CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD(3)
NAME
CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD - passphrase to private key
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD, char *pwd);
DESCRIPTION
Pass a pointer to a null-terminated string as parameter. It is used as
the password required to use the CURLOPT_SSLKEY(3) or CURLOPT_SSH_PRI-
VATE_KEYFILE(3) private key. You never need a passphrase to load a cer-
tificate but you need one to load your private key.
The application does not have to keep the string around after setting
this option.
Using this option multiple times makes the last set string override the
previous ones. Set it to NULL to disable its use again.
DEFAULT
NULL
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects all TLS based protocols: HTTPS, FTPS, IMAPS,
POP3S, SMTPS etc.
This option works only with the following TLS backends: OpenSSL, Schan-
nel, mbedTLS and wolfSSL
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
CURLcode res;
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com/foo.bin");
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSLCERT, "client.pem");
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSLKEY, "key.pem");
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD, "superman");
res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
}
}
HISTORY
This option was known as CURLOPT_SSLKEYPASSWD up to 7.16.4 and CUR-
LOPT_SSLCERTPASSWD up to 7.9.2.
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.17.0
RETURN VALUE
curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.
CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred,
see libcurl-errors(3).
SEE ALSO
CURLOPT_SSH_PRIVATE_KEYFILE(3), CURLOPT_SSLKEY(3)
libcurl 2026-07-12 CURLOPT_KEYPASSWD(3)
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