Shell Programming and Scripting

HI all,
I am attempting to use the scp statemet in a shell script that I am writing
I need to have the user of the script enter a password at the time of the shell script running.I have the following questions?

1) how do i disable the automatic text echo when the user is entering the password(which will be stored in a variable and be purged immidiately after logon.) in the same way that UNIX does when I am entering the password?

2) can the scp be run in the background?

3) May I please have the syntax of the scp command where the password can be passed in the scp statement itself.
Thanks in advance

SEGWAR

I don't believe it's possible to pass the password along with the scp command. It's bad for security.

The way to do this is to set up public-key encryption. It's simpler than it sounds.

1. Run ssh-keygen to create private and public keys*.

2. Put your generated keys into your local .ssh directory.

3. Copy and paste your public key into the .ssh/authorized_keys file on the host machine (create the file if it does not exist).

Then, when you attempt to ssh or scp into the host, it will just log you in immediately without any prompt. This is independent of the password, so even if the password changes or you forget it, the script will still function.

ShawnMilo

*Just press enter when prompted to add a pass-phrase to the public key (in other words, leave it blank). Otherwise, your script will still be prompted for that password, undoing the convenience you're trying to add.