curl_global_init(3) libcurl Manual curl_global_init(3)
NAME
curl_global_init - Global libcurl initialization
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_global_init(long flags);
DESCRIPTION
This function sets up the program environment that libcurl needs. Think
of it as an extension of the library loader.
This function must be called at least once within a program (a program is
all the code that shares a memory space) before the program calls any
other function in libcurl. The environment it sets up is constant for the
life of the program and is the same for every program, so multiple calls
have the same effect as one call.
The flags option is a bit pattern that tells libcurl exactly what
features to init, as described below. Set the desired bits by ORing the
values together. In normal operation, you must specify CURL_GLOBAL_ALL.
Do not use any other value unless you are familiar with it and mean to
control internal operations of libcurl.
This function is thread-safe since libcurl 7.84.0 if curl_version_info(3)
has the CURL_VERSION_THREADSAFE feature bit set (most platforms).
If this is not thread-safe, you must not call this function when any
other thread in the program (i.e. a thread sharing the same memory) is
running. This does not just mean no other thread that is using libcurl.
Because curl_global_init(3) calls functions of other libraries that are
similarly thread unsafe, it could conflict with any other thread that
uses these other libraries.
If you are initializing libcurl from a Windows DLL you should not
initialize it from DllMain or a static initializer because Windows holds
the loader lock during that time and it could cause a deadlock.
See the description in libcurl(3) of global environment requirements for
details of how to use this function.
FLAGS
CURL_GLOBAL_ALL
Initialize everything possible. This sets all known bits except
CURL_GLOBAL_ACK_EINTR.
CURL_GLOBAL_SSL
(This flag's presence or absence serves no meaning since 7.57.0.
The description below is for older libcurl versions.)
Initialize SSL.
The implication here is that if this bit is not set, the
initialization of the SSL layer needs to be done by the
application or at least outside of libcurl. The exact procedure
how to do SSL initialization depends on the TLS backend libcurl
uses.
Doing TLS based transfers without having the TLS layer initialized
may lead to unexpected behaviors.
CURL_GLOBAL_WIN32
Initialize the Win32 socket libraries.
The implication here is that if this bit is not set, the
initialization of winsock has to be done by the application or you
risk getting undefined behaviors. This option exists for when the
initialization is handled outside of libcurl so there's no need
for libcurl to do it again.
CURL_GLOBAL_NOTHING
Initialize nothing extra. This sets no bit.
CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT
A sensible default. It will init both SSL and Win32. Right now,
this equals the functionality of the CURL_GLOBAL_ALL mask.
CURL_GLOBAL_ACK_EINTR
This bit has no point since 7.69.0 but its behavior is instead the
default.
Before 7.69.0: when this flag is set, curl will acknowledge EINTR
condition when connecting or when waiting for data. Otherwise,
curl waits until full timeout elapses. (Added in 7.30.0)
EXAMPLE
curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT);
/* use libcurl, then before exiting... */
curl_global_cleanup();
AVAILABILITY
Added in 7.8
RETURN VALUE
If this function returns non-zero, something went wrong and you cannot
use the other curl functions.
SEE ALSO
curl_global_init_mem(3), curl_global_cleanup(3), curl_global_sslset(3),
curl_easy_init(3) libcurl(3)
libcurl 7.86.0 September 20, 2022 curl_global_init(3)
curl 7.86.0 - Generated Tue Nov 1 08:11:48 CDT 2022