DEPRECATED PROJECT: note that this project has been replaced by a backward-compatible upgrade called Remote-Copy which permits the secure remote copy of both files and folders. As a result, this project will no longer be maintained in favor of support for this more comprehensive project.

Remote-Folder-Copy

Remote-Folder-Copy (remote_folder_copy.sh) is a bash script to remotely copy a folder using the secure remote copy (scp) command, or the less-secure sshpass command when the localhost user is not certificate-authenticated on the remote server.

run_remote_folder_copy.sh is a related wrapper script intended to be used for making unattended script calls into remote_folder_copy.sh (e.g., running cron jobs).

Developed with a Bash Template (BaT)

Remote-Folder-Copy uses a bash template (BaT) called A-Bash-Template designed to make script development and command line argument management more robust, easier to implement, and easier to maintain. Here are a few of those features:

• Dependencies checker: a routine that checks all external program dependencies (e.g., sshpass and jq)
• Arguments and script details--such as script description and syntax--are stored in the JSON file format (i.e., config.json)
• JSON queries (using jq) handled through wrapper functions
• A script banner function automates banner generation, reading directly from config.json
• Command line arguments are parsed and tested for completeness using both short and long-format argument syntax (e.g., -u|--username)
• Optional command line arguments are permissible and managed through the JSON configuration file
• Template functions organized into libraries to minimize code footprint in the main script

For more details about using a bash template, check out the BaT sources here.

Requirements

• An operational bash environment (bash 4.3.46 used during development)
• Two additional external programs:
  • sshpass, for piping password into the scp command when scp cannot be used directly (e.g., localhost user is not certificate-authenticated on the remote server)
  • jq, for parsing the config.json file

While this package was written and tested under Linux (Ubuntu 16.10), there should be no reason why this won't work under other Unix-like operating systems.

Basic Usage

Remote-Folder-Copy is run through a command line interface, so all of the command options are made available there.

Here's the default response when running remote_folder_copy.sh with no arguments:

  $ ./remote_folder_copy.sh

   |
   | A bash script to remotely copy a folder using scp
   |   0.6.0
   |
   | Usage:
   |   remote_folder_copy -u username [-p password] -w website [-P port] -s source -d destination
   |
   |   -u, --username 		username (must have local/remote permissions)
   |   -p, --password 		password used to access remote server (optional)
   |   -w, --website 		website domain name (e.g., example.com)
   |   -P, --port 			website/server SSH port
   |   -s, --source 		absolute source folder path
   |   -d, --destination 	destination folder path
   |

  Error: username argument (-u|--username) missing.
  Error: website argument (-w|--website) missing.
  Error: source argument (-s|--source) missing.
  Error: destination argument (-d|--destination) missing.

In this example, the program responds by indicating that the required script arguments must be set before proper operation.

When arguments are correctly passed, the script provides feedback on the success or failure of the remote folder copy:

$ ./remote_folder_copy.sh -u user -p 'pass123' -w example.com -s /home/user/src -d /home/user/desktop

 |
 | A bash script to remotely copy a folder using scp
 |   0.6.0
 |
 | Usage:
 |   remote_folder_copy -u username [-p password] -w website [-P port] -s source -d destination
 |
 |   -u, --username 		username (must have local/remote permissions)
 |   -p, --password 		password used to access remote server (optional)
 |   -w, --website 		website domain name (e.g., example.com)
 |   -P, --port 			website/server SSH port
 |   -s, --source 		absolute source folder path
 |   -d, --destination 	destination folder path
 |

Copying remote folder...

Success.
Remote folder example.com:/home/user/src copied to /home/user/desktop/src.

Choosing Between the scp and sshpass Commands

Remote-Folder-Copy (remote_folder_copy.sh) uses two methods for copying folders from a remote server: scp and sshpass. The decision on which command to use is based on whether the -p, --password argument has been passed into the script. If no password is used, then the scp command is used directly. If a password is passed into the script, then the sshpass command is used instead.

In general, it's preferred to use scp with a current certificate of authority in place on the remote server. For the security-minded, users of this script should review the section entitled Security Considerations on the sshpass website.