How to install curl will depend on your operating system, but it's available for practically every platform you are likely to work with; just check out all the downloads at https://curl.haxx.se/download.html. The command has dozens of possible options, but for our intents, we will be looking at the following table. Note that most options have two versions: a short, single character one, and a longer one, intended to be clearer for understanding:
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-K filename
--config filename
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Lets you specify the name of a file that has options in it so that your command is shorter. In the given file, each option will be in a different line. |
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-d key=value
--data key=value
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Allows you to send data in the body of the request. If you use this option several times, curl will use & as a separator, as standard. |
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--data-binary someData
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Similar to --data, but used to send binary data. Most frequently it is followed by @filename, meaning that the contents of the named file will be sent. |
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-D filename
--dump-header filename
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Dumps the headers of the received data into a file. |
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-H "header:value"
--header "header:value"
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Allows you to set and send some header with a request. You can use this option several times to set many headers. |
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-i
--include
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Includes headers of the received data in the output. |
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-o filename
--output filename
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Stores the received data in the given file. |
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-s
--silent
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Minimizes output to the console. |
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-v
--verbose
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Maximizes output to the console. |
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-X method
--request method
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Specifies which HTTP method will be used, such as GET, POST, PUT, and so on. |
Finally, if you need help, use curl --help or curl --manual, and you'll get a full description of the utility and its options. Now let's look at how we can use curl to test our services.