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This question already has an answer here:

I'm using Linux (centos) machine, I already connected to the other system using ssh. Now my question is how can I copy files from one system to another system?

Suppose, in my environment, I have two system like System A and System B. I'm using System A machine and some other using System B machine. I'm connected to System B machine. How can I copy a file from System B to System A?

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marked as duplicate by Gilles, slm♦, jasonwryan, Anthon, Bernhard Dec 25 '13 at 7:43

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.
    
I find scp to be a cumber stone often. If it could suite your needs, try this out linuxjournal.com/article/8904 It mounts the remote file system locally. –  Alan Dec 24 '13 at 9:57
4  
@Alan I think you mean "cumbersome"? Cumber Stone is a Magic card ;) –  Izkata Dec 24 '13 at 14:47
    
somewhat related: make an encrypted archive of local dir/ on remote machine using ssh: tar -c dir/ | gzip | gpg -c | ssh user@remote 'dd of=dir.tar.gz.gpg' –  J.F. Sebastian Dec 24 '13 at 20:49

4 Answers 4

up vote 31 down vote

To copy a file from B to A while logged into B:

scp /path/to/file username@a:/path/to/destination

To copy a file from B to A while logged into A:

scp username@b:/path/to/file /path/to/destination
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1  
To clarify, you typically don't use scp to copy a file to or from your local machine (System A) while logged in to a remote server (System B) with ssh. scp will log you into the remote server, copy the file, then log you out again in one process, so just run it from a shell on your local machine. That being said, you can use scp if you're logged into System B via SSH and want to copy files between System B and System C. –  Garrett Albright Dec 24 '13 at 16:40
    
@GarrettAlbright, I think the one but last System B should be a System A, right? So: "That being said, you can use scp if you're logged into System A via SSH and want to copy files between System B and System C." –  jmc Dec 24 '13 at 17:38
    
I didn't think you could scp from one remote location to another remote location. I recall trying it once and being admonished by scp. –  DopeGhoti Dec 24 '13 at 20:01
    
jmc, nope, I meant it like that. If you're shelled into System B via ssh, you can then execute scp on System B to copy files between System B and some other server ("System C"). The scp process will run on System B, which is the "local" system as far as it will be concerned. –  Garrett Albright Dec 25 '13 at 5:41
    
@DopeGhoti. Yes, you can't move files between two remote computers. Either the source or destination must be a local file. However, if you log in to a remote machine with ssh, you can copy files between two remote machines on that machine's command-line. –  Gee-Bee Aug 8 at 19:48
up vote 5 down vote

Install sshfs:

sudo apt-get install sshfs

create a empty dir

mkdir /home/user/testdir

"link" or "mount" the two directories

sshfs [email protected]:/remote/dir /home/user/test

"unlink" the dirs

fusermount -u /home/youruser/remotecomp

For more see here, linuxjournal.com

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The question specifically states that the OS in question is CentOS; not Debian-derived. apt-get is a Debianism; the correct package manager would be yum or, for really old flavors of CentOS, up2date or rpm. –  DopeGhoti Dec 24 '13 at 21:30
1  
+1 the answer for this question may be off context, but it still helped me, and as far as I can see, others too. –  osirisgothra Jul 23 at 15:27
up vote 2 down vote

Sometimes you need to get fancy with tar:

tar -C / -cf - \
  opt/widget etc/widget etc/cron.d/widget etc/init.d/widget \
  --exclude=opt/widget/local.conf | 
  ssh otherhost tar -C / -xvf -
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up vote 0 down vote

If you want to keep the files on both systems in sync then have a look at the 'rsync' program.

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