php - Curl POST - 411 Length Required

We have a RestFUL API we build in PHP. If we make the request:

curl -u api-key:api-passphrase https://api.domain.com/v1/product -X POST

We get back:

411 - Length Required

Though if we simply add -d "" onto the request it works and no 411 error. Is there a way to not require adding -d to the curl command?

We are using lighttpd web server, and believe its lighttpd NOT php who is returning the 411 error.

Answer

You are correct -- lighttpd doesn't support POST requests with an empty message body without a 'Content-Length' header set to zero, and CURL sends such a request. There's argument back and forth about who's right, but in my opinion, lighttpd is broken. A POST with no Content-Length and no Transfer-Encoding is perfectly legal and has no message body.

Adding -d "" causes CURL to send a Content-Length: 0 header, which resolves the problem.

You could modify lighttp. Find the code that issues the 411 error and instead set the content length to zero.