man > scp

TLDR: scp (tldr-pages)

Secure copy.

  • Copy a local file to a remote host
    scp {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}
  • Use a specific port when connecting to the remote host
    scp -P {{port}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}
  • Copy a file from a remote host to a local directory
    scp {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{path/to/local_directory}}
  • Recursively copy the contents of a directory from a remote host to a local directory
    scp -r {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}} {{path/to/local_directory}}
  • Copy a file between two remote hosts transferring through the local host
    scp -3 {{host1}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{host2}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}}
  • Use a specific username when connecting to the remote host
    scp {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_username}}@{{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}}
  • Use a specific SSH private key for authentication with the remote host
    scp -i {{~/.ssh/private_key}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}
  • Use a specific proxy when connecting to the remote host
    scp -J {{proxy_username}}@{{proxy_host}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}
SCP(1)                                 General Commands Manual                                SCP(1)

NAME
       scp — OpenSSH secure file copy

SYNOPSIS
       scp  [-346ABCOpqRrsTv]  [-c  cipher] [-D sftp_server_path] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
           [-J destination] [-l limit] [-o ssh_option]  [-P  port]  [-S  program]  [-X  sftp_option]
           source ... target

DESCRIPTION
       scp copies files between hosts on a network.

       scp  uses the SFTP protocol over a ssh(1) connection for data transfer, and uses the same au‐
       thentication and provides the same security as a login session.

       scp will ask for passwords or passphrases if they are needed for authentication.

       The source and target may be specified as a local pathname, a remote host with optional  path
       in  the form [user@]host:[path], or a URI in the form scp://[user@]host[:port][/path].  Local
       file names can be made explicit using absolute or relative pathnames to  avoid  scp  treating
       file names containing ‘:’ as host specifiers.

       When  copying between two remote hosts, if the URI format is used, a port cannot be specified
       on the target if the -R option is used.

       The options are as follows:

       -3      Copies between two remote hosts are transferred through the local host.  Without this
               option the data is copied directly between the two remote hosts.  Note that, when us‐
               ing the legacy SCP protocol (via the -O flag), this option selects batch mode for the
               second host as scp cannot ask for passwords or passphrases for both hosts.  This mode
               is the default.

       -4      Forces scp to use IPv4 addresses only.

       -6      Forces scp to use IPv6 addresses only.

       -A      Allows forwarding of ssh-agent(1) to the remote system.  The default is not  to  for‐
               ward an authentication agent.

       -B      Selects batch mode (prevents asking for passwords or passphrases).

       -C      Compression enable.  Passes the -C flag to ssh(1) to enable compression.

       -c cipher
               Selects  the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfer.  This option is directly
               passed to ssh(1).

       -D sftp_server_path
               Connect directly to a local SFTP server program rather than a remote one via  ssh(1).
               This option may be useful in debugging the client and server.

       -F ssh_config
               Specifies  an  alternative  per-user  configuration file for ssh.  This option is di‐
               rectly passed to ssh(1).

       -i identity_file
               Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for public key  authentication
               is read.  This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

       -J destination
               Connect  to  the  target  host by first making an scp connection to the jump host de‐
               scribed by destination and then establishing a TCP forwarding to the ultimate  desti‐
               nation  from  there.   Multiple jump hops may be specified separated by comma charac‐
               ters.  This is a shortcut to specify a ProxyJump configuration directive.   This  op‐
               tion is directly passed to ssh(1).

       -l limit
               Limits the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.

       -O      Use the legacy SCP protocol for file transfers instead of the SFTP protocol.  Forcing
               the  use of the SCP protocol may be necessary for servers that do not implement SFTP,
               for backwards-compatibility for particular filename wildcard patterns and for expand‐
               ing paths with a ‘~’ prefix for older SFTP servers.

       -o ssh_option
               Can be used to pass options to ssh in the format used in ssh_config(5).  This is use‐
               ful for specifying options for which there is no separate scp command-line flag.  For
               full  details  of  the  options  listed  below,  and  their  possible   values,   see
               ssh_config(5).

                     AddressFamily
                     BatchMode
                     BindAddress
                     BindInterface
                     CanonicalDomains
                     CanonicalizeFallbackLocal
                     CanonicalizeHostname
                     CanonicalizeMaxDots
                     CanonicalizePermittedCNAMEs
                     CASignatureAlgorithms
                     CertificateFile
                     CheckHostIP
                     Ciphers
                     Compression
                     ConnectionAttempts
                     ConnectTimeout
                     ControlMaster
                     ControlPath
                     ControlPersist
                     GlobalKnownHostsFile
                     GSSAPIAuthentication
                     GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
                     HashKnownHosts
                     Host
                     HostbasedAcceptedAlgorithms
                     HostbasedAuthentication
                     HostKeyAlgorithms
                     HostKeyAlias
                     Hostname
                     IdentitiesOnly
                     IdentityAgent
                     IdentityFile
                     IPQoS
                     KbdInteractiveAuthentication
                     KbdInteractiveDevices
                     KexAlgorithms
                     KnownHostsCommand
                     LogLevel
                     MACs
                     NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
                     NumberOfPasswordPrompts
                     PasswordAuthentication
                     PKCS11Provider
                     Port
                     PreferredAuthentications
                     ProxyCommand
                     ProxyJump
                     PubkeyAcceptedAlgorithms
                     PubkeyAuthentication
                     RekeyLimit
                     RequiredRSASize
                     SendEnv
                     ServerAliveInterval
                     ServerAliveCountMax
                     SetEnv
                     StrictHostKeyChecking
                     TCPKeepAlive
                     UpdateHostKeys
                     User
                     UserKnownHostsFile
                     VerifyHostKeyDNS

       -P port
               Specifies  the port to connect to on the remote host.  Note that this option is writ‐
               ten with a capital ‘P’, because -p is already reserved for preserving the  times  and
               mode bits of the file.

       -p      Preserves modification times, access times, and file mode bits from the source file.

       -q      Quiet  mode:  disables  the progress meter as well as warning and diagnostic messages
               from ssh(1).

       -R      Copies between two remote hosts are performed by connecting to the  origin  host  and
               executing scp there.  This requires that scp running on the origin host can authenti‐
               cate to the destination host without requiring a password.

       -r      Recursively  copy  entire  directories.  Note that scp follows symbolic links encoun‐
               tered in the tree traversal.

       -S program
               Name of program to use for the encrypted connection.   The  program  must  understand
               ssh(1) options.

       -T      Disable  strict  filename checking.  By default when copying files from a remote host
               to a local directory scp checks that the received filenames match those requested  on
               the command-line to prevent the remote end from sending unexpected or unwanted files.
               Because of differences in how various operating systems and shells interpret filename
               wildcards,  these checks may cause wanted files to be rejected.  This option disables
               these checks at the expense of fully trusting that the server  will  not  send  unex‐
               pected filenames.

       -v      Verbose  mode.   Causes  scp  and  ssh(1)  to  print  debugging  messages about their
               progress.  This is helpful in debugging connection, authentication, and configuration
               problems.

       -X sftp_option
               Specify an option that controls aspects of SFTP protocol behaviour.   The  valid  op‐
               tions are:

               nrequests=value
                       Controls  how  many concurrent SFTP read or write requests may be in progress
                       at any point in time during a download or upload.  By default 64 requests may
                       be active concurrently.

               buffer=value
                       Controls the maximum buffer size for a single SFTP read/write operation  used
                       during download or upload.  By default a 32KB buffer is used.

EXIT STATUS
       The scp utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO
       sftp(1),  ssh(1),  ssh-add(1),  ssh-agent(1),  ssh-keygen(1),  ssh_config(5), sftp-server(8),
       sshd(8)

HISTORY
       scp is based on the rcp program in BSD source code from the Regents of the University of Cal‐
       ifornia.

       Since OpenSSH 9.0, scp has used the SFTP protocol for transfers by default.

AUTHORS
       Timo Rinne <tri AT iki.fi>
       Tatu Ylonen <ylo AT cs.fi>

CAVEATS
       The legacy SCP protocol (selected by the -O flag) requires execution  of  the  remote  user's
       shell  to  perform glob(3) pattern matching.  This requires careful quoting of any characters
       that have special meaning to the remote shell, such as quote characters.

Debian                                    December 16, 2022                                   SCP(1)
scp
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION
-3 Copies between two remote hosts are transferred through the local host. Without this -4 Forces scp to use IPv4 addresses only. -6 Forces scp to use IPv6 addresses only. -A Allows forwarding of ssh-agent(1) to the remote system. The default is not to for‐ -B Selects batch mode (prevents asking for passwords or passphrases). -C Compression enable. Passes the -C flag to ssh(1) to enable compression. -c cipher -D sftp_server_path -F ssh_config -i identity_file -J destination -l limit -O Use the legacy SCP protocol for file transfers instead of the SFTP protocol. Forcing -o ssh_option -P port -p Preserves modification times, access times, and file mode bits from the source file. -q Quiet mode: disables the progress meter as well as warning and diagnostic messages -R Copies between two remote hosts are performed by connecting to the origin host and -r Recursively copy entire directories. Note that scp follows symbolic links encoun‐ -S program -T Disable strict filename checking. By default when copying files from a remote host -v Verbose mode. Causes scp and ssh(1) to print debugging messages about their -X sftp_option
EXIT STATUS SEE ALSO HISTORY AUTHORS CAVEATS

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