Infrastructure & Operations › Linux & Servers

Copying Files Remotely (scp, rsync)

Moving files between machines.

Also known as: scp, rsync, secure copy

Both copy files between machines over SSH, using the same login you already use to reach the server.

scp: simple one-off copy

scp report.pdf alice@server:/home/alice/        # local -> remote
scp alice@server:/var/log/app.log ./            # remote -> local
scp -r build/ alice@server:/srv/site/           # a directory (-r)

The syntax is source destination, and the remote side is written user@host:path.

rsync: copy only what changed

rsync -avz build/ alice@server:/srv/site/

• -a keeps permissions, timestamps and directory structure (archive mode)
• -v shows what it does
• -z compresses during transfer

rsync compares the two sides and sends only the differences, so a second run is fast and an interrupted transfer can be resumed. Add --progress for a progress display.

The classic mistake: the trailing slash

For rsync, a slash on the source changes the meaning:

rsync -a build  server:/srv/site/    # creates /srv/site/build/...
rsync -a build/ server:/srv/site/    # puts the contents directly in /srv/site/

A safety habit with —delete

--delete makes the destination match the source by removing extra files there. Always try it first with --dry-run (or -n), because a wrong path with --delete removes real files.

Which to use? scp is fine for a single file. Use rsync for directories, repeated syncs, and big transfers. Check your system’s documentation, since newer versions of scp may use a different protocol under the hood, but the command syntax stays the same.