scp command can be used to copy files from local to remote system in Linux
Published on Aug. 22, 2023, 12:12 p.m.
SCP stands for ‘Secure Copy’. scp is a command-line utility offered by Linux.
Scp can be a very good option to make a secure transfer of the files and directories.
You can heavily rely on the scp command for confidentiality and integrity respectively.
Getting started with scp command .
You can transfer files using the scp command.
scp [Option] [source_file_name] [user@destination_Host]:destination_folder
The colon (:) symbol is used in syntax. It separates between the local and remote locations.We use the colon (:) with the remote system to specify the directory.In case we do not specify the target directory, then the files will be copied to the home directory.
Options used with scp oppress.
Some of the most popular options used with the scp command .
Copying files from local to remote system.
Scp allows you to transfer files from your local system to a remote system .
General Syntax: oppress.
scp [file_name] remote_user@host:[destination_folder]
Let us check the output on the remote system .
root@ubuntu-s-1vcpu-1gb-blr1-01:~/gaurav# ls
apache-tomcat-9.0.8.tar.gz
root@ubuntu-s-1vcpu-1gb-blr1-01:~/gaurav#
Thus, the file is successfully copied to the remote system.
Copying files to a remote system.
容器，拖动内容到这里添加！
General Syntax:
scp [file 1] [file 2] [file n] remote_username@remote_host:[specific directory]
Example:
scp ath.html abc.txt ppa-purge_0.2.8+bzr56_all.deb [email protected]:gaurav
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp ath.html abc.txt ppa-purge_0.2.8+bzr56_all.deb [email protected]:gaurav
[email protected]'s password:
ath.html 100% 199KB 94.7KB/s 00:02
abc.txt 100% 0 0.0KB/s 00:00
ppa-purge_0.2.8+bzr56_all.deb 100% 4360 42.2KB/s 00:00
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
On remote system:
root@ubuntu-s-1vcpu-1gb-blr1-01:~/gaurav# ls -l
total 9800
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Oct 5 08:58 abc.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9818695 Oct 5 08:35 apache-tomcat-9.0.8.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 204057 Oct 5 08:58 ath.html
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4360 Oct 5 08:58 ppa-purge_0.2.8+bzr56_all.deb
root@ubuntu-s-1vcpu-1gb-blr1-01:~/gaurav#
Copying a directory to a remote system.
The -r option is used to copy directories recursively.That means, all the sub-folder will also be copied.
General syntax:
scp -r [directory path] remote_username@remote_host:[target_directory]
Example:
scp -r PycharmProjects [email protected]:gaurav
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp -r PycharmProjects [email protected]:gaurav
[email protected]'s password:
__main__.py 100% 623 7.8KB/s 00:00
__init__.py 100% 23 0.4KB/s 00:00
completion.py 100% 2929 28.1KB/s 00:00
search.py 100% 4728 38.7KB/s 00:00
uninstall.py 100% 2963 32.5KB/s 00:00
hash.py 100% 1681 21.3KB/s 00:00
check.py 100% 1430 16.8KB/s 00:00
configuration.py 100% 7125 50.4KB/s 00:00
show.py 100% 6289 49.8KB/s 00:00
download.py 100% 6623 48.2KB/s 00:00
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Displaying detailed information about the .
You can use the -v (lowercase v) option to display the information about the files that are being copied on.
General Syntax:
scp -v [file_name] user_name@user_host:<folder>
Example:
scp -v apache-tomcat-9.0.8.tar.gz [email protected]:team
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp -v apache-tomcat-9.0.8.tar.gz [email protected]:team
Executing: program /usr/bin/ssh host 159.89.170.11, user root, command scp -v -t team
OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.3, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
debug1: Reading configuration data /home/gaurav/.ssh/config
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 19: Applying options for *
debug1: Connecting to 159.89.170.11 [159.89.170.11] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: key_load_public: No such file or directory
debug1: identity file /home/gaurav/.ssh/id_rsa type -1
apache-tomcat-9.0.8.tar.gz 100% 9589KB 99.8KB/s 01:36
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug1: fd 0 clearing O_NONBLOCK
debug1: fd 1 clearing O_NONBLOCK
Transferred: sent 9826736, received 4016 bytes, in 97.2 seconds
Bytes per second: sent 101133.9, received 41.3
debug1: Exit status 0
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Transferring files between two remote hosts wirelessly.
You can transfer files and directories between two remotes hosts.
General Syntax:
scp remote_user_1@host_1:/[file_name] remote_user_2@host_2:[folder_to_save]
The syntax seems a bit wider but is pretty simple.
Example:
scp -r [email protected]:gaurav [email protected]:/team
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp -r [email protected]:/gaurav [email protected]:/team
[email protected]'s password:
1.py 100% 134 261.3KB/s 00:00
variables.py 100% 377 949.2KB/s 00:00
abc.txt 100% 0 0.0KB/s 00:00
ath.html 100% 199KB 41.8MB/s 00:00
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Transfer files from the remote system to the local system.
You can easily transfer the files or directories from the remote system to your local system .
General Syntax:
scp remote_username@user_host:/files/file.txt /[folder_of_local_system]
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp [email protected]:how.txt .
[email protected]'s password:
how.txt 100% 11 0.1KB/s 00:00
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Output:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ ls -l how.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 gaurav gaurav 11 Oct 6 09:49 how.txt
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Compressing files to make quicker transfers.
Using the -Coption compress the larger size files facilitates a faster transfer.
General Syntax:
scp -C [file_name] user_name@user_host:[target_folder]
Transfer without -C option:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp -rv dlink [email protected]:team
Executing: program /usr/bin/ssh host 68.183.82.183, user root, command scp -v -r -t team
OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.3, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
debug1: Reading configuration data /home/trinity/.ssh/config
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 19: Applying options for *
debug1: Connecting to 68.183.82.183 [68.183.82.183] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug1: fd 0 clearing O_NONBLOCK
debug1: fd 1 clearing O_NONBLOCK
Transferred: sent 7516504, received 4008 bytes, in 74.6 seconds
Bytes per second: sent 100693.7, received 53.7
debug1: Exit status 0
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Transfer with -C option:
gaurav@ubuntu:~$ scp -Crv dlink [email protected]:team
Executing: program /usr/bin/ssh host 68.183.82.183, user root, command scp -v -r -t team
OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.3, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
debug1: Reading configuration data /home/trinity/.ssh/config
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 19: Applying options for *
debug1: Connecting to 68.183.82.183 [68.183.82.183] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
.
.
webupload.img 100% 1834KB 98.7KB/s 00:18
Sending file modes: C0664 1877552 router.img
Sink: C0664 1877552 router.img
router.img 100% 1834KB 100.3KB/s 00:18
Sink: E
Sending file modes: C0664 3754103 DSL-2750U-Release-IN-T-01.00.07.zip
Sink: C0664 3754103 DSL-2750U-Release-IN-T-01.00.07.zip
DSL-2750U-Release-IN-T-01.00.07.zip 100% 3666KB 218.5KB/s 00:16
Sink: E
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug1: fd 0 clearing O_NONBLOCK
debug1: fd 1 clearing O_NONBLOCK
Transferred: sent 7518864, received 3828 bytes, in 51.0 seconds
Bytes per second: sent 100245.4, received 51.0
debug1: Exit status 0
debug1: compress outgoing: raw data 7511925, compressed 7513136, factor 1.00
debug1: compress incoming: raw data 1467, compressed 999, factor 0.68
gaurav@ubuntu:~$
Here, we can easily observe that using the -C option with the scp command has allowed us to compress the file over the network thus proving to be a time-saver option.
Using a different SSH port for file transfer .
While using the scp command the default port deployed is port 22.Scp command to use the port of your choice.
General Syntax:
cp -P [new_port_number] [file_name/directory_name] remote_user@host:[destination_folder]
Example:
scp -P 4248 dlink [email protected]:team