Automate scp file transfer using a shell script

shell scp
jimko picture jimko · Aug 28, 2009 · Viewed 352.5k times · Source

I have some n number of files in a directory on my unix system. Is there a way to write a shellscript that will transfer all those files via scp to a specified remote system. I'll specify the password within the script, so that I don't have to enter it for each file.

Answer

Pradeep Pati picture Pradeep Pati · Apr 24, 2013

Instead of hardcoding password in a shell script, use SSH keys, its easier and secure.

$ scp -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa *.derp [email protected]:/path/to/target/directory/

assuming your private key is at ~/.ssh/id_rsa and the files you want to send can be filtered with *.derp

To generate a public / private key pair :

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa

The above will generate 2 files, ~/.ssh/id_rsa (private key) and ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (public key)

To setup the SSH keys for usage (one time task) : Copy the contents of ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub and paste in a new line of ~devops/.ssh/authorized_keys in myserver.org server. If ~devops/.ssh/authorized_keys doesn't exist, feel free to create it.

A lucid how-to guide is available here.

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