cURL error 77: error setting certificate file: /etc/ssl/missing-ca.pem

Guzzle formats it as "cURL error 77: error setting certificate file: <path> (see https://curl.se/libcurl/c/libcurl-errors.html) for <url>"; curl_error() returns the part after "cURL error 77: ". Guzzle's own verify option fails earlier, with "SSL CA bundle not found: <path>", when the file is missing.

PHP ext-curl (Guzzle, Laravel HTTP client) — CURLE_SSL_CACERT_BADFILE: curl.cainfo names a file that cannot be loaded

What it means

libcurl could not load the CA bundle PHP told it to use, so no HTTPS request through ext-curl can be made. The path after the colon usually comes from curl.cainfo in php.ini (or CURLOPT_CAINFO set by code). Nothing was sent to the server.

Why it happens

• A php.ini copied from another system

  common

  A curl.cainfo line written for another distribution, a Windows path, or a bundle that was never installed in this image.

• Windows: the configured cacert.pem was moved or never downloaded

  common

  After PHP upgrades into a new folder, curl.cainfo often still points at the old installation.

• The file is not readable by the PHP process

  occasional

  PHP-FPM workers run as a different user than your shell; a bundle readable only by root fails there.

How to fix it

1. 1.

   Find the setting and check the file

   php --ini and php -i show which file sets curl.cainfo; check that the path exists for the user running PHP (FPM may load another php.ini than the CLI).

   php --ini
   php -i | grep -E 'curl.cainfo|openssl.cafile'
   ls -l "$(php -r 'echo ini_get("curl.cainfo");')"

2. 2.

   Point curl.cainfo at an existing bundle

   Use the distribution bundle on Linux or a maintained cacert.pem on Windows, and reload PHP-FPM or the web server.

   ; Linux (Debian/Ubuntu): the system bundle
   curl.cainfo = "/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt"
   ; Windows: absolute path to an existing cacert.pem
   ; curl.cainfo = "C:\php\extras\ssl\cacert.pem"

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