How to copy directory via scp within gradle task?

Question

What is a clean and elegant way to copy a bunch of files via scp with Gradle?

Two ways I currently see are:

• Using Apache Wagon, as described here: http://markmail.org/message/2tmtaffayhq25g4s
• Executing scp via command line with the Exec task

Are there any better (more obvious) ways to approach this?

Answer 1

A few years after the original question, I like the Gradle SSH Plugin. A small quote of its extensive documentation:

We can describe SSH operations in the session closure.

session(remotes.web01) {
  // Execute a command
  def result = execute 'uptime'

  // Any Gradle methods or properties are available in a session closure
  copy {
    from "src/main/resources/example"
    into "$buildDir/tmp"
  }

  // Also Groovy methods or properties are available in a session closure
  println result
}

Following methods are available in a session closure.

• execute - Execute a command.
• executeBackground - Execute a command in background.
• executeSudo - Execute a command with sudo support.
• shell - Execute a shell.
• put - Put a file or directory into the remote host.
• get - Get a file or directory from the remote host.

...and allows for, for example:

task deploy(dependsOn: war) << {
  ssh.run {
    session(remotes.staging) {
      put from: war.archivePath.path, into: '/webapps'
      execute 'sudo service tomcat restart'
    }
  }
}