scp weirdness

[gw1500se]

I’m having a problem using scp in a shell script. It works fine when I run it from the command line. However, when I use it in a script it prompts for a password. If I use ssh in a script it works as well. What is different about scp, why does it behave differently in a script then on the command line and how can I remote copy a file in a script without needing a password? TIA.

[andrina]

I normally try to avoid using ssh and scp in a shell script – try using something like expect instead – i.e. (the $argv 0 is going to take the password from execution of the file):

#!/usr/bin/expect
spawn scp /path/to/file user@machine:"/path/to/directory/"
expect "ssword:"
send [lindex $argv 0]\r
expect eof                                                                                   

Course – this is all assuming you don’t have ssh keys set up – assuming you have keys set up – what does you scp line look like?

[gw1500se]

Thanks for the reply. I do indeed have ssh keys set up . I can ssh and scp from the command line with no problem. Also I can use ssh in a script but not scp. The command is quite simple:

scp -p /usr/local/bin/somefile [email protected]:/usr/local/bin

Of course the script uses variables but the resulting command is the same.

[gw1500se]

Although incomplete at this point here is the script:

#!/bin/bash -x
#

dirlist="/usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin"

for this_dir in $dirlist ; do
	files_here=`ls $this_dir`
	files_there=`ssh [email protected] "ls $this_dir"`
	for this_file_here in $files_here ; do
		scp -p $this_file_here [email protected]:$this_dir
	done
done

The ssh works fine. The scp prompts for a password.

[andrina]

Is the script being run as the user admin? Try replacing your scp with the following:

scp -p $this_file_here myremote.mydomain.com:”$this_dir”

[gw1500se]

I’ve run it as both root and admin. Both behave the same. I’ll give the quotes a try but I can’t see how that would cause scp to prompt for a password.

[gw1500se]

As suspected, the quotes did not help. This is so strange since it works from the command line.

[andrina]

Have you tried throwing in the expect script for a test? Also, what the default shell you’re using when testing interactively? Is it the same shell you script in? Anything significant/custom in your interactive environment that isn’t getting translated into the script? Also – in my last note – along with the quotes I’d removed the “user@” portion of the scp – did you try that?

[gw1500se]

I found the problem. I am too embarassed to tell you what it was. Call it a senior moment. Sorry for the bother.

[Author]

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