How to Install and Use curl in Linux? (Practical Command Examples)

Curl is a lightweight and reliable command line data transmission tool under Linux, supporting protocols such as HTTP/HTTPS/FTP. You can check the installation through curl --version and install it with apt/dnf/yum/pacman. Common operations include obtaining web pages, saving files, following redirects, viewing header information, sending JSON POST and downloading files.

curl is a powerful command-line tool for transferring data with URLs. It supports many protocols — HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, SMTP, and more — and works out of the box on most modern Linux distributions. If it's missing, installing it takes seconds.

Check if curl is already installed

Run this in your terminal:

curl --version

If you see version info (eg, curl 8.5.0 ), you're ready to go. If you get command not found , proceed to install it.

Install curl on major Linux distributions

Use the package manager for your distro:

• Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint: sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl
• CentOS / RHEL / AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux (8): sudo dnf install curl
• CentOS / RHEL / Fedora (older, using yum): sudo yum install curl
• Arch/Manjaro: sudo pacman -S curl

Basic curl usage with practical examples

By default, curl prints response content to the terminal. Add flags to control behavior:

• Fetch a webpage: curl https://httpbin.org/html
• Save output to a file: curl -o index.html https://httpbin.org/html
• Follow redirects automatically: curl -L https://httpbin.org/redirect-to?url=https://httpbin.org/html
• Show only HTTP headers: curl -I https://httpbin.org/get
• Send a POST request with JSON: curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Alice"}' https://httpbin.org/post
• Download a file silently with progress bar: curl -# -O https://httpbin.org/image/jpeg

Common troubleshooting tips

Most issues are quick to fix:

• SSL certificate errors? Try curl -k (not recommended for production) or update CA certificates ( sudo apt install ca-certificates or sudo dnf reinstall ca-certificates )
• Connection timeout? Use --max-time 30 to limit runtime or --retry 3 to auto-retry failed requests
• Need to inspect what's sent/received? Add -v for verbose output — shows full request headers, response headers, and errors

Basically, curl is lightweight, reliable, and script-friendly. You don't need a GUI or browser to test APIs, download files, or debug web services — just a terminal and a few well-chosen options.

The above is the detailed content of How to Install and Use curl in Linux? (Practical Command Examples). For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!