3.16 What certificates do I need with I use SSL?

Updated: August 10, 2004 (http://curl.haxx.se/docs/faq.html)

Updated: August 12, 2004 (http://curl.haxx.se/docs/faq.html)

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  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 with I use SSL?

 4. Running Problems

  4.1 Problems connecting to SSL servers.

  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 with 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.

  - Server certificate. The server you communicate with has a server

    certificate. You can and should verify this certficate to make sure that

    you are truly talking to the real server and not a server impersonating

    it. The server certificate verifaction 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.

  - 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 comes with a

    default CA cert bundle. You can override the default.

4. Running Problems