Hi there, can someone help me please how to use scp command via the OpenSSH service to copy files from server to client. For example:

On server side there is file called "test.txt" in directory /home/user1 and I would like to copy that file to my directory /home/user2 on client PC

Thanks a lot.

There are (most simply) two ways you can do it.

from server:
scp /home/user1/test.txt user@client:/home/user2/
(where "user" on the client machine has write access to /home/user2 and current working user on server machine has read access to /home/user1/test.txt)

from client:
scp user@server:/home/user1/test.txt /home/user2/
(where "user" on the server machine has read access to test.txt in /home/user1 and current working user on client machine has write access to /home/user2)

here is a link that might help additional questions.
OBTW your question for some reason shed light on my understanding Thank you, THANK YOU. Im a happier person now.SSH tips and tricks

Thanks kil-hup for help, but I have one last question. Can I use IP address instead of client and server name? Thanks.

Sure can, just substitute the IP for the hostname.

Please help me again. When I try to copy something from remote system to my local PC with scp command it says:

/usr/bin/ssh: No such file or directory

Thanks.

you need ssh to be installed + have at least link in /usr/bin/ssh
alternatively you can use -S /usr/local/bin/ssh2

btw with you can copy dirs also, or use wildcards

scp -r user@host:/home/mydir name@host2:/home/test

All openssh packages are installed. I can access and work on the remote system with ssh but the only problem is scp command to transfer files. Please help.

I think you missed Noerr's point. The scp program requires ssh (or an ssh-compatible program) to actually set up the secure connection. The path to ssh is hard-coded into the scp binary, usually "/usr/bin/ssh". You can check where scp thinks ssh lives by the command sequence: "strings scp | grep ssh".

If your ssh binary is not either located in the place scp expects it ("/usr/bin" or symbolically-linked in "/usr/bin"), scp cannot find it.

You can create a link to the ssh binary in /usr/bin or call scp like: "scp -S /path/to/ssh/binary other-options". The "-S" switch overrides the hard-coded ssh binary location with the one you specify.

If you are unsure as to where the ssh binary is installed, try "which ssh".

Thanks for help kill-hup. Problem solved, it was my stupid mistake - I had everything installed on my local machine but one package (openssh-clients) was missing on my server. But there is another problem. When I finally try to copy a file from server to local PC than it asks for remote user's password (that's allright) but after that it does nothing. You know, no transfering info or something like that. It looks like the command is running but that's all. I don't know where could be a problem. Please help again if you can.

by default there should have been progress meter, unless you are using historical version
check it by
ssh -v
on both servers to check it out