scp copies files between hosts on a network. It uses ssh for data transfer, and uses the same authentication and provides the same security as a login session. The scp protocol requires execution of the remote user's shell to perform glob pattern matching. scp will ask for passwords or passphrases if they are needed for authentication.
# USAGE
scp <options> source destination
# copy/upload a file from local file system to remote host
scp some_file user@host:/path/to/some_file
# download a file from remote host to localhost
scp user@host:/path/to/some_file /local/path/to_some_file
# copy/upload entire directory from local to remote host
scp -r /path/to/dir user@host:/path/to/dir
# download entire directory from remote host to local host
scp -r user@host:/path/to/dir /path/to/dir
# upload multiple files to remote
scp some_file.jpg hello.txt user@host:/path/to/directoryLast Updated: April 24, 2022