Send Files via POST with cURL and PHP

4 mins0
Uploading Files with Ease: A Guide to Sending Files via POST with cURL in PHP

Sending files via POST with cURL and PHP is an essential skill for any web developer. By mastering how to send files via POST with cURL and PHP, you can efficiently handle user uploads, transfer data between applications, and integrate third-party services.

This technique ensures secure and reliable file uploads while giving you full control over the data transfer process. In this guide, we will explore step-by-step how to send files via POST with cURL and PHP with practical examples to help you implement it seamlessly in your projects.

Creating the HTML Form

Let’s start with a user-friendly HTML form. This form allows users to select the file they want to upload. Here’s how it looks:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>File Upload Demo</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>File Upload Demo</h1>

        <form action="upload.php" method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
            <input type="file" name="fileToUpload" id="fileToUpload">
            <input type="submit" value="Upload File" name="submit">
        </form>
    </body>
</html>

Handle the File Upload in PHP

Now, let’s dive into the PHP script to handle the file upload. We’ll create a file called upload.php. First, we check if a file was selected and if any errors occurred during the upload process. Then, we handle the upload:

<?php
if(isset($_FILES['fileToUpload']) && $_FILES['fileToUpload']['error'] === UPLOAD_ERR_OK) {
  $file = $_FILES['fileToUpload']['tmp_name'];
  $filename = $_FILES['fileToUpload']['name'];
  $targetPath = 'uploads/' . $filename;

  if(move_uploaded_file($file, $targetPath)) {
    echo "File uploaded successfully!";
  } else {
    echo "Error uploading the file.";
  }
} else {
  echo "No file selected or an error occurred.";
}
?>

Sending Files via POST with cURL

Finally, let’s send the file to a remote server using cURL. We create a new cURL request, set the necessary options, and execute it:

<?php
$file = 'path/to/your/file.jpg';
$url = 'http://example.com/upload.php';

$curl = curl_init($url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, [
  'fileToUpload' => new CURLFile($file)
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);

echo $response;
?>

In conclusion, this tutorial has equipped you with the knowledge to upload files using cURL. The HTML form allows file selection, and the PHP script manages the upload process. With cURL, sending files to a remote server becomes seamless. Feel free to adapt these examples to suit your needs and explore additional cURL features.