SCP(1)                      General Commands Manual                     SCP(1)

NAME
     scp – secure copy (remote file copy program)

SYNOPSIS
     scp [-pqrvBC1246] [-F ssh_config] [-S program] [-P port] [-c cipher]
         [-i identity_file] [-l limit] [-o ssh_option] [[user@]host1:]file1
         [...] [[user@]host2:]file2

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).  Unlike rcp(1), scp will ask for passwords or passphrases if
     they are needed for authentication.

     Any file name may contain a host and user specification to indicate that
     the file is to be copied to/from that host.  Copies between two remote
     hosts are permitted.

     The options are as follows:

     -c cipher
             Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfer.  This
             option is directly passed to ssh(1).

     -i identity_file
             Selects the file from which the identity (private key) for RSA
             authentication is read.  This option is directly passed to
             ssh(1).

     -l limit
             Limits the used bandwidth, specified in Kbit/s.

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

     -r      Recursively copy entire directories.

     -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.

     -B      Selects batch mode (prevents asking for passwords or
             passphrases).

     -q      Disables the progress meter.

     -C      Compression enable.  Passes the -C flag to ssh(1) to enable
             compression.

     -F ssh_config
             Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file for ssh.
             This option is directly passed to ssh(1).

     -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 in
             rcp(1).

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

     -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.

     -1      Forces scp to use protocol 1.

     -2      Forces scp to use protocol 2.

     -4      Forces scp to use IPv4 addresses only.

     -6      Forces scp to use IPv6 addresses only.

DIAGNOSTICS
     scp exits with 0 on success or >0 if an error occurred.

SEE ALSO
     rcp(1), 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(1) program in BSD source code from the Regents of
     the University of California.

AUTHORS
     Timo Rinne ⟨tri@iki.fi⟩ and
     Tatu Ylonen ⟨ylo@cs.hut.fi⟩

BSD                           September 25, 1999                           BSD