scp [options] [source_path] [destination_path]
1. Upload local file to remote server
scp ./file.txt user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/
2. Download file from remote server to local
scp user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/file.txt ./file.txt
3. Upload directory to remote server
scp -r ./mydir user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/
4. Download directory from remote server to local
scp -r user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/mydir ./mydir
5. Use specific port (e.g., 2222)
scp -P 2222 ./file.txt user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/
6. Use specific private key file
scp -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa ./file.txt user@192.168.1.10:/home/user/
| Option | Description |
|---|
-r | Recursively copy entire directories |
-P | Specify remote host port (note: uppercase P) |
-i | Specify SSH private key file |
-C | Enable compression to improve transfer speed |
-p | Preserve file modification times, permissions |
-q | Quiet mode, suppress progress information |
| Type | Example |
|---|
| Local path | ./file.txt or /home/user/file.txt |
| Remote path | user@host:/path/to/file.txt |
| Error | Possible Cause |
|---|
Permission denied | Invalid SSH key, or no write permission to remote directory |
No such file or directory | Incorrect source or destination path |
Connection refused | Target port unreachable or SSH service not running |
Host key verification failed | First time connecting to remote host, host fingerprint not accepted. Try ssh login first |
Copy file between two remote servers
scp user1@host1:/path/file.txt user2@host2:/path/
Current machine must have access to both host1 and host2
Batch upload files (script example)
for f in *.log; do
scp "$f" user@host:/var/logs/
done
scp ./local.txt user@host:/remote/path/
scp user@host:/remote/file.txt ./local/
scp -r ./dir user@host:/remote/
scp -i ~/.ssh/key.pem -P 2222 ./file user@host:/dest/
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