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1---
2c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel.se>, et al.
3SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
4Title: CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH
5Section: 3
6Source: libcurl
7See-also:
8  - CURLOPT_PASSWORD (3)
9  - CURLOPT_PROXYAUTH (3)
10  - CURLOPT_USERNAME (3)
11---
12
13# NAME
14
15CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH - HTTP server authentication methods to try
16
17# SYNOPSIS
18
19~~~c
20#include <curl/curl.h>
21
22CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, long bitmask);
23~~~
24
25# DESCRIPTION
26
27Pass a long as parameter, which is set to a bitmask, to tell libcurl which
28authentication method(s) you want it to use speaking to the remote server.
29
30The available bits are listed below. If more than one bit is set, libcurl
31first queries the host to see which authentication methods it supports and
32then picks the best one you allow it to use. For some methods, this induces an
33extra network round-trip. Set the actual name and password with the
34CURLOPT_USERPWD(3) option or with the CURLOPT_USERNAME(3) and the
35CURLOPT_PASSWORD(3) options.
36
37For authentication with a proxy, see CURLOPT_PROXYAUTH(3).
38
39## CURLAUTH_BASIC
40
41HTTP Basic authentication. This is the default choice, and the only method
42that is in wide-spread use and supported virtually everywhere. This sends
43the user name and password over the network in plain text, easily captured by
44others.
45
46## CURLAUTH_DIGEST
47
48HTTP Digest authentication. Digest authentication is defined in RFC 2617 and
49is a more secure way to do authentication over public networks than the
50regular old-fashioned Basic method.
51
52## CURLAUTH_DIGEST_IE
53
54HTTP Digest authentication with an IE flavor. Digest authentication is defined
55in RFC 2617 and is a more secure way to do authentication over public networks
56than the regular old-fashioned Basic method. The IE flavor is simply that
57libcurl uses a special "quirk" that IE is known to have used before version 7
58and that some servers require the client to use.
59
60## CURLAUTH_BEARER
61
62HTTP Bearer token authentication, used primarily in OAuth 2.0 protocol.
63
64You can set the Bearer token to use with CURLOPT_XOAUTH2_BEARER(3).
65
66## CURLAUTH_NEGOTIATE
67
68HTTP Negotiate (SPNEGO) authentication. Negotiate authentication is defined
69in RFC 4559 and is the most secure way to perform authentication over HTTP.
70
71You need to build libcurl with a suitable GSS-API library or SSPI on Windows
72for this to work.
73
74## CURLAUTH_NTLM
75
76HTTP NTLM authentication. A proprietary protocol invented and used by
77Microsoft. It uses a challenge-response and hash concept similar to Digest, to
78prevent the password from being eavesdropped.
79
80You need to build libcurl with either OpenSSL or GnuTLS support for this
81option to work, or build libcurl on Windows with SSPI support.
82
83## CURLAUTH_NTLM_WB
84
85NTLM delegating to winbind helper. Authentication is performed by a separate
86binary application that is executed when needed. The name of the application
87is specified at compile time but is typically **/usr/bin/ntlm_auth**.
88
89Note that libcurl forks when necessary to run the winbind application and kill
90it when complete, calling **waitpid()** to await its exit when done. On POSIX
91operating systems, killing the process causes a SIGCHLD signal to be raised
92(regardless of whether CURLOPT_NOSIGNAL(3) is set), which must be handled
93intelligently by the application. In particular, the application must not
94unconditionally call wait() in its SIGCHLD signal handler to avoid being
95subject to a race condition. This behavior is subject to change in future
96versions of libcurl.
97
98## CURLAUTH_ANY
99
100This is a convenience macro that sets all bits and thus makes libcurl pick any
101it finds suitable. libcurl automatically selects the one it finds most secure.
102
103## CURLAUTH_ANYSAFE
104
105This is a convenience macro that sets all bits except Basic and thus makes
106libcurl pick any it finds suitable. libcurl automatically selects the one it
107finds most secure.
108
109## CURLAUTH_ONLY
110
111This is a meta symbol. OR this value together with a single specific auth
112value to force libcurl to probe for unrestricted auth and if not, only that
113single auth algorithm is acceptable.
114
115## CURLAUTH_AWS_SIGV4
116
117provides AWS V4 signature authentication on HTTPS header
118see CURLOPT_AWS_SIGV4(3).
119
120# DEFAULT
121
122CURLAUTH_BASIC
123
124# PROTOCOLS
125
126HTTP
127
128# EXAMPLE
129
130~~~c
131int main(void)
132{
133  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
134  if(curl) {
135    CURLcode ret;
136    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/");
137    /* allow whatever auth the server speaks */
138    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, (long)CURLAUTH_ANY);
139    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_USERPWD, "james:bond");
140    ret = curl_easy_perform(curl);
141  }
142}
143~~~
144
145# AVAILABILITY
146
147Option Added in 7.10.6.
148
149CURLAUTH_DIGEST_IE was added in 7.19.3
150
151CURLAUTH_ONLY was added in 7.21.3
152
153CURLAUTH_NTLM_WB was added in 7.22.0
154
155CURLAUTH_BEARER was added in 7.61.0
156
157CURLAUTH_AWS_SIGV4 was added in 7.74.0
158
159# RETURN VALUE
160
161Returns CURLE_OK if the option is supported, CURLE_UNKNOWN_OPTION if not, or
162CURLE_NOT_BUILT_IN if the bitmask specified no supported authentication
163methods.
164