CloudsArk
Commands Linux

scp Interview Questions and Answers

Review common scp interview questions with practical answers and command examples.

scp Interview Questions and Answers

Introduction

These questions test whether you understand what scp does, when to use it, and how to verify the result on Linux.

Beginner Questions

What does scp do?

It copies files between hosts over SSH.

Show a basic command.

scp file.txt admin@server:/tmp/

Intermediate Questions

Name useful options.

  • -r: copy directories recursively.
  • -P: connect to a custom SSH port.
  • -i: use a private key file.

Show a common administrator command.

scp admin@server:/var/log/app.log .

Scenario-Based Questions

How would you handle scp copy directory?

scp -r project admin@server:/srv/

What would you verify afterward?

ssh admin@server ls -l /tmp/file.txt

Expected output should look similar to:

-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 1200 May 30 10:00 /tmp/file.txt

Practical Task Questions

Practice in a lab by running a safe version of the command, explaining the target, and showing the verification output.

Quick Review

scp file.txt admin@server:/tmp/
scp admin@server:/var/log/app.log .
ssh admin@server ls -l /tmp/file.txt

Summary

A strong scp answer includes the purpose, a correct example, a common mistake, and a verification command with output you can interpret.