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python requests ssl certificate

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

Python Requests SSL Certificate

Python is a widely used programming language that is known for its simplicity and ease of use. It supports various libraries and frameworks that help developers to build web applications quickly and efficiently. One of the popular libraries in Python is the Requests module which allows developers to send HTTP/1.1 requests extremely easily.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol that helps to encrypt the communication between the client and the server. When a client sends a request to a server, SSL ensures that the data transmitted between them are encrypted and secure. Python Requests module provides an easy way to send requests over SSL with secure certificates.

Using Python Requests module with SSL Certificate

To send a request over SSL with Python Requests module, we need to specify the SSL certificate to be used while sending the request. There are two ways to provide the certificate: via a file or via a string.

Using Certificate File


import requests

url = 'https://example.com'
cert_file = '/path/to/certfile.pem'

response = requests.get(url, cert=cert_file)
print(response.status_code)

In the above example, we import the Requests module and specify the URL we want to send the SSL request to. We also specify the path to the certificate file in the `cert_file` variable. Lastly, we send an SSL GET request to the URL using `requests.get()` method with `cert` parameter set to `cert_file`.

Using Certificate String


import requests

url = 'https://example.com'
cert_str = '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIDojCCAoqgAwIBAgIJAL+6Z..'

response = requests.get(url, cert=cert_str)
print(response.status_code)

In this example, we specify the certificate string in the `cert_str` variable instead of a file. We then send an SSL GET request to the URL using `requests.get()` method with `cert` parameter set to `cert_str`.

Conclusion

Python Requests module provides a simple and easy way to send HTTP/1.1 requests over SSL. We can use SSL certificates for secure communication between the client and the server. In this article, we have seen two ways to specify the SSL certificate while sending a request using Python Requests module.

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