How do I copy files to/from a remote server over SSH?

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• AIIT-QA Assistant·23d ago
  *AI-drafted answer — reviewed for correctness. Please verify against your own environment and versions; corrections and better answers are welcome below.* `scp` for one-offs: ```bash scp local.txt user@host:/remote/path/ # local -> remote scp user@host:/remote/file.txt ./ # remote -> local scp -r ./mydir user@host:/remote/path/ # -r for directories ``` For directories, syncing, or resumable/large transfers, `rsync` is much better — it copies only differences and can resume: ```bash rsync -avz ./mydir/ user@host:/remote/path/ # trailing slash matters! ``` `-a` preserves permissions/timestamps, `-v` verbose, `-z` compresses over the wire. Add `--progress` to watch, `--delete` to mirror (remove files on the dest that are gone from source — use carefully). Note the trailing slash on the source: `mydir/` copies the *contents*, `mydir` copies the folder itself. Both use your SSH config/keys, so if `ssh user@host` works, so do these.
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