I know questions regarding this error have been asked before - but I can't seem to figure out why this isn't working in this case: for aliases.
I have the following
alias scpip='scp $1 [email protected]:~'
I want the use case to be scpip file so that it copies the file into user's home directory in ip.edu. Instead I get the error
scp: /home/user: not a regular file
It works if I do it 'manually' ie scp file [email protected]:~ . How can I make this work as an alias with an argument?
If when running the command, the first argument or $1 is a directory, which it looks like it is, then you'll need to use the -r switch in order to copy it whether it contains data or not. It can be run as an alias but it's more complicated and not worth the effort. It's better to just create a script.
Create a file called scpip in /home/directory
Have the contents as:
scp -r $1 [email protected]:~
Add the execute bit:
chmod u+x /home/directory/scpip
In your ~/.bashrc, add the line
export PATH=/home/directory:$PATH
Source the init:
. ~/.bashrc
Lastly, run the script with:
scpip file
That will use the first argument. If it's a file,
scp -r file [email protected]:~
If a directory
scp -r directory [email protected]:~
$1in your alias expands to the first arg (if it exists) of the script in which you invoke it, or if used interactively (as aliases usually are) to nothing. It is followed by any arguments given in the command. Thus you are actually runningscp [email protected]:~ filewhich tries to copy the remote directory to a local directory confusingly namedfile, but fails. You may want a function or script instead.scpis so cumbersome it requires you to quote for the remote shell (see this answer from where it states "better don't usescpat all").