SCP(1)                    BSD General Commands Manual                   SCP(1)

NAME
     scp -- secure copy (remote file copy program)

SYNOPSIS
     scp [-346BCpqrv] [-c cipher] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
         [-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 com-
             pression.

     -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).

     -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
                   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 sym-
             bolic links encountered in the tree traversal.

     -S program
             Name of program to use for the encrypted connection.  The program
             must understand ssh(1) options.

     -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>

BSD                            November 14, 2024                           BSD