Upload Files With curl

The short answer

To upload a file with curl using the HTTP POST method, you can use the -F flag (short for --form) with the following syntax:

$ curl -F "<form_field>=@<local_file_path>"<upload_url>

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Where:

• form_field is the name of the form field that will receive the file.
• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• upload_url is the URL where you want to send the file.

For example:

$ curl -F "file=@mydocument.pdf" https://example.com/upload

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This command sends an HTTP POST request to https://example.com/upload with a form field named file containing the contents of the file mydocument.pdf, while setting the Content-Type header to multipart/form-data.

Note that this method is typically used for uploading files via HTTP or HTTPS, and not for FTP or SFTP transfers, which are covered below.

You can learn more about cURL with our other articles on how to send HTTP POST requests with cURL and how to set HTTP headers with cURL.

Easily retrieve this command using Warp’s AI Command Suggestions

If you’re using Warp as your terminal, you can easily retrieve this command using the Warp AI Command Suggestions feature:

Entering curl upload file in the AI Command Suggestions will prompt a curl command that can then quickly be inserted into your shell by doing CMD+ENTER.

Uploading a file with curl using HTTP PUT

To upload a file using the HTTP PUT method, you can use the curl command with the -T flag (short for --upload-file) as follows:

$ curl -T <local_file_path> <upload_url>

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Where:

• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• upload_url is the URL where you want to send the file using the PUT method.

For example:

$ curl -T ./mydocument.txt https://example.com/upload

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This command sends an HTTP PUT request to https://example.com/upload with the specified file as the message body of the request.

Uploading a file to an FTP server

To upload a file to an FTP server with curl, you can use the following syntax:

$ curl -T <local_file_path> -u <username>:<password>ftp://<ftp_server_url>/<remote_directory>/

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Where:

• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• username is your FTP username.
• password is your FTP password.
• ftp_server_url is the URL of the FTP server you want to connect to.
• remote_directory is the directory on the FTP server where you want to upload the file.

For example:

$ curl -T ./mydocument.txt -u myuser:mypassword ftp://ftp.example.com/uploads/

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Note that you should ensure proper permissions and the existence of the remote directory on the FTP server before proceeding. If security is a concern, consider using secure FTP (SFTP) or other encryption methods, as plain FTP transfers data without encryption.

Uploading a file to an SFTP server

To upload a file to an SFTP server with curl, you can use this command syntax:

$ curl -T <local_file_path> sftp://<username>@<sftp_server_url>/<remote_directory>/

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Where:

• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• username is your SFTP username.
• sftp_server_url is the URL of the SFTP server you want to connect to.
• remote_directory is the directory on the SFTP server where you want to upload the file.

For example:

$ curl -T ./mydocument.txt sftp://myuser@sftp.example.com/uploads/

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Uploading a file to Artifactory

To upload a file to Artifactory with curl, you can use the following command syntax:

$ curl -u <username>:<password> -T "<local_file_path>" "<artifactory_url>/artifactory/<repository>/<target_path>/<filename>"

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Where:

• username is your Artifactory username.
• password is your Artifactory password.
• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• artifactory_url is the URL of your Artifactory instance.
• repository is the name of the repository where you want to store the file.
• target_path is the optional directory path within the repository where you want to place the file.
• filename is the name you want to give to the uploaded file.

For example:

$ curl -u myuser:mypassword -T myartifact.jar "https://artifactory.example.com/artifactory/myrepo/myfolder/myartifact.jar"

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Uploading a file to an S3 bucket using a presigned URL

To upload a file to an Amazon S3 bucket with curl using a presigned URL, you can use the following command syntax:

$ curl --upload-file <local_file_path> <presigned_url>

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Where:

• local_file_path is the path to the local file you want to upload.
• presigned_url is the presigned URL generated for your S3 bucket and object, which includes authentication and expiration information.

For example:

$ curl --upload-file ./mydocument.pdf "https://s3.amazonaws.com/mybucket/myobject?AWSAccessKeyId=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY&Expires=EXPIRATION_TIMESTAMP&Signature=SIGNATURE"

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This command sends a PUT request to the presigned URL with the specified file as the request body.

Uploading a file on Windows

To upload a file on a Windows operating system with curl, you can use a command similar to the ones provided earlier, with adjustments for Windows file paths.

Here's the general command structure:

$ curl -F "<form_field>=@C:\path\to\local\file" <upload_url>

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Where:

• form_field is the name of the form field that will receive the file.
• C:\path\to\local\file is the Windows file path to the local file you want to upload.
• upload_url is the URL where you want to send the file.

For example:

$ curl -F "file=@C:\Users\Username\Documents\mydocument.pdf" https://example.com/upload

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