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I am trying to send data within the body of my http post. The following code makes the POST but I can't figure out how to get data into the body or any other field besides the http version and URL fields. I've looked and tried different things from other sources on the net to no avail. Ultimately this will be within a bash script - I can\t use CURL or WGET.

 printf "POST /postresearch HTTP/5.0\r\n\r\nTHIS IS THE BODY" |nc -n -i 1 10.0.1.11 3000
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  • Why can't you use a proper HTTP tool? Commented Jun 19, 2014 at 19:49
  • I need it to work using the default installs of linux / ubuntu / fedora / centos . They come with netcat but no http tool by default. Commented Jun 19, 2014 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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You need to make a valid HTTP request, which includes using the correct protocol version number and for POST requests, providing an entity length, and possibly a content type.

POST /postresearch HTTP/1.0
Content-Length: 25
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

field=value&field2=value2

I issue a HTTP 1.0 request, specify that the body will be 25 bytes, and specify that I'm sending URL-encoded form parameters (this is how browsers send forms when you submit them).

BTW, don't do this. There is absolutely no situation where you should be implementing your own HTTP client. Use a proper HTTP tool or library.

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This is true I was mucking around with the protocol number to see what I could put in there and have it still post. It actually works with 5.0. I'll try adding the connect the other fields and see how that works.

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