Whats the best method for posting some data from a server side script, to a PHP web app on another server?
I have control over both ends, but I need to keep it as clean as possible.
I'm hoping people don't mistake this as a request for code, I'm not after anything like that, just a suitable method, even the name of a technology is good enough for me. (FYI the recipient web app will be built in Yii which supports REST if that matters).
Use cURL: http://curl.haxx.se
If you're calling from a PHP script, you can use PHP:cURL https://php.net/curl
Probably best to do it over SSL, if you want to keep the info safe.
You can access your REST API with PHPs cURL Extension.
You will find examples here.
If you use a framework, some have alternatives to cURL, which are easier to handle (like Zend http client).
Or for very simple purposes (and if php-settings allow this), you could use file_get_contents().
Most of the answers here mention cURL, which is fine for smaller use-cases. However if you have more complex and/or growing needs, or plan to open up access to other servers in the future, you might want to consider creating and consuming a web service.
This article makes a somewhat compelling argument for RESTful web services over SOAP-based, but depending on who will be consuming the service, a SOAP-based web service can be both simple to consume (How to easily consume a web service from PHP) and set up (php web service example). Consuming a RESTful web service is easily done via cURL (Call a REST API in PHP).
The choice really comes down to scope and your consuming audience.
