How do I copy a folder from remote to local using scp?

Question

How do I copy a folder from remote to local host using scp?

I use ssh to log in to my server.
Then, I would like to copy the remote folder foo to local /home/user/Desktop.

How do I achieve this?

Answer 1

scp -r [email protected]:/path/to/foo /home/user/Desktop/ 

By not including the trailing '/' at the end of foo, you will copy the directory itself (including contents), rather than only the contents of the directory.

From man scp (See online manual)

-r Recursively copy entire directories

Answer 2

To use full power of scp you need to go through next steps:

1. Public key authorisation
2. Create ssh aliases

Then, for example if you have this ~/.ssh/config:

Host test     User testuser     HostName test-site.com     Port 22022  Host prod     User produser     HostName production-site.com     Port 22022 

you'll save yourself from password entry and simplify scp syntax like this:

scp -r prod:/path/foo /home/user/Desktop   # copy to local scp -r prod:/path/foo test:/tmp            # copy from remote prod to remote test 

More over, you will be able to use remote path-completion:

scp test:/var/log/  # press tab twice Display all 151 possibilities? (y or n) 

Update:

For enabling remote bash-completion you need to have bash-shell on both <source> and <target> hosts, and properly working bash-completion. For more information see related questions:

How to enable autocompletion for remote paths when using scp?
SCP filename tab completion