CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bashscp
Zach
Zach

Reputation: 247

How to scp all files (or select files) in a bash script

I am trying to write a bash script where I can upload all files (or ones that I name) in a current directory to a server using scp. The following command works in a bash script.

scp * username2@destination_host:directory2/filename2

However, I am trying to allow my script to either name a file (and eventually several files) or upload all files, a server, and a directory in my server. Why doesn't the following script work when inputting * as the first argument?

scp $1 $2:$3

When trying to upload a C++ project by using * in the current directory, it tells me:

ssh: Could not resolve hostname main.cpp: Name or service not known

If I just specify the file main.cpp it works fine, but for situations like this I don't want to have to specify the name of each file, as this could take a while for bigger projects.

Also, a side note, how could I allow a script like this to be able to specify a variable number of files and still have it be able to recognize my server name (for example, uploading 2 files or 5 that I specify as opposed to using *)?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 9111

Answers (1)

Barmar
Barmar

Reputation: 780655

The shell expands the wildcard when you use * as the parameter of the script. So if you do:

scriptname * user@host directory

it becomes

scriptname file1 file2 file3 file4 user@host directory

So then the script tries to do:

scp file1 file2:file3

If you want the wildcard to be sent literally to the script you need to quote it:

scriptname "*" user@host directory

The wildcard will be expanded when the script uses the variable $1, since you haven't quoted it. You should quote all the other variables, since you don't want them to undergo further expansion:

scp $1 "$2:$3"

Another option is to change your script so you put the fixed arguments first:

scriptname user@host directory filenames

Then the script can remove those fixed arguments, and use "$@" to get the rest:

dest=$1
dir=$2
shift 2
scp "$@" "$dest:$dir"

Upvotes: 2

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