The Windows operating system provides users with numerous command-line tools, which are useful for automation. The curl command is one among them. You can employ it to make requests to or from a server in any protocol.

FPTS, HTTP, SMTP, HTTPS, and FTPS are just a few to name. The tool also supports such additional features like proxy support, limited bandwidth, FTP upload, and resume transfer.

The following article will reveal some methods to run the curl command in Powershell.

What Is Curl In PowerShell?

As mentioned above, the curl command is often executed to make requests to accomplish your processing task automatically. One of its most common uses would be to test the endpoints.

Here are some frequent methods to use with the curl command:

• GET: This one is used to read data from the server without disturbing its state. Curl will set it as the default method if you don’t specify during the process.
• POST: It contains all the information to be processed, including creating files or posting messages. The function has a body with the necessary information for the server. Unlike GET, it will change the server’s state by appending information.
• PUT: You can use this function to create or update a database record or edit a specific file’s content. The data will be sent to any source. Then, it is processed by the server to perform a desired action.
• DELETE: As its name suggests, it deletes all resources, including database entry. There would be no body structure in this function.
• Endpoints: You will send the request to this address, which is in the form of an URL.
• Headers: Metadata related to requests will be included here.

How To Run The Curl Command In Powershell?

The Curl in Windows PowerShell

Executing the curl command in Windows Powershell would be slightly different from in the Windows command prompt. This is because it works as an alias to the cmdlet Invoke-WebRequest.

Run the command as follows to test it:

Get-Alias -Name curl

Output:

CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Alias curl -> Invoke-WebRequest

All commands should be solved in the Powershell command execution process. The curl in this case often receives the highest priority. For this reason, it would be best to use the curl.exe function instead of curl.

The Curl Syntax In PowerShell

Execute the following command to know more about the curl command and its variable options:

curl.exe --help

Output:

Usage: curl [options...] <url>
-a, --append Append to target file when uploading
.
.
.
-C, --continue-at <offset> Resumed transfer offest

If you want to save your website’s content to a file, run the command:

> curl https://www.google.com > curloutput.txt

In this example, it creates a new file named curloutput.text to store all retrieved data from http://www.google.com. You can save this content in a file using the -O flag. This flag keeps the results in the output1.txt file.

It is also possible to use curl to get webpage links with the curl/Invoke-WebRequest function. All you have to do is to copy and paste the command below:

> (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://www.youtube.com").Links.Href

Conclusion

The curl command is one of the most useful functions you can get in any operating system. It helps you automate all tasks with some simple requests. The article explained clearly the methods to run the curl command in Powershell and its uses.