The scp(secure copy) command allows you to copy files or directories (use the -r option to copy directories) between remote systems. A connection is established, files are copied, and the connection closes.
Transfer file from local server to remote server
To copy a file to a remote system (upload), the format of the scp command is:
# scp [options] local-file [user@]to-host[:remote-file]
For example, to copy a file named test to the remote user’s home directory on host03 with user root.
# scp /var/tmp/test root@host03
To transfer the file to any other location on remote host than the user’s home directory :
# scp /var/tmp/test root@host03:/data
Transfer file to remote host with new name on remote host
To copy the same file to the same location but rename it to new_test use the below command.
# scp test root@host03:/var/tmp/new_test
Transfer file from remote server to local server
To copy a file from a remote system (download), the format of the scp command is:
# scp [options] [user@]from-host:remote-file local-file
For example, to copy a file named new_test from user’s home directory on remote host03:
# scp host03:new_test .
The dot (.) here represents the current directory of the user on local server.
To transfer file from remote host to local host with new name
To copy a file named new_test from user’s home directory on remote host03 and rename it to newer_test:
# scp host03:new_test newer_test
Transfer directories
To transfer directory from local server to remote server(host03) recursively use the -r option with scp command.
# scp -r /dir root@host03:/data
Similarly to transfer directory from remote server to local server recursively:
# scp -r root@host03:/data /var/tmp
Use different port than 22 with scp
By default the port used by ssh/scp commands is 22. If you want to use a port other than this use the -P switch with scp command. For example:
# scp -P 2222 testfile root@host03:/var/tmp