Automate scp file transfer using a shell script

Question

I have some n number of files in a directory on my unix system. Is there a way to write a shellscript that will transfer all those files via scp to a specified remote system

Answer 1

If you are ok with entering your password once for every run of the script, you can do so easily using an SSH master connection.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

USER_AT_HOST="user@host"  # use "$1@$2" here if you like
SSHSOCKET=~/".ssh/$USER_AT_HOST"

# This is the only time you have to enter the password:
# Open master connection:
ssh -M -f -N -o ControlPath="$SSHSOCKET" "$USER_AT_HOST"

# These do not prompt for your password:
scp -o ControlPath="$SSHSOCKET" file1.xy "$USER_AT_HOST":remotefile1.xy
scp -o ControlPath="$SSHSOCKET" file2.xy "$USER_AT_HOST":remotefile2.xy

# You can also use the flag for normal ssh:
ssh -o ControlPath="$SSHSOCKET" "$USER_AT_HOST" "echo hello"
ssh -o ControlPath="$SSHSOCKET" "$USER_AT_HOST" "echo world"

# Close master connection:
ssh -S "$SSHSOCKET" -O exit "$USER_AT_HOST"