---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Long: connect-to
Arg: <HOST1:PORT1:HOST2:PORT2>
Help: Connect to host
Added: 7.49.0
Category: connection
Multi: append
See-also:
  - resolve
  - header
Example:
  - --connect-to example.com:443:example.net:8443 $URL
---

# `--connect-to`

For a request to the given `HOST1:PORT1` pair, connect to `HOST2:PORT2`
instead. This option is suitable to direct requests at a specific server,
e.g. at a specific cluster node in a cluster of servers. This option is only
used to establish the network connection. It does NOT affect the hostname/port
that is used for TLS/SSL (e.g. SNI, certificate verification) or for the
application protocols. `HOST1` and `PORT1` may be the empty string, meaning
"any host/port". `HOST2` and `PORT2` may also be the empty string, meaning
"use the request's original host/port".

A hostname specified to this option is compared as a string, so it needs to
match the name used in request URL. It can be either numerical such as
`127.0.0.1` or the full host name such as `example.org`.