Error using SCP: "not a regular file"
Solution 1
A regular file is a file that isn't a directory or more exotic kinds of “special” files such as named pipes, devices, sockets, doors, etc. Symbolic links are not regular files either, but they behave like their target when it an application is accessing the content of the file.
You passed root@IP:
as the source of the copy and /path/to/picture.jpg
as the destination. The source is the home directory of the user root
on the machine IP
. This is useful as a destination, but not as a source. What you typed required to copy a directory onto a file; scp
cannot copy a directory unless you ask for a recursive copy with the -r
option (and it would refuse to overwrite an existing file with a directory even with -r
, but it would quietly overwrite a regular file if the source was a regular file).
If /path/to/picture.jpg
is the path on the remote machine of the file you want to copy, you need to stick the file name to the host specification. It's the colon :
that separates the host name from the remote path. You'll need to specify a destination as well.
scp root@IP:/path/to/picture.jpg /some/destination
If you want to copy the local file /path/to/picture.jpg
to the remote host, you need to swap the arguments. Unix copy commands put the source(s) first and the destination last.
scp /path/to/picture.jpg root@IP:
If you want to copy the remote file /path/to/picture.jpg
to the same location locally, you need to repeat the path. You can have your shell does the work of repeating for you (less typing, less readability).
scp root@IP:/path/to/picture.jpg /path/to/picture.jpg
scp {root@IP:,}/path/to/picture.jpg
Solution 2
When copying a directory, you should use the -r
option:
scp -r root@IP:/path/to/file /path/to/filedestination
Solution 3
You are getting that error because you are trying to copy a folder and not file and hence you should copy your files recursively by using -r
option
Use below command when copying files from remote machine to local machine
scp -r root@RemoteIP:/path/to/file /path/to/filedestination
OR
When copying files from local machine to remote machine
scp -r /path/to/file root@RemoteIP:/path/to/filedestination
Solution 4
syntax issue - remove the white space between
root@IP:
and
/path
Solution 5
scp root@IP:/path/to/file /path/to/filedestination
Above command copies a file from remote server to your computer. If you type only scp root@IP:
it will try to copy the home directory of root (scp users home .
).
So you need to provide the exact path to the file
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JeffM
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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JeffM over 1 year
I have been searching for a while and I can't find the definition of a regular file. My path is permanent (I start at
/
) and I am connecting toscp root@IP: /path/to/picture.jpg
Results in an inquiry for a password and then...
scp: .: not a regular file
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JeffM over 11 yearsThis worked. Thanks a bunch, man. Keep it up!
-
Bernhard over 11 yearsBut, then you don't have a target for
scp
anymore. -
Faruk Mambi over 11 yearsyup. i pressed enter too quickly and lack the rep to fix it. surprised i can even comment here. cheers.
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Bernhard over 11 yearsI think you can always comment to your own contributions, and I thought you could also always edit them?
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Chaim Eliyah about 6 yearsI feel so incredibly silly after reading this. source, destination! Duh!
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HISI about 6 yearsI don't thik that can cause this error
not a regular file
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Jx7 almost 6 years@hisi use
-r
as scp argument.