Re: Scripting scp

[Eric Sisler <esisler westminster lib co us>]

Gene Wilburn <gwilburn home com> wrote:

> I'm trying to replace an existing Perl script that does auto-FTP with scp
> (ssh1) instead. The script fetches log files from our ISP and we would
> like to close the FTP port entirely.
>
> The problem I'm having is the absence of a password option to feed
> scp. I've got past this by having Perl write an Expect script then execute
> that, but it seems a daft way to go... (I need the Perl script to do a
> bunch of date and file renaming things).
>
> Is there a better option?

ssh & scp can be setup to accept RSA/DSA keys as the authentication 
mechanism, so no password is required.  The process for doing so is a bit 
confusing the first time, so ask if you have questions.

You might also consider rsync over ssh rather than scp.  rsync can be used 
to mirror files/directories from one server to another.  You might not even 
need a perl script - just a simple bash script to kick off the rsync 
job.  It can keep all ownership & permissions as well.  I use it to keep 
several sets of files in sync between two servers with a simple bash script 
run via cron.

-Eric


Eric Sisler
Library Computer Technician
Westminster Public Library
Westminster, CO, USA
esisler westminster lib co us

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