SCP (Secure Copy) commands

By | December 1, 2014
The SCP protocol is a network protocol, based on the BSD RCP protocol, which supports file transfers between hosts on a network. SCP uses Secure Shell (SSH) for data transfer and uses the same mechanisms for authentication, thereby ensuring the authenticity and confidentiality of the data in transit. A client can send (upload) files to a server, optionally including their basic attributes (permissions, timestamps). Clients can also request files or directories from a server (download). SCP runs over TCP port 22 by default. Like RCP, there is no RFC that defines the specifics of the protocol. Read more here

Syntax:

$scp [arguments] source destination
  • Copy a file from remote server to the local server

    $ scp usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/file.txt /local/path/

    (or) you could specify the local server address as well, which is optional

    $ scp usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/file.txt usernameOfLocalServer@IPOfLocalServer:/local/path/
  • Copy a file from local server to the remote server

    $ scp /local/path/file.txt usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/

    (or) you could specify the local server address as well, which is optional

    $ scp usernameOfLocalServer@IPOfLocalServer:/local/path/file.txt usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/
  • Copy a directory from remote server to the local server

    $ scp -r usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/folder /local/path/

    (or) you could specify the local server address as well, which is optional

    $ scp -r usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/folder usernameOfLocalServer@IPOfLocalServer:/local/path/
  • If your default port is not 22, Ex: if your port is 2442 , then you should add -P argument as below:

    $ scp -P 2442 usernameOfRemoteServer@IPOfRemoteServer:/path/to/file.txt /local/path/

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