p0 scp

Overview

The p0 scp command is a drop-in replacement for the standard scp, but with one key advantage: it automatically requests and provisions SSH access via P0. You simply specify your source and destination (local or remote), and P0 handles:

1. Authentication and key issuance

2. Access requests against your SSH integration

3. Privilege elevation (optional --sudo)

4. Invocation of the underlying scp binary

Use p0 scp anytime you'd otherwise run scp, no need to juggle SSH keys, open tickets, or paste connection strings.

Transferring large files to an AWS EC2 instance? p0 scp streams the data over the SSH tunnel, which can be slow for large files. For faster transfers to AWS EC2 instances, use the File Transfer integration, which stages the file in S3 with multipart upload.

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Prerequisites

• Logged-in user

p0 login <org-slug>

• SSH integration configured in your P0 tenant (AWS, Azure, or GCP).

• Network access to P0's API and to the target host over SSH.

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Syntax

p0 scp <source> <destination> [P0-options] [-- SCP-ARGS…]

• <source> / <destination>

  Either a local path (./file.txt) or remote in the format <hostname>:<path>. Exactly one must be remote.

• P0-options (before --):

  • --reason <text>

  • --account <account-id>

  • --provider <aws|azure|gcloud|self-hosted>

  • --sudo

  • --debug

• SCP-ARGS (after --): all standard scp flags (e.g. -P 2222, -C, etc.)

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Positional Arguments

	Argument Description
source	Local or remote source path.
destination	Local or remote destination path.

Note: Exactly one of source or destination must specify a remote host (via <hostname>:). If both or neither do, the command will fail.

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P0-Specific Options

			Flag Alias Type Description
--reason <text>	-	string	Justification for audit logs.
--account <id>	-	string	Cloud account where the instance lives (for example, AWS account ID).
--provider <p>	-	string	Which SSH integration to use. One of: aws, azure, gcloud, self-hosted.
--sudo	-	boolean	Temporarily add you to sudoers on the target host for the session.
--debug	-	boolean	Print detailed debug info (HTTP requests, provisioning logs).

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Underlying SCP Options

After --, pass any flags supported by your system's scp. Common examples:

• -P 2222 to specify a non-default SSH port

• -C to enable compression

• -i /path/to/key (not needed, P0 provides the key)

p0 scp ./dir remote-host:/dest/ -- -P 2222 -C

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How It Works

1. Parse arguments, split P0 flags vs. scp flags at --.

2. Authenticate via p0 authenticate().

3. Determine remote host: exactly one of source or destination must match <host>:.

4. Request SSH access: calls P0 backend, which spins up a short-lived key and (if --sudo) updates sudoers.

5. Swap hostnames: replaces <hostname> with <linuxUserName>@<instanceId>.

6. Executes the local scp binary with your flags and the fetched private key.

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Examples

1. Copy a File from Local to Remote

p0 scp ./report.pdf prod-web-01:/var/www/reports/

• Implicitly targets host prod-web-01.

• Downloads a P0-issued key, performs scp report.pdf ubuntu@i-0abc123:/var/www/reports/.

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2. Copy a File from Remote to Local

p0 scp prod-db-server:/var/backups/db.sql ./db.sql

• Retrieves /var/backups/db.sql from prod-db-server into your current directory.

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3. Recursive Directory Copy

p0 scp ./configs staging-app-01:/etc/myapp/

• Transfers the local configs/ directory. The command automatically enables recursive copying.

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4. Specify Cloud Provider & Account

p0 scp ./deploy.sh azure-vm:/home/azureuser/ \
    --provider azure --account sub-12345678

• Directs P0 to use your Azure integration on subscription sub-12345678.

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5. Grant sudo During Transfer

p0 scp --sudo ./upgrade.sh prod-web-01:/tmp/ --reason "Patch deploy"

• Adds you to sudoers on prod-web-01 before running scp, so remote file ownerships and permissions can be managed.

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6. Pass Custom SCP Arguments

p0 scp ./archive.tar.gz bastion-host:/tmp/ \
    -- -P 2222 -C

• Uses port 2222 and compression (-C) on the underlying scp call.

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7. Debugging the Provisioning Flow

p0 scp --debug ./file.txt remote-host:/tmp/

• Prints API calls, SSH key details, and status messages to stderr.

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Error Conditions

• Both sides remote or both local

  Exactly one host (source or destination) must be remote.

  Fix: prefix only one argument with <hostname>:.

• Azure + custom port

  Azure SSH does not currently support specifying a port…

  Azure integration only works over default port 22.

• Could not determine host

  Could not determine host identifier…

  Ensure your <hostname>: syntax is correct (no spaces, exactly one colon).