check if file exists on remote host with ssh

Question

I would like to check if a certain file exists on the remote host. I tried this:

$ if [ ssh user@localhost -p 19999 -e /home/user/Dropbox/path/Research_and_Devel         


        

Answer 1

Can't get much simpler than this :)

ssh host "test -e /path/to/file"
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    # your file exists
fi

As suggested by dimo414, this can be collapsed to:

if ssh host "test -e /path/to/file"; then
    # your file exists
fi