This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
scp and sftp copy a file. rsync can also delete destination files that are not on the source. The builder drafts a command. It does not connect. --delete is not the first run.
Both ends are hosts or paths you administer. A password does not go in the command. One tree.
192.0.2.10/24 and example.com are documentation. They stay in the note.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the host named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the host, then decide.
Rollback is the file, the package version, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Name both ends.
- Pick one tool.
- Draft a copy without --delete.
- Keep the password out.
- Do not run it.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the command
scp vs rsync vs sftp goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- --delete on the first run.
- A host you do not administer.
- A password in the command.
- The command run during the reading.
- Two tools started together.
Decisions to write down
One decision for scp vs rsync vs sftp: One tool. Both ends are yours. --delete is absent. No password is in the command. And nothing was run.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: The tool is chosen. Both ends are written. --delete is absent. Nothing was run. And no password is present. If one of those fails, stop.
| Tool | What it is for | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| scp | One file or a small tree | No resume story |
| sftp | An interactive session | Do not leave it open |
| rsync | A tree, later | --delete is not the first run |
# One tool.
# No --delete on the first run.
# Both ends are yours.
# Do not run during the reading.Before you leave the host
scp vs rsync vs sftp ends when the hostname in the prompt matches the hostname in the ticket. If it does not, you are on the wrong host. Stop. A command that succeeded on the wrong host is not progress.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the host and does not know which disk is empty. You delete a line that names a host, a path, or an account you did not write down.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a host because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. The real secret stays in the password store.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it. The next change waits for its own page.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. The failure is the result. Adding a forum command beside a half-applied change produces a host nobody can rebuild. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the hostname and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done. Silence is not agreement. Then leave the host alone.
This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a host you do not administer. You do not disable a firewall, AppArmor, or SELinux to make a check pass.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.