NCBI server access via EDirect does not work

Question

[geosmin]

I installed Cygwin and EDirect following the instructions on the NCBI web page. I then ran a test search:

esearch -db pubmed -query "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor"

However, I get this error message:

ERROR: curl command failed ( Thu Dec 10 14:03:20 CET 2020 ) with: 23
https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esearch.fcgi
...
WARNING: FAILURE ( Thu Dec 10 14:02:58 CET 2020 )
nquire -url https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/ esearch.fcgi
...
EMPTY RESULT

I get the same error message when trying to run get_species_taxids.sh. I'm not sure what the problem is and don't even know where to start troubleshooting. Did anyone have a similar problem like this and found a solution?

Answer 1

[GenoMax]

Looks like you either need to install a program called curl or your local firewall may be preventing it from connecting to NCBI.

Rather than using cygwin if you are using Windows 10 you should install WSL and Ubuntu.

Your search is working fine for me so no problems at NCBI.

[geosmin]

Thank you! I installed curl via the cygwin installer and now it works.