Copy files over SSH

Efficient File Transfer with Tar and SSH

Quickly transfer directories over SSH using tar. Great for migrations or backups.

Commands

Local to remote:

tar cjf - /path/to/local/dir | ssh user@remote-host 'tar xjf - -C /path/to/remote/destination'

Remote to local:

ssh user@remote-host "tar cjf - -C /path/to/remote/source ." | tar xjf - -C /path/to/local/destination

Notes

• Add --exclude='pattern' to skip files or directories.
• Replace j with z (i.e., czf, xzf) to use gzip for faster, but less compressed, transfers.