SCP Cheatsheet

A fast operational reference for all SCP flags and everyday patterns.

All Flags

Flag	Description	Example
-r	Recursive (copy directories)	scp -r ./dir/ host:/path/
-P PORT	Custom SSH port	scp -P 2222 file host:/path/
-i KEY	Identity file (SSH key)	scp -i ~/.ssh/key file host:/path/
-C	Enable compression	scp -C file host:/path/
-c CIPHER	Select cipher	scp -c aes128-gcm@openssh.com file host:/path/
-l LIMIT	Bandwidth limit (Kbit/s)	scp -l 8000 file host:/path/
-p	Preserve timestamps and modes	scp -p file host:/path/
-q	Quiet mode (no progress)	scp -q file host:/path/
-v	Verbose (debug output)	scp -v file host:/path/
-F CONFIG	Custom SSH config file	scp -F /etc/ssh/conf file host:/path/
-o OPTION	Pass SSH option	scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no file host:/path/
-J JUMP	ProxyJump (bastion host)	scp -J user@bastion file host:/path/
-3	Route remote-to-remote via local	scp -3 hostA:/f hostB:/f
-4	Force IPv4	scp -4 file host:/path/
-6	Force IPv6	scp -6 file host:/path/
-B	Batch mode (no password prompt)	scp -B file host:/path/
-S PROG	Custom SSH program	scp -S /usr/bin/ssh file host:/path/
-O	Legacy SCP protocol	scp -O file host:/path/
-D PATH	Direct SFTP server program	scp -D /usr/lib/sftp-server file host:/path/
-T	Disable filename check	scp -T file host:/path/
-s	Use SFTP subsystem	scp -s file host:/path/

Common Patterns

File Transfer

# Local → Remote
scp ./file.txt user@host:/path/

# Remote → Local
scp user@host:/path/file.txt ./

# Remote → Remote
scp user@hostA:/path/file.txt user@hostB:/path/

Directory Transfer

# Push directory
scp -r ./project/ user@host:/opt/apps/

# Pull directory
scp -r user@host:/opt/apps/project/ ./

# With preserved attributes
scp -rp ./configs/ user@host:/etc/app/

Wildcards and Multiple Files

# All SQL files
scp ./*.sql user@host:/backups/

# Remote glob (must quote)
scp 'user@host:/var/log/*.log' ./logs/

# Multiple named files
scp file1.txt file2.txt user@host:/data/

# Brace expansion (remote, must quote)
scp 'user@host:/etc/{nginx.conf,hosts}' ./

Custom Port and Key

# Non-standard port
scp -P 2222 ./file.txt user@host:/path/

# Specific SSH key
scp -i ~/.ssh/deploy_key ./app.jar user@host:/opt/

# Both
scp -P 2222 -i ~/.ssh/key ./file.txt user@host:/path/

Jump Host

# Single jump
scp -J user@bastion ./file.txt admin@internal:/path/

# Chained jumps
scp -J user@jump1,user@jump2 ./file.txt admin@target:/path/

# Jump + recursive + compression
scp -J user@bastion -rC ./dir/ admin@internal:/path/

Performance

# Compress (good for text)
scp -C ./access.log user@host:/archive/

# Fast cipher
scp -c aes128-gcm@openssh.com ./large.csv user@host:/data/

# Bandwidth limit (5 MB/s)
scp -l 40000 ./backup.tar.gz user@host:/backups/

# Tar pipe (fastest for many small files)
tar czf - ./dir/ | ssh user@host "tar xzf - -C /opt/"

Debugging

# Verbose
scp -v ./file.txt user@host:/path/

# Maximum debug
scp -vvv ./file.txt user@host:/path/

Bandwidth Conversion Table

Desired Speed	-l Value
500 KB/s	4000
1 MB/s	8000
5 MB/s	40000
10 MB/s	80000
25 MB/s	200000
50 MB/s	400000
100 MB/s	800000