CURLOPT_QUOTE(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT_QUOTE(3)
NAME
CURLOPT_QUOTE - (S)FTP commands to run before transfer
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_QUOTE,
struct curl_slist *cmds);
DESCRIPTION
Pass a pointer to a linked list of FTP or SFTP commands to pass to the
server prior to your request. This is done before any other commands are
issued (even before the CWD command for FTP). The linked list should be
a fully valid list of 'struct curl_slist' structs properly filled in
with text strings. Use curl_slist_append(3) to append strings (commands)
to the list, and clear the entire list afterwards with
curl_slist_free_all(3).
Using this option multiple times makes the last set list override the
previous ones. Set it to NULL to disable its use again. libcurl does not
copy the list, it needs to be kept around until after the transfer has
completed.
When speaking to an FTP server, prefix the command with an asterisk (*)
to make libcurl continue even if the command fails as by default libcurl
stops at first failure.
The set of valid FTP commands depends on the server (see RFC 959 for a
list of mandatory commands).
libcurl does not inspect, parse or "understand" the commands passed to
the server using this option. If you change connection state, working
directory or similar using quote commands, libcurl does not know about
it.
The path arguments for FTP or SFTP can use single or double quotes to
distinguish a space from being the parameter separator or being a part
of the path. e.g. rename with sftp using a quote command like this:
"rename 'test/_upload.txt' 'test/Hello World.txt'"
SFTP commands
atime date file
The atime command sets the last access time of the file named by
the file operand. The date expression can be all sorts of date
strings, see the curl_getdate(3) man page for date expression de-
tails. (Added in 7.73.0)
chgrp group file
The chgrp command sets the group ID of the file named by the file
operand to the group ID specified by the group operand. The group
operand is a decimal integer group ID.
chmod mode file
The chmod command modifies the file mode bits of the specified
file. The mode operand is an octal integer mode number.
chown user file
The chown command sets the owner of the file named by the file
operand to the user ID specified by the user operand. The user
operand is a decimal integer user ID.
ln source_file target_file
The ln and symlink commands create a symbolic link at the tar-
get_file location pointing to the source_file location.
mkdir directory_name
The mkdir command creates the directory named by the direc-
tory_name operand.
mtime date file
The mtime command sets the last modification time of the file
named by the file operand. The date expression can be all sorts
of date strings, see the curl_getdate(3) man page for date ex-
pression details. (Added in 7.73.0)
pwd The pwd command returns the absolute path of the current working
directory.
rename source target
The rename command renames the file or directory named by the
source operand to the destination path named by the target
operand.
rm file
The rm command removes the file specified by the file operand.
rmdir directory
The rmdir command removes the directory entry specified by the
directory operand, provided it is empty.
statvfs file
The statvfs command returns statistics on the file system in
which specified file resides. (Added in 7.49.0)
symlink source_file target_file
See ln.
DEFAULT
NULL
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects ftp and sftp
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
struct curl_slist *cmdlist = NULL;
cmdlist = curl_slist_append(cmdlist, "RNFR source-name");
cmdlist = curl_slist_append(cmdlist, "RNTO new-name");
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
CURLcode res;
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "ftp://example.com/foo.bin");
/* pass in the FTP commands to run before the transfer */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_QUOTE, cmdlist);
res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
}
curl_slist_free_all(cmdlist);
}
HISTORY
SFTP support added in 7.16.3. *-prefix for SFTP added in 7.24.0
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.1
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_CUSTOMREQUEST(3), CURLOPT_DIRLISTONLY(3), CURLOPT_POSTQUOTE(3),
CURLOPT_PREQUOTE(3)
libcurl 2026-07-12 CURLOPT_QUOTE(3)
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