Using libcurl & SSL

Question

I've found there is really very little information around on this topic. I already have a dll making successful posts using libcurl.

I've compiled libcurl with openssl for ssl functionality.

Here is an exert of my original curl setup.

    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER, errorBuffer);

    //curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER , 1);
    //curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST , 1);
    //curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_CAINFO , "./ca.cert");

    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, cParam); 
    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDSIZE, strlen(cParam));
    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);
    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, Request::writer);   
    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &buffer); 
    curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_URL, cURL);

My question to those who've done this before, is it as easy as just adding those lines above to get SSL to work (as long as the certificate exists)? Or is it more complicated?

The funny thing is I'm not completely sure how SSL works. I've never worked with it before. Do I need to store a key in my application and send it with each request? Anyway my main question was the first. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, it is that simple. Just make sure that the "ca.cert" file you have is a true CA cert that can verify your server's certificate.

Answer 2

All you need to do to use SSL with libcurl is give an https url instead of an http url. The only option you need to set with curl_easy_setopt is CURLOPT_URL, although it will just print the received data to stdout if you don't specify a write callback.

CURL *handle = curl_easy_init();
char url[] = "https://google.com";
curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_URL, url);
curl_easy_perform(handle);