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scp data transfer

SCP uses Secure Shell (SSH) to transfer data between client and remote server, it’s fast and secure. In this article, we will show you two common SCP copying examples :

  1. Copying data from your computer to remote server.
  2. Copying data from remote server to your computer.
1. Copying data to Remote Server

Example 1.1 – Copying a file.

scp SourceFile user@server:directory/TargetFile

Copy a file “gae.log” from local computer to remote server(mkyong.com), ‘/home/mkyong/‘ folder, via username “mkyong“.

$ scp gae.log mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
gae.log     100% 4193     4.1KB/s   00:00

Example 1.2 – Copying a folder, and all its content.

scp -r SourceFolder user@server:directory/TargetFolder

Copy a folder “tutorials” from local computer to server(mkyong.com), ‘/home/mkyong/‘ folder, via username “mkyong“.

$ scp -r tutorials mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
aweber.txt       100% 2895     2.8KB/s   00:01    
codetraining.txt 100%  330     0.3KB/s   00:00    
contact.txt      100%  146     0.1KB/s   00:00    
eclipse.txt      100% 5719     5.6KB/s   00:00
2. Copying data from Remote Server

Example 2.1 – Copying a file.

scp user@server:directory/SourceFile TargetFile

Copy a file “/home/mkyong/modsec_audit.log” from remote server(mkyong.com), to local, current folder (“.“), via username “root“.

$ scp root@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/modsec_audit.log .
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
modsec_audit.log  100%  244KB 122.1KB/s   00:02

Example 2.2 – Copying a folder, and all its content.

scp -r user@server:directory/SourceFolder TargetFolder

Copy a folder “/home/mkyong/mail” from remote server(mkyong.com), to local, current folder (“.“), via username “mkyong“.

Yongs-MacBook-Air:~ mkyong$ scp -r mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/mail .
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
courierimapuiddb      100%   15     0.0KB/s   00:00    
courierpop3dsizelist  100%   88     0.1KB/s   00:01    
courierimapacl        100%   43     0.0KB/s   00:00    
maildirsize           100%  348     0.3KB/s   00:00
SSH Port
If your server uses a SSH port other than the default of 22, use -p portnumber option. 

scp -P 2222 user@host:directory/SourceFile TargetFile
References
  1. Secure Copy (SCP) in Wiki
  2. SSH and SCP how to tips and tricks