HTTP Client

Overview

This sample application implements an HTTP(S) client that will do an HTTP or HTTPS request and wait for the response from the HTTP server.

The source code for this sample application can be found at: samples/net/sockets/http_client.

Requirements

• Networking with the host system

Building and Running

You can use this application on a supported board, including running it inside QEMU as described in Networking with QEMU.

Build the http-client sample application like this:

west build -b <board to use> samples/net/sockets/http_client -- -DCONF_FILE=<config file to use>

Enabling TLS support

Enable TLS support in the sample by building the project with the overlay-tls.conf overlay file enabled using these commands:

west build -b qemu_x86 samples/net/sockets/http_client -- -DCONF_FILE="prj.conf overlay-tls.conf"

An alternative way is to specify -DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=overlay-tls.conf when running west build or cmake.

The certificate and private key used by the sample can be found in the sample’s samples/net/sockets/http_client/src/ directory. The default certificates used by Socket HTTP Client and https-server.py program found in the net-tools project, enable establishing a secure connection between the samples.

Running http-server in Linux Host

You can run this http-client sample application in QEMU and run the http-server.py (from net-tools) on a Linux host.

To use QEMU for testing, follow the Networking with QEMU guide.

In a terminal window:

$ ./http-server.py

Run http-client application in QEMU:

west build -b qemu_x86 samples/net/sockets/http_client -- -DCONF_FILE=prj.conf
west build -t run

Note that http-server.py must be running in the Linux host terminal window before you start the http-client application in QEMU. Exit QEMU by pressing CTRL+A x.

You can verify TLS communication with a Linux host as well. Just use the https-server.py program in net-tools project.