CURLOPT_READDATA work on win32 ? + + Yes, but you cannot open a FILE * and pass the pointer to a DLL and have + that DLL use the FILE * (as the DLL and the client application cannot access + each others' variable memory areas). If you set CURLOPT_WRITEDATA you must + also use CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION as well to set a function that writes the + file, even if that simply writes the data to the specified FILE *. + Similarly, if you use CURLOPT_READDATA you must also specify + CURLOPT_READFUNCTION. + + 5.6 What about Keep-Alive or persistent connections? + + curl and libcurl have excellent support for persistent connections when + transferring several files from the same server. Curl will attempt to reuse + connections for all URLs specified on the same command line/config file, and + libcurl will reuse connections for all transfers that are made using the + same libcurl handle. + + 5.7 Link errors when building libcurl on Windows! + + You need to make sure that your project, and all the libraries (both static + and dynamic) that it links against, are compiled/linked against the same run + time library. + + This is determined by the /MD, /ML, /MT (and their corresponding /M?d) + options to the command line compiler. /MD (linking against MSVCRT dll) seems + to be the most commonly used option. + + When building an application that uses the static libcurl library, you must + add -DCURL_STATICLIB to your CFLAGS. Otherwise the linker will look for + dynamic import symbols. If you're using Visual Studio, you need to instead + add CURL_STATICLIB in the "Preprocessor Definitions" section. + + If you get linker error like "unknown symbol __imp__curl_easy_init ..." you + have linked against the wrong (static) library. If you want to use the + libcurl.dll and import lib, you don't need any extra CFLAGS, but use one of + the import libraries below. These are the libraries produced by the various + lib/Makefile.* files: + + Target: static lib. import lib for libcurl*.dll. + ----------------------------------------------------------- + MingW: libcurl.a libcurldll.a + MSVC (release): libcurl.lib libcurl_imp.lib + MSVC (debug): libcurld.lib libcurld_imp.lib + Borland: libcurl.lib libcurl_imp.lib + + + 5.8 libcurl.so.X: open failed: No such file or directory + + This is an error message you might get when you try to run a program linked + with a shared version of libcurl and your run-time linker (ld.so) couldn't + find the shared library named libcurl.so.X. (Where X is the number of the + current libcurl ABI, typically 3 or 4). + + You need to make sure that ld.so finds libcurl.so.X. You can do that + multiple ways, and it differs somewhat between different operating systems, + but they are usually: + + * Add an option to the linker command line that specify the hard-coded path + the run-time linker should check for the lib (usually -R) + + * Set an environment variable (LD_LIBRARY_PATH for example) where ld.so + should check for libs + + * Adjust the system's config to check for libs in the directory where you've + put the dir (like Linux's /etc/ld.so.conf) + + 'man ld.so' and 'man ld' will tell you more details + + 5.9 How does libcurl resolve host names? + + libcurl supports a large a number of different name resolve functions. One + of them is picked at build-time and will be used unconditionally. Thus, if + you want to change name resolver function you must rebuild libcurl and tell + it to use a different function. + + - The non-ipv6 resolver that can use one out of four host name resolve calls + (depending on what your system supports): + + A - gethostbyname() + B - gethostbyname_r() with 3 arguments + C - gethostbyname_r() with 5 arguments + D - gethostbyname_r() with 6 arguments + + - The ipv6-resolver that uses getaddrinfo() + + - The c-ares based name resolver that uses the c-ares library for resolves. + Using this offers asynchronous name resolves but it currently has no IPv6 + support. + + - The threaded resolver (default option on Windows). It uses: + + A - gethostbyname() on plain ipv4 hosts + B - getaddrinfo() on ipv6-enabled hosts + + Also note that libcurl never resolves or reverse-lookups addresses given as + pure numbers, such as 127.0.0.1 or ::1. + + 5.10 How do I prevent libcurl from writing the response to stdout? + + libcurl provides a default built-in write function that writes received data + to stdout. Set the CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION to receive the data, or possibly + set CURLOPT_WRITEDATA to a different FILE * handle. + + 5.11 How do I make libcurl not receive the whole HTTP response? + + You make the write callback (or progress callback) return an error and + libcurl will then abort the transfer. + + 5.12 Can I make libcurl fake or hide my real IP address? + + No. libcurl operates on a higher level than so. Besides, faking IP address + would imply sending IP packages with a made-up source address, and then you + normally get a problem with intercepting the packages sent back as they + would then not be routed to you! + + If you use a proxy to access remote sites, the sites will not see your local + IP address but instead the address of the proxy. + + Also note that on many networks NATs or other IP-munging techniques are used + that makes you see and use a different IP address locally than what the + remote server will see you coming from. + + 5.13 How do I stop an ongoing transfer? + + There are several ways, but none of them are instant. There is no function + you can call from another thread or similar that will stop it immediately. + Instead you need to make sure that one of the callbacks you use return an + appropriate value that will stop the transfer. + + Suitable callbacks that you can do this with include the progress callback, + the read callback and the write callback. + + If you're using the multi interface, you also stop a transfer by removing + the particular easy handle from the multi stack. + + 5.14 Using C++ non-static functions for callbacks? + + libcurl is a C library, it doesn't know anything about C++ member functions. + + You can overcome this "limitation" with a relative ease using a static + member function that is passed a pointer to the class: + + // f is the pointer to your object. + static YourClass::staticFunction(void *buffer, size_t sz, size_t n, void *f) + { + // Call non-static member function. + static_cast<YourClass*>(f)->nonStaticFunction(); + } + + // This is how you pass pointer to the static function: + curl_easy_setopt(hcurl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, YourClass:staticFunction); + curl_easy_setopt(hcurl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, this); + + 5.15 How do I get an FTP directory listing? + + If you end the FTP URL you request with a slash, libcurl will provide you + with a directory listing of that given directory. You can also set + CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST to alter what exact listing command libcurl would use + to list the files. + + The follow-up question that tend to follow the previous one, is how a + program is supposed to parse the directory listing. How does it know what's + a file and what's a dir and what's a symlink etc. The harsh reality is that + FTP provides no such fine and easy-to-parse output. The output format FTP + servers respond to LIST commands are entirely at the server's own liking and + the NLST output doesn't reveal any types and in many cases don't even + include all the directory entries. Also, both LIST and NLST tend to hide + unix-style hidden files (those that start with a dot) by default so you need + to do "LIST -a" or similar to see them. + + The application thus needs to parse the LIST output. One such existing + list parser is available at http://cr.yp.to/ftpparse.html Versions of + libcurl since 7.21.0 also provide the ability to specify a wildcard to + download multiple files from one FTP directory. + + +6. License Issues + + Curl and libcurl are released under a MIT/X derivate license. The license is + very liberal and should not impose a problem for your project. This section + is just a brief summary for the cases we get the most questions. (Parts of + this section was much enhanced by Bjorn Reese.) + + We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. You should probably consult + one if you want true and accurate legal insights without our prejudice. Note + especially that this section concerns the libcurl license only; compiling in + features of libcurl that depend on other libraries (e.g. OpenSSL) may affect + the licensing obligations of your application. + + 6.1 I have a GPL program, can I use the libcurl library? + + Yes! + + Since libcurl may be distributed under the MIT/X derivate license, it can be + used together with GPL in any software. + + 6.2 I have a closed-source program, can I use the libcurl library? + + Yes! + + libcurl does not put any restrictions on the program that uses the library. + + 6.3 I have a BSD licensed program, can I use the libcurl library? + + Yes! + + libcurl does not put any restrictions on the program that uses the library. + + 6.4 I have a program that uses LGPL libraries, can I use libcurl? + + Yes! + + The LGPL license doesn't clash with other licenses. + + 6.5 Can I modify curl/libcurl for my program and keep the changes secret? + + Yes! + + The MIT/X derivate license practically allows you to do almost anything with + the sources, on the condition that the copyright texts in the sources are + left intact. + + 6.6 Can you please change the curl/libcurl license to XXXX? + + No. + + We have carefully picked this license after years of development and + discussions and a large amount of people have contributed with source code + knowing that this is the license we use. This license puts the restrictions + we want on curl/libcurl and it does not spread to other programs or + libraries that use it. It should be possible for everyone to use libcurl or + curl in their projects, no matter what license they already have in use. + + 6.7 What are my obligations when using libcurl in my commercial apps? + + Next to none. All you need to adhere to is the MIT-style license (stated in + the COPYING file) which basically says you have to include the copyright + notice in "all copies" and that you may not use the copyright holder's name + when promoting your software. + + You do not have to release any of your source code. + + You do not have to reveal or make public any changes to the libcurl source + code. + + You do not have to reveal or make public that you are using libcurl within + your app. + + As can be seen here: http://curl.haxx.se/docs/companies.html and + elsewhere, more and more companies are discovering the power + of libcurl and take advantage of it even in commercial environments. + + +7. PHP/CURL Issues + + 7.1 What is PHP/CURL? + + The module for PHP that makes it possible for PHP programs to access curl- + functions from within PHP. + + In the cURL project we call this module PHP/CURL to differentiate it from + curl the command line tool and libcurl the library. The PHP team however + does not refer to it like this (for unknown reasons). They call it plain + CURL (often using all caps) or sometimes ext/curl, but both cause much + confusion to users which in turn gives us a higher question load. + + 7.2 Who write PHP/CURL? + + PHP/CURL is a module that comes with the regular PHP package. It depends and + uses libcurl, so you need to have libcurl installed properly first before + PHP/CURL can be used. PHP/CURL was initially written by Sterling Hughes. + + 7.3 Can I perform multiple requests using the same handle? + + Yes - at least in PHP version 4.3.8 and later (this has been known to not + work in earlier versions, but the exact version when it started to work is + unknown to me). + + After a transfer, you just set new options in the handle and make another + transfer. This will make libcurl to re-use the same connection if it can. |