sshputtypscp

PuTTY PSCP error "Local to local copy not supported" when username contains a slash


I am trying to move a file from my local Windows machine to a remote Linux server using PSCP. I am connected to the VPN so that I can access my remote Linux machine with my username and password.

My PSCP command for transfer is:

pscp C:\Users\username\Desktop\list.txt PEM\username@10.120.43.78:/home/local/PEM/username

This result in the error

Local to local copy not supported


I have tried this command just for a trial

pscp C:\Users\username\Desktop\list.txt username@10.120.43.78:/home/local/PEM/username

The above command resulted in asking me the password. However, when I type in the password, the access is denied. This is because my remote Linux machine username is PEM/username and not username. However if I use PEM/username the "Local to local copy not supported" error message is coming. Does it have something to do with the slash \ in the username PEM\username?


Solution

  • Yes, it's the backslash.

    To workaround it, use an -l switch to specify the username.

    pscp -l PEM\username C:\Users\username\Desktop\list.txt 10.120.43.78:/home/local/PEM/username
    

    Background:

    The PSCP looks for the first colon, slash or backslash in the target. Only if the first symbol is colon, it considers the target as remote, otherwise as local.

    /*
     *  Find a colon in str and return a pointer to the colon.
     *  This is used to separate hostname from filename.
     */
    static char *colon(char *str)
    {
        /* We ignore a leading colon, since the hostname cannot be
           empty. We also ignore a colon as second character because
           of filenames like f:myfile.txt. */
        if (str[0] == '\0' || str[0] == ':' ||
            (str[0] != '[' && str[1] == ':'))
        return (NULL);
        str += host_strcspn(str, ":/\\");
        if (*str == ':')
        return (str);
        else
        return (NULL);
    }
    
    ...
    
    if (colon(argv[argc - 1]) != NULL)
        toremote(argc, argv);
    else
        tolocal(argc, argv);