UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi,
I am trying to copy a whole directory from my home /RUN1 to the external directory jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations

The command I have used is:

scp -r jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations


The error message I get is:

scp -r jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/
usage: scp [-1246BCpqrv] [-c cipher] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
[-l limit] [-o ssh_option] [-P port] [-S program]
[[user@]host1:]file1 [...] [[user@]host2:]file2


Any help? Thanks

---------- Post updated at 06:04 AM ---------- Previous update was at 06:01 AM ----------

I tried this either by being:

I) in my local directory /RUN1 in which using scp prompts me to provide the passeword for jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk
II) in the external directory jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations

I have also tried

scp -r* jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations

This yields error: * illegal

Please check the correct way to use scp command.
Read man pages of scp.

Code:

scp [-1246BCpqrv] [-c cipher] [-F ssh_config] [-i
          identity_file] [-l limit] [-o ssh_option] [-P port] [-S
          program] [[user@]host1:]file1 [...]  [[user@]host2:]file2

Please check bold paths in your command.

Yes I have done so
I want to copy a whole directory,
that is done with the recursive -r

I do not see why

scp -r user@host:/directory should not work

I think you need to provide source and destination paths with scp command.

Actually SCP comand syntax is :
scp -r source destination

U haven't mentioned your source folder path in your command.

You can try like this :
scp -r /homeRUN1 jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations

Or if u r inside /home/RUN1, u can use the following command :
scp -r . jorgensen@hal.oerc.ox.ac.uk:/home/compchem/jorgensen/simulations

Note , one dot '.' is there after -r , it denotes 'present directory' as source

With all *cp -r, the thing to be careful about is that the target is a directory you want to put the source directory into. Only scp has a -d option to help you ensure this. Commands should be repeatable with identical effect.