Is there an scp variant of mv command?

Question

I am writing a script that will move files from a local system to a remote system. It must do so through an encrypted channel like ssh. What is the best way to do this? I can perform this in two steps like:

scp *.jpg user@ip:
rm *.jpg

But, that is not an atomic process (like mv is for a local filesystem). If the copy fails I will no longer have the local copies either. How can I script this to make sure the local files only get removed if the copy succeeds?

Also not a bash question. Neither scp nor mv are part of bash; they work exactly the same way with any other shell. — Charles Duffy, Mar 20 '14 at 13:25
"just like the mv is cp and then remove source" That's not quite correct. Respectively, it is only correct for distinct file systems. If you move inside one file system, the file is kept where it is and just the name is changed. — glglgl, Mar 20 '14 at 13:40

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 20 '14 at 13:25

16

You could use rsync with --remove-source-files:

rsync -avz --remove-source-files /local/dir/*.jpg user@ip:/remote/dir

answered Mar 20 '14 at 13:25

Josh Jolly

11,258
2
39
55

openghost · Answer 2 · 2014-03-20T14:07:44.397

1

An other solution, for launch in one time

scp /path/src/*.jpg user@host:/path/dst/ && rm /path/src/*.jpg

edited Mar 20 '14 at 14:07

answered Mar 20 '14 at 13:34

openghost

62
3

4

Note when doing this that if new files are created in `/path/src/` _during_ the scp copy command they will be deleted and not copied. – Dzamo Norton Jun 26 '17 at 11:21
Very risky, if scp command terminate for any reason, files car be deleted without having being copied. – Golgot Jan 23 '23 at 09:02

Is there an scp variant of mv command?

2 Answers2

Linked

Related