How do I scp a file from server A to server B from cron?

Question

I have a file in server A which I am able to do transfer to server B using scp. I need to do this through a cron entry. server B has a password. How do I perform this?

Solution

Don't use password authentication. Use ssh keypairs.

Karthik@A $: ssh-keygen    #keep the passphrase empty
Karthik@A $: ssh-copy-id B #enter your B password
#^ this will copy your public key to Karthik@B:.ssh/authorized_keys

From then on, you should be able to ssh from A to B (and by extension, scp from A to B) without a password.

Comments

[Gilles 'SO- stop being evil']

And, for extra security, you can restrict the commands that the key is allowed to run, and even what directories it can access with scp.

[Karthik]

is there a detailed document from where I can follow the steps. I'm new to unix.

[Karthik]

is there a detailed document from where I can follow the steps. I'm new to unix.

[BillThor]

@Karthik See links above.