Web authentication through C program

First of all, the goals are not security nor user-friendliness. (Meaning no visual crap and no password encoding/ mega security stuff)

Server-side I want the simplest thing possible. Just a way to authenticate some ~5 users but knowing who they are when they do. Once they are authenticated I'll serve them a file (I haven't decided yet what, .txt or xml or something) and they won't be able to do anything else.

So from the program standpoint, I need to connect to my server, authenticate somehow, get a file, and disconnect. The user only interacts with the program with a simple user/pass combo. The rest is automatic. I was looking to libcurl for the connection+authentication+download, but I would like to hear suggestions because from this list: libcurl competitors, there seems to be much offer available.

I think of it as the same as when I do sudo aptitude install, but the sudo part would go on the server if that开发者_如何学编程 makes any sense.

So my question is, how can I make a page with an authentication (note that it doesn't have to have any visual output) which then lets the program download a file. And how do I connect to it?

Simplest thing possible would be to keep the path to the files secret and authenticating people by giving them the link.

You might find this page on HTTP Basic authentication useful. You can either roll your own HTTP server or configure an existing httpd. Then, you can write a simple shell script that calls out to curl to authenticate and download the page.

If your users can have accounts on the server, a way would be to use the scp command. They will be prompted for their password. You can wrap it in a shell script or call it from a C program using system or equivalent.

Edit: Then you may look into protecting a directory by a .htaccess and a .htpsswd. I don't know it is accessible through libcurl or any other C library though.