copy directory to Mac from remote SSH

[richard.mac]

how do i copy a directory from my universities server to my Mac using SSH in Terminal? i assume you use cp with -r to copy a directory but im not sure about the rest.

also if i want to retain the permissions of all the files inside do i use -p as well?

 

[miles01110]

You need to use scp.

 

[richard.mac]

thanks for the link.

so whats my 'yourusername' and 'yourserver'? would i enter scp -r -p directory_name rich@my_external_IP_address?

ive done that and turned on Remote Login which i assume i need and the prompt returns, but i cannot see the copied directory anywhere.

 

[miles01110]

it'd be something like

scp -r rich@richs_server name_of_directory_you_want_on_your_computer



This website actually explains it a lot better.

 

[richard.mac]

ok i dont get the "rich@richs_server" bit above. would it be my home directory's username or my Mac's name and then my Mac's external IP?… because my Mac isnt a webserver or anything.

when i try it with my username and external IP it returns the prompt but my copied directory is nowhere to be seen on my Mac.

bear with me here

 

[miles01110]

(I deleted this because it was wrong; scroll to the end of the thread for the solution)

 

[richard.mac]

yep its a Sun server that all the students do their practical work on.

so i tried this and there was an error.


click for full size

 

[miles01110]

Hmm, I assume you have read permissions on that directory...?

 

[richard.mac]

yes i have read & write permissions

Last login: Wed Mar 11 20:03:03 on ttys000
MacBook-Pro:~ rich$ ssh -l thorm004 cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au
Password: 
Last login: Wed Mar 11 20:03:12 2009 from ppp121-45-58-21

        SunOS 5.10 Generic      137112-01       May 2008

thorm004@cis-lab ~ $ cd private/pij1/pracs
thorm004@cis-lab pracs $ ls -al
total 15
drwx------ 2 thorm004 students    8 Mar 11 18:18 .
drwx------ 3 thorm004 students    3 Mar 11 19:34 ..
-rw------- 1 thorm004 students  462 Mar 10 10:15 BoxedName.class
-rw------- 1 thorm004 students  199 Mar 10 10:15 BoxedName.java
-rw------- 1 thorm004 students  752 Mar 10 20:11 TemperatureConverter.class
-rw------- 1 thorm004 students  535 Mar 10 20:10 TemperatureConverter.java
thorm004@cis-lab pracs $

dont i have to enter my Mac somewhere in the mix? or dont i have to as im logged into it.

 

[miles01110]

dont i have to enter my Mac somewhere in the mix? or dont i have to as im logged into it.

No, you shouldn't have to.

Can you copy an individual file using the syntax in previous posts? Or do you get the same error?

 

[richard.mac]

if i enter

scp -r thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au BoxedName.java

while in the pracs directory it gives the same error:

cp: cannot access thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au

maybe there are no copy permissions over the internet on this server?

 

[Tex-Twil]

Hi,
it is getting a bit confusing here. If I understand correctly, you are trying to copy something from your university server to your MBP while being logged on your MBP.

Issue this command line on your mac:

MacBook-Pro:$ scp -r [email]thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au[/email]:private/pij1/pracs ~/

I assume that

private/pij1/pracs

is in the home directory of thorm004 on the university server.

The

~/

points to the home directory on your mac but you can use any other path.

if i enter

scp -r thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au BoxedName.java

while in the pracs directory it gives the same error:

cp: cannot access thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au

This comes from the fact that there has to be a colon : between the IP of the server and the path:

scp -r thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au[B]:[/B]/path/to/BoxedName.java /path/on/MBP

 

[abel75]

Assuming you want to copy the 'pracs' directory across

ssh -l thorm004 cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au
cd private/pij1
scp -r pracs <username>@<your macs external ip>:.

The user name would be your user name on your Mac. The :. means the pracs directory will be placed in your home directory on the mac.

 

[miles01110]

Ah, follow TexTwil's advice. I was not reading the syntax correctly and told you that you didn't need the path on your mac when in fact you did. Sorry about that.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Assuming you want to copy the 'pracs' directory across

ssh -l thorm004 cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au
cd private/pij1
scp -r pracs <username>@<your macs external ip>:.

The user name would be your user name on your Mac. The :. means the pracs directory will be placed in your home directory on the mac.

This will work also but :
- you have to enable the SSH server on your mac
- if your MBP is behind a router, you must set up port forwarding of the port 22 (ssh)
- you must know the public IP of your mac
- your university firewall must allow outgoing connections to port 22

 

[richard.mac]

Hi,
it is getting a bit confusing here. If I understand correctly, you are trying to copy something from your university server to your MBP. …

correct.

… Issue this command line on your mac:

MacBook-Pro:$ scp -r [email]thorm004@cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au[/email]:private/pij1/pracs ~/

aha! thats the ticket! i saw "MacBook-Pro:$" and then realised i had to do this locally and not logged into the ssh server.

thanks for clearing up the confusion.

Assuming you want to copy the 'pracs' directory across

ssh -l thorm004 cis-lab.ml.unisa.edu.au
cd private/pij1
scp -r pracs <username>@<your macs external ip>:.

The user name would be your user name on your Mac. The :. means the pracs directory will be placed in your home directory on the mac.

when i try this with "thorm004" and my Mac's home username "rich" the prompt just hangs. so i assume you only do this locally.

thanks for your time everyone.

 

[Tex-Twil]

So did it work ?

when i try this with "thorm004" and my Mac's home username "rich" the prompt just hangs. so i assume you only do this locally.

I guess it is because of one of those reasons:

- you have to enable the SSH server on your mac
- if your MBP is behind a router, you must set up port forwarding of the port 22 (ssh)
- you must know the public IP of your mac
- your university firewall must allow outgoing connections to port 22

 

[richard.mac]

So did it work ? …

"aha! thats the ticket!" implies that it worked. you probably didnt get the Cockney colloquialism .

 

[Tex-Twil]

"aha! thats the ticket!" implies that it worked. you probably didnt get the Cockney colloquialism .

ok I'm not a native English speaker