How do I copy a file with scp with special characters?

Question

I am trying to copy a file that has colons and periods, e.g., with:

scp "test.json-2014-08-07T11:17:58.662378" remote:tmp/

scp test.json-2014-08-07T11\:17\:58.662378 remote:tmp/

and combinations with file:

scp "file:///home/.../test.json-2014-08-07T11:17:58.662378" remote:tmp/

My guess is that scp tries to interprete parts of the file as a server and/or port number. How do I avoid that?

If I rename the file to test.json then scp test.json remote:tmp/ works ok, but not even scp test*62378 remote:tmp/works.

Let me just note that some obvious "solution" is to rename the file, copy it, and rename it back on the remote server. — Finn Årup Nielsen
– Finn Årup Nielsen, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 9:52
An explanation of why globs (*), don't work. It is done in shell, so exactly the same text (argument) will be passed to scp. You need to change the text (argument) that is passed to scp. (see answer below, for what to change text argument to.) — ctrl-alt-delor
– ctrl-alt-delor, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 10:05
It should be noted that : is an illegal filename character on OSX, so if you ever need to transfer these files there it's something to keep in mind. — Daenyth
– Daenyth, Commented Aug 7, 2014 at 16:32
In cygwin, if the filename starts with a hyphen you can prefix the file with a double hyphen e.g. scp -- -1.JvSbrpchxuk.png [email protected]:/tmp — Shane Rowatt
– Shane Rowatt, Commented Mar 4, 2018 at 5:05

Stéphane Chazelas · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-07 10:08:26Z

28

Use ./ before your filename:

scp ./test.json-2014-08-07T11:17:58.662378 remote:tmp/

That make scp know it's a file. Without it, scp thinks it's a hostname because of the colon.

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answered Aug 7, 2014 at 9:53

cuonglm

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Karel · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-07 09:54:49Z

6

Use the path by prepending ./ and escape your :'s. Cyberiti has more info. Example:

scp ./file\:with\:colons.txt remoteserver:

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 9:54

Karel

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Finn Årup Nielsen · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-07 09:59:34Z

0

Apparently, I did not try this version with path prefix:

scp /home/.../test.json-2014-08-07T11\:17\:58.662378 remote:tmp/

this also works:

scp ./test.json-2014-08-07T11\:17\:58.662378 remote:tmp/

(as the above users managed to answer before me)

answered Aug 7, 2014 at 9:59

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3 Answers 3