SCP(1) | General Commands Manual | SCP(1)

# NAME

`scp` —
secure copy (remote file copy program)

# SYNOPSIS

`scp` | [`-346BCpqrTv`] [`-c` cipher] [`-F` ssh_config] [`-i` identity_file] [`-J` destination] [`-l` limit] [`-o` ssh_option] [`-P` port] [`-S` program] source ... target

# DESCRIPTION

`scp` copies files between hosts on a network. It uses ssh(1) for data transfer, and uses the same authentication and provides the same security as ssh(1). `scp` will ask for passwords or passphrases if they are needed for authentication.

The source and target may be specified as a local pathname, a remote host with optional path in the form [user@]host:[path], or a URI in the form scp:// [user@]host[:port][/path]. Local file names can be made explicit using absolute or relative pathnames to avoid `scp` treating file names containing ‘:’ as host specifiers.

When copying between two remote hosts, if the URI format is used, a port may only be specified on the target if the `-3` option is used.

The options are as follows:

`-3`
  Copies between two remote hosts are transferred through the local host. Without this option the data is copied directly between the two remote hosts. Note that this option disables the progress meter.
`-4`
  Forces `scp` to use IPv4 addresses only.
`-6`
  Forces `scp` to use IPv6 addresses only.
`-B`
  Selects batch mode (prevents asking for passwords or passphrases).
`-C`
  Compression enable. Passes the `-C` flag to ssh(1) to enable compression.
`-c` cipher
  Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfer. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
`-F` ssh_config
  Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for `ssh`. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
`-i` identity_file
  Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for public key authentication is read. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
`-J` destination
  Connect to the target host by first making an `scp` connection to the jump host described by destination and then establishing a TCP forwarding to the ultimate destination from there. Multiple jump hops may be specified separated by comma characters. This is a shortcut to specify a `ProxyJump` configuration directive. This option is directly passed to ssh(1).
`-l` limit
  Limits the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.
`-o` ssh_option
  Can be used to pass options to `ssh` in the format used in ssh_config(5). This is useful for specifying options for which there is no separate `scp` command-line flag. For full details of the options listed below, and their possible values, see ssh_config(5).

  AddressFamily
  BatchMode
  BindAddress
  BindInterface
  CanonicalDomains
  CanonicalizeFallbackLocal
  CanonicalizeHostname
  CanonicalizeMaxDots
  CanonicalizePermittedCNAMEs
  CASignatureAlgorithms
  CertificateFile
  ChallengeResponseAuthentication
  CheckHostIP
  Ciphers
  Compression
  ConnectionAttempts
  ConnectTimeout
  ControlMaster
  ControlPath
  ControlPersist
  GlobalKnownHostsFile
  GSSAPIAuthentication
  GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
  HashKnownHosts
  Host
  HostbasedAuthentication
  HostbasedKeyTypes
  HostKeyAlgorithms
  HostKeyAlias
  HostName
  IdentitiesOnly
  IdentityAgent
  IdentityFile
  IPQoS
  KbdInteractiveAuthentication
  KbdInteractiveDevices
  KexAlgorithms
  LogLevel
  MACs
  NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
  NumberOfPasswordPrompts
  PasswordAuthentication
  PKCS11Provider
  Port
  PreferredAuthentications
  ProxyCommand
  ProxyJump
  PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes
  PubkeyAuthentication
  RekeyLimit
  SendEnv
  ServerAliveInterval
  ServerAliveCountMax
  SetEnv
  StrictHostKeyChecking
  TCPKeepAlive
  UpdateHostKeys
  User
  UserKnownHostsFile
  VerifyHostKeyDNS
`-P` port
  Specifies the port to connect to on the remote host. Note that this option is written with a capital ‘P’, because `-p` is already reserved for preserving the times and modes of the file.
`-p`
  Preserves modification times, access times, and modes from the original file.
`-q`
  Quiet mode: disables the progress meter as well as warning and diagnostic messages from ssh(1).
`-r`
  Recursively copy entire directories. Note that `scp` follows symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal.
`-S` program
  Name of program to use for the encrypted connection. The program must understand ssh(1) options.
`-T`
  Disable strict filename checking. By default when copying files from a remote host to a local directory `scp` checks that the received filenames match those requested on the command-line to prevent the remote end from sending unexpected or unwanted files. Because of differences in how various operating systems and shells interpret filename wildcards, these checks may cause wanted files to be rejected. This option disables these checks at the expense of fully trusting that the server will not send unexpected filenames.
`-v`
  Verbose mode. Causes `scp` and ssh(1) to print debugging messages about their progress. This is helpful in debugging connection, authentication, and configuration problems.

# EXIT STATUS

The `scp` utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

# SEE ALSO

sftp(1), ssh(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), ssh-keygen(1), ssh_config(5), sshd(8)

# HISTORY

`scp` is based on the rcp program in BSD source code from the Regents of the University of California.

# AUTHORS

Timo Rinne <tri@iki.fi>
Tatu Ylonen <ylo@cs.hut.fi>

January 26 2019 | NetBSD 9.3