CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH(3)

CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH - ignore content length

#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH,
                          long ignore);

If ignore is set to 1L, ignore the Content-Length header in the HTTP response and ignore asking for or relying on it for FTP transfers.

This is useful for doing HTTP transfers with ancient web servers which report incorrect content length for files over 2 gigabytes. If this option is used, curl cannot accurately report progress, and it instead stops the download when the server ends the connection.

It is also useful with FTP when for example the file is growing while the transfer is in progress which otherwise unconditionally causes libcurl to report error.

Only use this option if strictly necessary.

0

HTTP

int main(void)
{
  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
  if(curl) {
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
    /* we know the server is silly, ignore content-length */
    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_IGNORE_CONTENT_LENGTH, 1L);
    curl_easy_perform(curl);
  }
}

Added in 7.14.1. Support for FTP added in 7.46.0. This option is not working for HTTP when libcurl is built to use the hyper backend.

Returns CURLE_OK if the option is supported, and CURLE_UNKNOWN_OPTION if not.

CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION(3), CURLOPT_MAXFILESIZE_LARGE(3)

March 27 2024 libcurl