CURLOPT_RANDOM_FILE(3)

💅 CURLOPT_RANDOM_FILE(3) 💅

okay so this is from the libcurl manual, Library Functions Manual section, and bestie… we need to talk about this one. it's giving "retired icon". 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

CURLOPT_RANDOM_FILE — the file you'd read random data from (key word: would, past tense, rip 🪦)

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <curl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_RANDOM_FILE, char *path);

like, yes, the signature is right there and it's real, but pls keep reading before you get excited 💀

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so this option is deprecated. it serves no purpose anymore. that's it. that's the whole vibe. it's a decorative little ghost in the codebase, no cap 👻

if you came here looking for lore about entropy and random data sources, i'm so sorry bestie, the plot is literally "nothing happens". the option just sits there, iconic for no reason, main character energy with zero lines. 🙈

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🎀 DEFAULT 🎀

NULL, not used — so the default is nothing and the current behaviour is also nothing. consistent queen. 👑

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💀 DEPRECATED 💀

deprecated since 7.84.0. periodt. do not build your whole personality around this flag.

real talk: it's deprecated, so don't go writing new code that passes it. that's not me being dramatic, that's just the manual. 🫶

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🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

added back in curl 7.7 — ancient history, genuinely a fossil, but like… a cute fossil? 🦋

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode that tells you success or error, standard behaviour, nothing spicy here:

• CURLE_OK (0) — everything was OK 💖
• non-zero — an error happened, and you should go check libcurl-errors(3) for the full scoop

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• CURLOPT_EGDSOCKET(3) — another one from the same era, go look if you're feeling nostalgic 🧚

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate that read 💅 slay. this one came from libcurl, dated 2026-10-12, and it's filed under CURLOPT_RANDOM_FILE(3) — mwah, bye! 🍓💜