File copy between two servers programatically

Question

Here's what I'm trying to do:

I need to automate process of copying files from server A to server B. I ideally would like to have a script that is invoked by a cron job periodically on server B.
The files I need to copy are executables and so I need to make sure that no bits are lost during copying.

I have come across command line solutions but I need a programmatic solution. How could I go about doing this?

What operating systems are the two servers running? Add an appropriate tag to your question. — Ladadadada
– Ladadadada, Commented Apr 11, 2013 at 15:49
So what you're really asking is how do you invoke a command line at intervals using cron? — symcbean
– symcbean, Commented Apr 11, 2013 at 15:51

EEAA · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-11 15:33:56Z

rsync, scp. Either one will work, and either are trivial to use "programmatically".

For instance, here's a shell script to copy some files from server-01 to server-02:

(this assumes that key auth is already configured between these servers)

#!/bin/sh scp -R /path/to/files user@server-01:/path/to/destination

...and an rsync example:

#!/bin/sh rsync -az /path/to/files user@server-01:/path/to/destination

user47027 · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-11 15:33:29Z

You'll want to use rsync to copy the files. There is a good write up here on how to configure ssh, rsync and cron.

dmourati · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-11 15:50:23Z

0

I like scp/rsync over ssh but also consider serving the files up via http and using wget/curl.

answered Apr 11, 2013 at 15:50

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