RCP(1)RCP(1)NAMErcp - remote file copy
SYNOPSISrcp [-p] [-a] [-K] [-x] [-PN | -PO] [-k realm] filename1 filename2
rcp [-pr] [-a] [-K] [-x] [-PN | -PO] [-k realm] filename... directory
DESCRIPTION
The rcp command copies files between machines. Each filename or direc‐
tory argument is either a remote file name of the form:
hostname:path
or a local file name (containing no : (colon) characters, or / (back‐
slash) before any : (colon) characters).
The hostname can be an IPv4 or IPv6 address string. See inet(7P) and
inet6(7P). Since IPv6 addresses already contain colons, the hostname
should be enclosed in a pair of square brackets when an IPv6 address is
used. Otherwise, the first occurrence of a colon can be interpreted as
the separator between hostname and path. For example,
[1080::8:800:200C:417A]:tmp/file
If a filename is not a full path name, it is interpreted relative to
your home directory on hostname. A path on a remote host can be quoted
using \, ", or ', so that the metacharacters are interpreted remotely.
Please notice that the kerberized versions of rcp are not IPv6-enabled.
rcp does not prompt for passwords. It either uses Kerberos authentica‐
tion which is enabled through command-line options or your current
local user name must exist on hostname and allow remote command execu‐
tion by rsh(1).
The rcp session can be kerberized using any of the following Kerberos
specific options : -a, -PN or -PO, -x, and -k realm. Some of these
options (-a, -x and -PN or -PO) can also be specified in the [appde‐
faults] section of krb5.conf(4). The usage of these options and the
expected behavior is discussed in the OPTIONS section below. If Ker‐
beros authentication is used, authorization to the account is con‐
trolled by rules in krb5_auth_rules(5). If this authorization fails,
fallback to normal rcp using rhosts occurs only if the -PO option is
used explicitly on the command line or is specified in krb5.conf(4). If
authorization succeeds, remote copy succeeds without any prompting of
password. Also notice that the -PN or -PO, -x, and -k realm options are
just supersets of the -a option.
rcp handles third party copies, where neither source nor target files
are on the current machine. Hostnames can also take the form
username@hostname:filename
to use username rather than your current local user name as the user
name on the remote host. rcp also supports Internet domain addressing
of the remote host, so that:
username@host.domain:filename
specifies the username to be used, the hostname, and the domain in
which that host resides. File names that are not full path names are
interpreted relative to the home directory of the user named username,
on the remote host.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-a
This option explicitly enables Kerberos authentication and
trusts the .k5login file for access-control. If the autho‐
rization check by in.rshd(1M) on the server-side succeeds
and if the .k5login file permits access, the user is
allowed to carry out the rcp transfer.
-k realm
Causes rcp to obtain tickets for the remote host in realm
instead of the remote host's realm as determined by
krb5.conf(4).
-K realm
This option explicitly disables Kerberos authentication. It
canbe used to override the autologin variable
inkrb5.conf(4).
-p
Attempts to give each copy the same modification times,
access times, modes, and ACLs if applicable as the original
file.
-PO
-PN
Explicitly requests new (-PN) or old (-PO) version of the
Kerberos "rcmd" protocol. The new protocol avoids many
security problems prevalant in the old one and is regarded
much more secure, but is not interoperable with older
(MIT/SEAM) servers. The new protocol is used by default,
unless explicitly specified using these options or through
krb5.conf(4). If Kerberos authorization fails when using
the old "rcmd" protocol, there is fallback to regular, non-
kerberized rcp. This is not the case when the new, more
secure "rcmd" protocol is used.
-r
Copies each subtree rooted at filename; in this case the
destination must be a directory.
-x
Causes the information transferred between hosts to be
encrypted. Notice that the command is sent unencrypted to
the remote system. All subsequent transfers are encrypted.
USAGE
See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of rcp when
encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2^31 bytes).
The rcp command is IPv6-enabled. See ip6(7P). IPv6 is not currently
supported with Kerberos V5 authentication.
For the kerberized rcp session, each user can have a private authoriza‐
tion list in a file .k5login in their home directory. Each line in this
file should contain a Kerberos principal name of the form princi‐
pal/instance@realm. If there is a ~/.k5login file, then access is
granted to the account if and only if the originater user is authenti‐
cated to one of the principals named in the ~/.k5login file. Other‐
wise, the originating user is granted access to the account if and only
if the authenticated principal name of the user can be mapped to the
local account name using the authenticated-principal-name → local-user-
name mapping rules. The .k5login file (for access control) comes into
play only when Kerberos authentication is being done.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0
All files were copied successfully.
>0
An error occurred.
See the NOTES section for caveats on the exit code.
FILES
$HOME/.profile
$HOME/.k5login
File containing Kerberos principals that are
allowed access
/etc/krb5/krb5.conf
Kerberos configuration file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌───────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├───────────────┼─────────────────┤
│CSI │ Enabled │
└───────────────┴─────────────────┘
SEE ALSOcpio(1), ftp(1), rlogin(1), rsh(1), setfacl(1), tar(1), tar(1),
in.rshd(1M), hosts.equiv(4), krb5.conf(4), attributes(5), largefile(5),
krb5_auth_rules(5), inet(7P), inet6(7P), ip6(7P)NOTESrcp is meant to copy between different hosts. Attempting to rcp a file
onto itself, as with:
example% rcp tmp/file myhost:/tmp/file
results in a severely corrupted file.
rcp might not correctly fail when the target of a copy is a file
instead of a directory.
rcp can become confused by output generated by commands in a
$HOME/.profile on the remote host.
rcp requires that the source host have permission to execute commands
on the remote host when doing third-party copies.
rcp does not properly handle symbolic links. Use tar or cpio piped to
rsh to obtain remote copies of directories containing symbolic links or
named pipes. See tar(1) and cpio(1).
If you forget to quote metacharacters intended for the remote host, you
get an incomprehensible error message.
rcp fails if you copy ACLs to a file system that does not support ACLs.
rcp is CSI-enabled except for the handling of username, hostname, and
domain.
When rcp is used to perform third-party copies where either of the
remote machines is not running Solaris, the exit code cannot be relied
upon. That is, errors could occur when success is reflected in the exit
code, or the copy could be completely successful even though an error
is reflected in the exit code.
Dec 23, 2008 RCP(1)
