Tar and download in one step over ssh / scp

Question

(This seems like an obvious / common question, but I couldn't find it when searching - maybe I wasn't using the correct terminology...)

I want to login over ssh to a remote machine, tar a directory, and download it to my local machine. I don't need to leave a copy on the remote server. Currently I ssh in, create the tar archive, logout, scp the file to my machine, the ssh back in to remove the archive. Not exactly efficient...

I know this doesn't work, but I'm thinking something like:

scp user@remote:"tar czf - /my/directory/" ./my/local/destination/archive.tgz

Or is there a better way?

Thanks.

Solution

If you follow your description the command becomes "obvious" (at least, when you see it...). You really weren't far off with your attempt, though:

ssh user@remote tar czf - /my/directory/ > /my/local/destination/archive.tgz

(The "duplicate" link cited by Marco provides a cleaner solution. To create this command here I've simply followed the style of your attempt.)

Comments

[JackDaniels]

Your answer was great @roaima

[arekolek]

You don't need f -, standard output is used by default. I like this solution better than the other answer, because this way you can use tab completion.

[roaima]

@arekolek that depends on your tar. Some versions default to a tape device.