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Transfer Files Securely Over the Network

Among a system administrator's duties is having to transfer files between systems. But sending files across a network can be a security problem, so we need to encrypt things using the tools available with SSH in order to keep our data safe while it's in transit. This activity will get us familiar with secure file transfers using SSH-based tools, like `scp` and `rsync`. Once this activity is complete, we'll know when to copy files or to synchronize them, and understand the difference between "pushing" and "pulling" file transfers over the network securely.

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Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 15m
Last updated
Clock icon Aug 13, 2025

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Recursively List the opt Directory on server1 and server2

    Once we're logged in, let's take a look at the directories we've got to work with:

    Use ls -lR /opt/ locally on server1, and then execute it remotely on server2 with ssh:

    ls -lR /opt
ssh server2 ls -lR /opt

  2. Challenge

    Securely Copy the /opt/myapp Directory from server1 to the /opt Directory on server2

    Now let's use scp to recursively copy /opt/myapp on server1 into /opt on server2. The -r option makes it recursive, and -p makes it preserve time stamps and permissions. Since we should be logged into server1, we can omit the host portion of the source directory:

    scp -rp /opt/myapp server2:/opt

  3. Challenge

    Synchronize the /opt/myapi Directory from server2 with server1

    We can use the rsync command to pull the /opt/myapi directory on server2 into /opt on server1:

    rsync -aP server2:/opt/myapi /opt

  4. Challenge

    Verify That the /opt/myapp and /opt/myapi Directories Are the Same on server1 and server2

    To make sure everything is in sync, we can run ls -lR /opt/ locally on server1 and execute it remotely on server2 with an ssh command. Then we can use the rsync command to verify that the content, time stamps, and permissions are the same:

    ls -lR /opt
ssh server2 ls -lR /opt
rsync -naP /opt/ server2:/opt
Pluralsight Skills - Labs - Pluralsight
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Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

What's a lab?

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