scp

SCP Linux Command – How to SSH File Transfer from Remote to Local

SCP Syntax

scp [OPTIONS] [[user@]src_host:]file1 [[user@]dest_host:]file2

• scp - It initializes the command and ensures a secure shell is in place.
• OPTIONS - They grant different permissions depending on how they have been used. Some of the most common options include:
• P(Caps) - specifies the port to establish connection with the remote host.
• p(lowercase) - preserves the times-tamp for ease of modification and access.
• r - copies the entire directory recursively
• q - copies files quietly, doesn't display the progress messages. Also known as quiet mode.
• C - for compression of data during transmission.
• To understand more about OPTIONS read scp options
• src_host - where the file is hosted. The source can either be a client or server depending on the origin of the file.
• dest_host - where the file will be copied to.

Examples

Copy File from Local Host to Remote Host

scp test.txt user@destination:/location

Copy all files ending in php to Remote Host

scp *.php user@destination:/~/

• *.php - copies all the files with the .php extension in the currently specified folder.
• /~/ - means copy them to the home directory.

Copy a file with one name but save it on remote host with a different filename

scp -P 8080 test.txt user@destination:/user/home/test2.txt

Copy Files from Remote Host to Local Host

scp <remote_username>@<IPorHost>:<PathToFile> <LocalFileLocation>

Copy File test2.txt from Remote Host to Local Host

scp user@remotehost:test2.txt .

Copy Files from Remote Host to another Remote Host

scp user1@host1.com:/files/test.txt user2@host2.com:/files

Copy Multiple Files

scp file1 file2 ... user@<ip_address_of_user>: Destination

So SCP is a very powerful tool when needing to move files around between systems over the network