SCP uses Secure Shell (SSH) to transfer data between client and remote server, it’s fast and secure. In this article, we will show you two common SCP copying examples :

  1. Copying data from your computer to remote server.
  2. Copying data from remote server to your computer.

1. Copying data to Remote Server

Example 1.1 – Copying a file.

scp SourceFile user@server:directory/TargetFile

Copy a file “gae.log” from local computer to remote server(mkyong.com), ‘/home/mkyong/‘ folder, via username “mkyong“.

$ scp gae.log mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
gae.log     100% 4193     4.1KB/s   00:00

Example 1.2 – Copying a folder, and all its content.

scp -r SourceFolder user@server:directory/TargetFolder

Copy a folder “tutorials” from local computer to server(mkyong.com), ‘/home/mkyong/‘ folder, via username “mkyong“.

$ scp -r tutorials mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
aweber.txt       100% 2895     2.8KB/s   00:01    
codetraining.txt 100%  330     0.3KB/s   00:00    
contact.txt      100%  146     0.1KB/s   00:00    
eclipse.txt      100% 5719     5.6KB/s   00:00

2. Copying data from Remote Server

Example 2.1 – Copying a file.

scp user@server:directory/SourceFile TargetFile

Copy a file “/home/mkyong/modsec_audit.log” from remote server(mkyong.com), to local, current folder (“.“), via username “root“.

$ scp root@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/modsec_audit.log .
 
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
modsec_audit.log  100%  244KB 122.1KB/s   00:02

Example 2.2 – Copying a folder, and all its content.

scp -r user@server:directory/SourceFolder TargetFolder

Copy a folder “/home/mkyong/mail” from remote server(mkyong.com), to local, current folder (“.“), via username “mkyong“.

Yongs-MacBook-Air:~ mkyong$ scp -r mkyong@mkyong.com:/home/mkyong/mail .
Password: 
stdin: is not a tty
courierimapuiddb      100%   15     0.0KB/s   00:00    
courierpop3dsizelist  100%   88     0.1KB/s   00:01    
courierimapacl        100%   43     0.0KB/s   00:00    
maildirsize           100%  348     0.3KB/s   00:00
SSH Port
If your server uses a SSH port other than the default of 22, use -p portnumber option. 

scp -P 2222 user@host:directory/SourceFile TargetFile

References

  1. Secure Copy (SCP) in Wiki
  2. SSH and SCP how to tips and tricks