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python requests post certificate

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 2 min read

Python Requests Post Certificate

When it comes to sending HTTP requests in Python, the requests library is a popular choice. You can use this library to send HTTP POST requests to a server. However, sometimes you may need to send a certificate along with the request for secure communication.

Using Requests with SSL Certificates

To send a request with a certificate using the requests library, you can use the cert parameter. This parameter takes the path to the certificate file as a string.

For example, if the certificate file is located in the same directory as your Python script and is named certificate.pem, you can use the following code to send a POST request:


import requests

url = 'https://example.com/api'
data = {'key': 'value'}
cert_file = 'certificate.pem'

response = requests.post(url, data=data, cert=cert_file)

print(response.text)

In this example, we first import the requests library. Then we define the URL we want to send the POST request to and the data we want to include in the request body. We also specify the path to the certificate file using the cert_file variable.

We then send the POST request using the requests.post() method, passing in the URL, data, and certificate file as arguments. Finally, we print out the response text returned by the server.

Using Requests with Self-Signed Certificates

If you are using a self-signed certificate, you may run into an error when trying to send a request with the requests library. The error will typically look like this:


requests.exceptions.SSLError: HTTPSConnectionPool(host='example.com', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /api (Caused by SSLError("Can't connect to HTTPS URL because the SSL module is not available."))

To fix this error, you need to specify the path to the certificate file and the path to the certificate key file using the cert parameter. You can generate a self-signed certificate using OpenSSL, which is a command-line tool that is available on most Unix-based systems.

First, generate a private key using the following command:


openssl genrsa -out server.key 2048

This will generate a 2048-bit RSA private key and store it in a file named server.key.

Next, generate a certificate signing request (CSR) using the following command:


openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr

This will create a CSR file named server.csr using the private key you generated in the previous step.

Finally, generate a self-signed certificate using the following command:


openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt

This will create a self-signed certificate file named server.crt that is valid for 365 days.

Once you have generated your self-signed certificate, you can use it with the requests library as follows:


import requests

url = 'https://example.com/api'
data = {'key': 'value'}
cert_file = 'server.crt'
cert_key_file = 'server.key'

response = requests.post(url, data=data, cert=(cert_file, cert_key_file))

print(response.text)

In this example, we use the cert parameter to specify both the path to the certificate file and the path to the certificate key file. We then send the POST request as before, using the requests.post() method.

By using the requests library with certificates, you can ensure secure communication between your Python script and the server you are communicating with.

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