I am having trouble getting cURL to run on Windows.
I have downloaded a cURL zip file from here, but it seems to contain source code, not an executable.
Do I need to compile cURL to run it? If yes, then how do I do that?
Where can I find .exe
downloads for cURL ?
I have looked for documentation on installing cURL, but there is little to be found.
Best Answer
You might already have curl
It is possible that you won't need to download anything:
If you are on Windows 10, version 1803 or later, your OS ships with a copy of curl, already set up and ready to use.
If you have Git for Windows installed (if you downloaded Git from git-scm.com, the answer is yes), you have
curl.exe
under:Simply add the above path to
PATH
.Installing curl with a package manager
If you are already using a package manager, it may be more convenient to install with one:
choco install curl
pacman -S curl
scoop install curl
Installing curl manually
Downloading curl
It is too easy to accidentally download the wrong thing. If, on the curl homepage, you click the large and prominent "Download" section in the site header, and then the large and prominent
curl-7.62.0.tar.gz
link in its body, you will have downloaded a curl source package, which contains curl's source code but notcurl.exe
. Watch out for that.Instead, click the large and prominent download links on this page. Those are the official Windows builds, and they are provided by the curl-for-win project.
If you have more esoteric needs (e.g. you want cygwin builds, third-party builds, libcurl, header files, sources, etc.), use the curl download wizard. After answering five questions, you will be presented with a list of download links.
Extracting and setting up curl
Find
curl.exe
within your downloaded package; it's probably underbin\
.Pick a location on your hard drive that will serve as a permanent home for curl:
C:\Program Files\curl\
orC:\curl\
will do.PATH
, use a single folder such asC:\Program Files\tools\
orC:\tools\
for the purpose.Place
curl.exe
under the folder. And never move the folder or its contents.Next, you'll want to make curl available anywhere from the command line. To do this, add the folder to
PATH
, like this:curl.exe
lives.PATH
.Now enjoy typing curl at any command prompt. Party time!