Moving Files Remotely

Just as ssh secures the shell, scp and sftp secure file transfers.

scp (Secure Copy)

scp copies files between hosts on a network, using the SSH protocol for data transfer and authentication.

1. Copying a local file TO a remote machine:

bash

Copy report.txt to the remote user's home directory (~) on the server

$ scp report.txt user@server_ip:~

2. Copying a file FROM a remote machine to local:

bash

Copy log file from remote server to the current local directory (.)

$ scp user@server_ip:/var/log/syslog .

3. Recursive Copy (-r): Required for directories.

bash $ scp -r local_dir user@server_ip:/backup/

sftp (Secure File Transfer Protocol)

sftp provides an interactive command-line environment similar to FTP, but secured by SSH. It is useful for managing multiple files or navigating the remote filesystem before transfer.