Copy Files Using SCP

SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) is a secure file transfer command based on SSH used to encryptively transmit files between a local host and a remote host (or between two remote hosts).

Common Scenarios

• Transfer files between a local host and a remote host (Local → Remote)

scp /local/file.txt username@remote_IP:/target path/

Example:

scp ~/test.zip pi@192.168.2.xxx:/home/pi/  # Copy to the remote host's home directory.

• Transfer files between two remote hosts (Remote → Remote)

scp user1@host1:/path/to/file user2@host2:/path/to/dest/

Example:

scp alice@server1:/data/report.txt bob@server2:/backups/

• Transfer files from a remote host to a local host (Remote → Local)

scp username@remote_IP:/remote/file.txt /local/path/

Example:

scp root@192.168.2.xxx:/var/log/app.log ./downloads/  # Download a remote file to a local host.

Recursively Copying Directories

Copy an entire folder (including subfiles and subdirectories):

scp -r /local/directory/ user@host:/target path/

Example:

scp -r ~/my_project/ root@192.168.2.xxx:/home/pi/