scp Command Cheat Sheet

scp (Secure Copy) copies files between hosts on a network. It uses SSH for data transfer, and uses the same authentication and provides the same security as SSH.

Note: Modern scp usually uses the SFTP protocol under the hood, but the CLI syntax remains distinct.

Synopsis

scp [Option] [user@]SRC_HOST:]file1 [user@]DEST_HOST:]file2

Basic Copying

Local to Remote (Upload)

scp file.txt user@remote:/home/user/

If you omit the filename at the end, it keeps the original name.

Remote to Local (Download)

scp user@remote:/var/log/syslog ./local_syslog

Remote to Remote (3-way copy)

Transfer a file from Server A to Server B, running the command from your laptop. (Requires Agent Forwarding or explicit auth).

scp user@serverA:/file.txt user@serverB:/backup/

Directories

Recursive Copy (-r)

Copies the directory and its entire content.

scp -r project_folder/ user@remote:/var/www/

Performance & Attributes

Preserve Attributes (-p)

Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the original file.

scp -p file.txt user@remote:/tmp/

Compression (-C)

Enables compression (gzip) during transfer. Good for slow networks or text files.

scp -C large_log.txt user@remote:/tmp/

Limit Bandwidth (-l)

Limit the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.

# Limit to 1000 Kbit/s (approx 125 KB/s)
scp -l 1000 video.mp4 user@remote:/tmp/

Connection Options

Specify Port (-P)

Note: It's capital -P (unlike ssh which uses -p).

scp -P 2222 file.txt user@remote:/tmp/

Using Identity File (-i)

scp -i ~/.ssh/my_key.pem file.txt user@aws-instance:/tmp/

Quiet Mode (-q)

Disable the progress meter and warning/diagnostic messages.

scp -q file.txt user@remote:/tmp/

scp vs rsync

Feature	`scp`	`rsync`
Simple usage	Easier	Slightly more complex flags
Resuming	No (mostly)	Yes (excellent)
Speed	Copies everything	Copies only differences (Delta)
Symlinks	Follows (usually)	Preserves (`-l`)

Recommendation: Use scp for quick, one-off single file copies. Use rsync for everything else (directories, large files, mirroring).

Troubleshooting

"Permission denied (publickey)"

The remote server rejected your key. Check permissions on ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the remote side.

"scp: /path/: Is a directory"

You forgot the -r flag.

"Host key verification failed"

The remote server's fingerprint changed. Remove the old entry from ~/.ssh/known_hosts using ssh-keygen -R hostname.