SCP for file transfer in Linux CLI - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does SCP stand for and what is its main use?

SCP stands for Secure Copy Protocol. It is used to securely transfer files between computers over a network using SSH.

beginner

Write the basic SCP command to copy a file named report.txt from your local machine to a remote server at [e-mail] in the /home/user/ directory.

The command is: <br>scp report.txt [e-mail]:/home/user/<br>This copies report.txt from your local machine to the remote directory.

intermediate

How do you copy a directory and all its contents using SCP?

Use the -r option to copy directories recursively. For example:<br>scp -r myfolder [e-mail]:/home/user/<br>This copies the entire myfolder directory and its contents.

beginner

What happens if you omit the destination path in an SCP command when copying to a remote server?

If you omit the destination path, SCP copies the file to the remote user's home directory by default.

beginner

How can you copy a file from a remote server to your local machine using SCP?

Use SCP with the remote file as the source and local path as the destination. For example:<br>scp [e-mail]:/home/user/report.txt ./<br>This copies report.txt from the remote server to your current local directory.

Which SCP option allows copying directories recursively?

A -d

B -r

C -p

D -c

The -r option tells SCP to copy directories and their contents recursively.

What protocol does SCP use to secure file transfers?

A SSH

B FTP

C HTTP

D Telnet

SCP uses SSH (Secure Shell) to encrypt and secure file transfers.

What is the default destination directory if none is specified in SCP when copying to a remote server?

A User's home directory

B /root

C /tmp

D /var

If no destination path is given, SCP copies files to the remote user's home directory.

How do you copy a file named data.csv from a remote server to your local machine?

A scp data.csv [e-mail]:/home/user/

B scp ./data.csv [e-mail]:/home/user/

C scp [e-mail]:/home/user/data.csv ./

D scp [e-mail]:data.csv ./

To copy from remote to local, specify the remote file path first, then local destination.

Which of these is NOT a valid SCP command?

A scp file.txt user@host:/path/

B scp -r folder user@host:/path/

C scp user@host:/path/file.txt ./

D scp -x file.txt user@host:/path/

There is no -x option in SCP; this makes the command invalid.

Explain how to use SCP to transfer a directory from your local machine to a remote server.

Think about copying folders and how SCP secures the transfer.

Describe the difference between copying files to a remote server and copying files from a remote server using SCP.

Focus on which side (local or remote) comes first in the command.