How to send file contents as body entity using cURL

curlpost

I am using cURL command line utility to send HTTP POST to a web service. I want to include a file's contents as the body entity of the POST. I have tried using -d </path/to/filename> as well as other variants with type info like --data </path/to/filename> --data-urlencode </path/to/filename> etc… the file is always attached. I need it as the body entity.

Best Answer

I believe you're looking for the @filename syntax, e.g.:

strip new lines

curl --data "@/path/to/filename" http://...

keep new lines

curl --data-binary "@/path/to/filename" http://...

curl will strip all newlines from the file. If you want to send the file with newlines intact, use --data-binary in place of --data