scp Command Quick Reference
Basic Syntax
scp [options] [source_path] [destination_path]
Common Usage Examples
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/
Common Options
| 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 |
Common Error Troubleshooting
| 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 |
Additional Tips
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
Common Command Templates
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/