Post XML with HTTPS Authentication using PHP and cURL

Eoin Code April 12, 2010November 18, 2010

Recently I needed to post XML to a particular API and this API required HTTPS authentication. So I needed to send a username / password with the request.

This was pretty straightforward in C#.NET ( at least from my foggy memory ). You needed to use NetworkCredentials. But it was a bit difficult to find a similar way of doing this in PHP… but eventually I found this gem.

This uses cURL which is just a library to send and receive data from remote sites. Now all I needed was a neat way of using cURL to post XML… and I found a neat implementation here.

Two plus two and you get …

$request_xml = "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<request>
	<id>12345</id>
	<email>eoin@dolepaddy.com</email>
<request>";

//Initialize handle and set options
$username = 'dolepaddy';
$password = 'secret123';
$ch = curl_init(); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://connect.tosomeserver.com/xmlrpc'); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $username.':'.$password);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_ANY);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 4); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_xml); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('Connection: close'));

//Execute the request and also time the transaction ( optional )
$start = array_sum(explode(' ', microtime()));
$result = curl_exec($ch); 
$stop = array_sum(explode(' ', microtime()));
$totalTime = $stop - $start;

//Check for errors ( again optional )
if ( curl_errno($ch) ) {
	$result = 'ERROR -> ' . curl_errno($ch) . ': ' . curl_error($ch);
} else {
	$returnCode = (int)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
	switch($returnCode){
		case 200:
			break;
		default:
			$result = 'HTTP ERROR -> ' . $returnCode;
			break;
	}
}

//Close the handle
curl_close($ch);

//Output the results and time
echo 'Total time for request: ' . $totalTime . "\n";
echo $result;

Published April 12, 2010November 18, 2010

10 thoughts on “Post XML with HTTPS Authentication using PHP and cURL”

Mark Scott says:

June 26, 2010 at 03:37

Life saver!!

The search angels at google sent me in the right direction this time 😀

Reply
Omar says:

January 6, 2012 at 22:00

Thank you… *sinks back in his chair crying*

I wish I had found you 2 weeks ago…

back when I hadn’t pulled 99% of my hair out…

*cries some more*

Thank you…

Reply

Thanks for the code, its a life saver. We changed the bottom of the code a bit to give better feedback on errors and thought I would share it.

//Check for errors ( again optional )
$error = false;
if ( curl_errno($ch) ) {
        $error = 'ERROR -> ' . curl_errno($ch) . ': ' . curl_error($ch);
} else {
        $returnCode = (int)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
        switch($returnCode){
                case 200:
                        break;
                default:
                        $error = 'HTTP ERROR -> ' . $returnCode;
                        break;
        }
}

//Close the handle
curl_close($ch);

//Output the results and time
echo 'Total time for request: ' . $totalTime . "\n";
if ($error)
{
        echo $error;
}
echo $result;

Julio says:

February 22, 2012 at 21:55

U rocks. Thanks a Lot for this code!!!

Just one thing. If you change
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_ANY);
to
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);

The receiver php script could see $_SERVER[‘PHP_AUTH_USER’] and $_SERVER[‘PHP_AUTH_PW’]

Reply
drupal developer barcelona says:

May 30, 2012 at 13:05

Thanks,
This works straight up ! Lovely. I would paste my version at http://citiface.com forum.
Curl seems to have a lot of potencials

Reply
Karl says:

July 18, 2012 at 22:09

Like people above commented, I also give you special thanks!

Thank you very much!

Reply
shipiboconibo says:

August 2, 2012 at 21:56

How does one deal with sending XML across HTTPS without needing the user/pass vars? I’m trying to do an XML POST via HTTPS, as outlined in a shopping cart API. No PHP examples though. I tried commenting out lines 8, 9, 12 & 13… but no go. I’m a long time PHP user, so it’s frustrating that it’s busting my balls here, I’ve worked with curl plenty, but never really for HTTPS or XML applications. Any ideas? Thanks!

Reply
1. Eoin says:
  
  August 2, 2012 at 22:19
  
  Try…
  
  $ch = curl_init(); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://connect.tosomeserver.com/xmlrpc'); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_xml); curl_close($ch);
  
  Reply
knowram says:

July 23, 2013 at 18:19

This is awesome I have been looking for something like this for a while. However it doesn’t quite get me there. I seem to be getting a 415 error. Any ideas? Thanks for the help.

Reply
Rituraj Raina says:

May 17, 2018 at 11:09

You saved my day. Thanks a lot.

Reply