scp Command in Linux: Copy Remote Files Securely over SSH

The scp command in Linux copies files to/from remote computers using the SSH protocol, securely. 

scp can be used to send or receive files, depending on whether the source or destination is a remote copy path.

A remote path has the following syntax: user@address:/directory.

Examples:

To copy the local file /home/uira/arquivo to servidor.com using the uira user credentials:

$ scp /home/uira/arquivo [email protected]:/tmp

To copy the file /home/www/arquivo from servidor.com to the local directory /home/uira:

$ scp [email protected]:/home/www/arquivo /home/uira

You can also use "." to represent the current directory:

$ scp [email protected]:/home/www/arquivo .

Wildcards can also be used:

$ scp /home/uira/*.js [email protected]:/var/www/html/js

It is important that the user has write permissions in the destination directory.

scp can be used with the following options:

• -C Compresses files during transfer;
• -p Preserves file permissions and access and modification dates;
• -r Recursively copies subdirectories and files;

scp can also be used to make copies directly between two remote machines:

$ scp -rcv usuario1@maquina1:/arquivos usuario2@maquina2:/backup

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