Linux Journal: Pass on Passwords with scp

“In this article, I show you how to use the scp (secure copy)
command without needing to use passwords. I then show you how to
use this command in two scripts. One script lets you copy a file to
multiple Linux boxes on your network, and the other allows you to
back up all of your Linux boxes easily.

“If you’re a Linux sysadmin, you frequently need to copy files
from one Linux box to another. Or, you may need to distribute a
file to multiple boxes. You could use FTP, but using scp has many
advantages. For instance, scp is much more secure than FTP. scp
travels across the LAN/WAN encrypted, while FTP uses clear text,
even for passwords…”

Complete
Story