snippetbashTip

scp — Secure copy. Copy files between hosts using Secure Copy Protocol over SSH. More information: <https:

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandfilescopybetweensecurecliscp

Problem

How to use the scp command: Secure copy. Copy files between hosts using Secure Copy Protocol over SSH. More information: <https://man.openbsd.org/scp>.

Solution

scp — Secure copy. Copy files between hosts using Secure Copy Protocol over SSH. More information: <https://man.openbsd.org/scp>.

Copy a local file to a remote host:

scp {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Use a specific port when connecting to the remote host:

scp -P {{port}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Copy a file from a remote host to a local directory:

scp {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{path/to/local_directory}}

Recursively copy the contents of a directory from a remote host to a local directory:

scp -r {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}} {{path/to/local_directory}}

Copy a file between two remote hosts transferring through the local host:

scp -3 {{host1}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{host2}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}}

Use a specific username when connecting to the remote host:

scp {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_username}}@{{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}}

Use a specific SSH private key for authentication with the remote host:

scp -i {{~/.ssh/private_key}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Use a specific proxy when connecting to the remote host:

scp -J {{proxy_username}}@{{proxy_host}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Code Snippets

Copy a local file to a remote host

scp {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Use a specific port when connecting to the remote host

scp -P {{port}} {{path/to/local_file}} {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}}

Copy a file from a remote host to a local directory

scp {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{path/to/local_directory}}

Recursively copy the contents of a directory from a remote host to a local directory

scp -r {{remote_host}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}} {{path/to/local_directory}}

Copy a file between two remote hosts transferring through the local host

scp -3 {{host1}}:{{path/to/remote_file}} {{host2}}:{{path/to/remote_directory}}

Context

tldr-pages: common/scp

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