The one-liner#
curl -x http://USER-cc-us:PASS@res.proxy-cyber.com:9000 https://api.ipify.org-x (or --proxy) takes the proxy URL with credentials embedded. cURL tunnels HTTPS destinations with CONNECT automatically, and asks the proxy to resolve the hostname.
Flags worth knowing#
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|---|
| -x, --proxy URL | The proxy: scheme, host, port, optional credentials |
| -U, --proxy-user user:pass | Credentials separately, useful when the password has special characters |
| --proxy-basic | Force Basic proxy authentication (the default when a password is given) |
| -v | Show the CONNECT exchange, proxy status codes and the response headers |
| --noproxy '*' | Ignore proxy environment variables for this call |
| -w '%{time_total}\n' | Print timing to compare exits |
SOCKS5 and remote DNS#
# Hostname resolved at the exit (recommended)
curl -x socks5h://USER-cc-de:PASS@res.proxy-cyber.com:9001 https://api.ipify.org
# Hostname resolved locally, then the IP is sent to the proxy (leaks the lookup)
curl -x socks5://USER-cc-de:PASS@res.proxy-cyber.com:9001 https://api.ipify.orgEnvironment variables#
Tools that shell out to cURL, and many others, honour http_proxy, https_proxy and no_proxy. Export them once for a session of work.
export https_proxy="http://USER-cc-us:PASS@res.proxy-cyber.com:9000"
export http_proxy="$https_proxy"
export no_proxy="localhost,127.0.0.1"
curl https://api.ipify.org # proxied without -xReading a failure#
curl -v -x http://USER:WRONG@res.proxy-cyber.com:9000 https://api.ipify.org 2>&1 | grep -E "CONNECT|HTTP/1.1 4|HTTP/1.1 5"
# < HTTP/1.1 407 Proxy Authentication Required -> credentials
# < HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request -> a username parameter is wrong
# < HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway -> no exit for that location; widen itA status on the CONNECT line comes from the gateway; a status after Connection established comes from the destination. The errors page maps every gateway code.
Rotating sessions in a loop#
for i in $(seq 1 5); do
curl -s -x "http://USER-cc-us-sid-run$i-ttl-5m:PASS@res.proxy-cyber.com:9000" https://api.ipify.org
echo
done # five different United States exits, each reusable for five minutes under its idQuestions people ask#
Does cURL need a special flag for HTTPS through the proxy?
No. With an http:// proxy URL cURL issues CONNECT for https:// destinations automatically; --proxytunnel only matters for forcing a tunnel on plain HTTP.
My password contains @ or : and cURL fails.
Pass the credentials with -U user:pass instead of embedding them in the URL, or URL-encode the special characters.