Hi,
How do i know if the files are transferred succesfully when i use SCP to transfer files between 2 servers.

One more is i am trying to send all the files in a single shot by using * to save the connection time. So can i know when the scp breakes in the middle

scp $sourcepath/* user@\$destserver:\$destpath

Do you have anything so far other than that line?

You can test for scp's successful completion by looking to see if the exit status is 0 once it finishes. Here's an example:

#!/bin/bash
echo starting transfer
scp $sourcepath/* user@\$destserver:\$destpath >> /tmp/log.$$
OUT=$?
if [ $OUT = 0 ] ;then
echo transfer successful
else
echo oh no, ftp transfer failed somehow. check log file in tmp for details
fi

Please don't perpetrate this silly "test $?" idiom. if already by design examines $?

if scp $sourcepath/* user@\$destserver:\$destpath >>/tmp/log.$$
then
  echo oh yes >&2
else
  echo "oh no ($?)" >&2
  tail /tmp/log.$$ >&2
fi

Thanks a lot for era and tderscheid.

I used back slashes to nullify.

can i delete each file when the copy is done?
If i use SCP by looping i know it can be done but it takes lot of time if i have more files. If i use the * to transfer multiple files it goes in quickly as it dont have to connect every time to the server.

Well, are you generating all the files once, then moving all the files, then deleting all the files, with nothing touching the directory during the transfer? If so, then if your scp /$sourcepath/* has finished with exit code 0, it's reporting success, so the files got to the target machine. As long as nothing has generated more source files, then you could rm /$sourcepath/* and be happy, or depending on your available space, tar them and save them for a week.

How much time are you losing during the connection process? Aren't you ultimately going to automate this and just drink coffee while the move script runs from crontab and then sends you an email of the log when it's done? Is the time you lose actually a critical factor?

If you're having to move, daily, a million tiny files from server A to server B, something else is wrong with that picture. Would server B accept a tar.gz of each group of files you want to send?

I am sure Era can find several other angles to improve this. A little more information about the timeline of file creation might be useful.

Thank you for the help...
I may be moving around 5000 files and i cannot tar them... i need to send individually...

I am benefiting around 3 hrs if i send then at a time using the * and if i send then individually its taking that 3-4 hrs more for the 5000 files.