Alternatives to CURL, WGET

Question

Is anyone aware of any alternatives to curl and wget? The key functional requirement I'm looking for is to be able to execute an HTTPS GET request against a known URL.

The reason I'm looking for an alternative is simply that I'm trying to execute a connectivity test from a server which currently doesn't have wget or curl installed. The server concerned is under strict change control and so installing new software on it is a no-no.

The operating system installed on the server is AIX.

If it were only HTTP, I'd recommend writing your own request headers into a text file and using `netcat`. Not feasible with HTTPS, though. Any text-mode browsers available? (links/lynx/w3m) — SmallClanger, Feb 18 '11 at 12:05
Now that I look, though: http://serverfault.com/questions/102032/connecting-to-https-with-netcat-nc — SmallClanger, Feb 18 '11 at 12:07
That looks like an answer to me, want to convert it to a proper answer so that you can get credit from it? I'll get our unix admin to give it a try! — Paul Russell, Feb 18 '11 at 12:14
Lynx is available for Ubuntu 16.04: http://www.elinuxbook.com/install-lynx-browser-lynx-web-browser-on-ubuntu-16-04-a-text-web-browser/ — SDsolar, Oct 14 '17 at 07:56

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:14

7

[Pushing up from comments]

Two options:

Batch mode from text-based browsers such as links/lynx/w3m
Use openssl s_client as noted here: Connecting to HTTPS with netcat (nc)

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:14

Community

1

answered Feb 18 '11 at 12:20

SmallClanger

8,947
1
31
45

Unfortunately this didn't work for us because openssl wasn't installed either. We've now run out of time for this testing, so we're going to give up and go a different route. I think the answer is sound though, so accepting it. – Paul Russell Feb 18 '11 at 15:37

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '19 at 13:25

If you can ssh into the server, I recommend this:

Think of a random port, like 5555 that you will use on your local machine.
Run ssh -L 5555:remote_server:443 username@aix_server
Point your browser to https://localhost:5555/

Your browser will report an error that the certificate is not for localhost, but for the remote_server, but at least you would have proved that the connectivity works. You could also use openssl s_client -connect localhost:5555, as noted on other answers to verify more in detail the encrypted communication.

Good luck!

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 18 '11 at 13:27

0

Have you got Perl with LWP::Simple?

answered Feb 18 '11 at 13:27

Tom Newton

4,021
2
23
28

Unfortunately not, no - the server is under change control as well, which prevents anything being installed (at least without going through due diligence and testing, and we didn't have time for that). Thanks anyway. – Paul Russell Feb 18 '11 at 15:39

Alternatives to CURL, WGET

3 Answers3