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python requests use ssl certificate

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 2 min read

Python Requests Use SSL Certificate

If you are working on a Python project that requires sending HTTP requests using the Requests library, chances are, you may need to use an SSL certificate. An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website or server and encrypts data in transit.

To use an SSL certificate with Python Requests, you will need to:

Step 1: Install the Certifi package


pip install certifi

The Certifi package contains a set of root certificates that can be used to validate the identity of SSL/TLS hosts.

Step 2: Specify the path to the SSL certificate

Depending on whether the SSL certificate is self-signed or issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), you may need to specify the path to the certificate file in your Python code.


import requests

# Specify the path to the SSL certificate file
cert_file_path = '/path/to/cert.pem'

# Send an HTTP request with SSL certificate validation
response = requests.get('https://example.com', verify=cert_file_path)

In this example, we are using the GET method to send an HTTP request to 'example.com' while verifying the SSL certificate specified in the 'cert_file_path' variable.

If you do not want to use an SSL certificate or cannot verify the SSL certificate, it is possible to disable SSL certificate validation by setting the 'verify' parameter to False. However, this is not recommended as it leaves your connection vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.


import requests

# Disable SSL certificate validation
response = requests.get('https://example.com', verify=False)

By default, the Requests library will validate SSL certificates using the root certificates provided by the Certifi package. However, you can also specify a custom set of root certificates using the 'verify' parameter.

Step 4: Specify a custom CA bundle

If you have a custom set of root certificates that you want to use for SSL certificate validation, you can specify the path to the CA bundle file in your Python code.


import requests

# Specify the path to the CA bundle file
ca_bundle_file_path = '/path/to/ca-bundle.pem'

# Send an HTTP request with custom CA bundle
response = requests.get('https://example.com', verify=ca_bundle_file_path)

The CA bundle file contains a set of root certificates that are used to validate SSL/TLS hosts. By specifying a custom CA bundle, you can add or remove root certificates as needed.

Now that you are familiar with how to use SSL certificates with Python Requests, you can send secure HTTP requests with confidence!

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