pscp.pssh (1) - Linux Man Pages

pscp.pssh: parallel process kill program


pscp --- parallel process kill program


pscp [-vAr] [-h hosts_file] [-H [user@]host[:port]] [-l user] [-p par] [-o outdir] [-e errdir] [-t timeout] [-O options] [-x args] [-X arg] local remote


pscp is a program for copying files in parallel to a number of hosts. It provides features such as passing a password to scp, saving output to files, and timing out.


-h host_file
--hosts host_file
Read hosts from the given host_file. Lines in the host file are of the form [user@]host[:port] and can include blank lines and comments (lines beginning with "#"). If multiple host files are given (the -h option is used more than once), then pscp behaves as though these files were concatenated together. If a host is specified multiple times, then pscp will connect the given number of times.

"[user@]host[:port] [ [user@]host[:port ] ... ]"
Add the given host strings to the list of hosts. This option may be given multiple times, and may be used in conjunction with the -h option.

-l user
--user user
Use the given username as the default for any host entries that don't specifically specify a user.

-p parallelism
--par parallelism
Use the given number as the maximum number of concurrent connections.

-t timeout
--timeout timeout
Make connections time out after the given number of seconds. With a value of 0, pscp will not timeout any connections.

-o outdir
--outdir outdir
Save standard output to files in the given directory. Filenames are of the form [user@]host[:port][.num] where the user and port are only included for hosts that explicitly specify them. The number is a counter that is incremented each time for hosts that are specified more than once.

-e errdir
--errdir errdir
Save standard error to files in the given directory. Filenames are of the same form as with the -o option.

-x args
--extra-args args
Passes extra SSH command-line arguments (see the ssh(1) man page for more information about SSH arguments). This option may be specified multiple times. The arguments are processed to split on whitespace, protect text within quotes, and escape with backslashes. To pass arguments without such processing, use the -X option instead.

-X arg
--extra-arg arg
Passes a single SSH command-line argument (see the ssh(1) man page for more information about SSH arguments). Unlike the -x option, no processing is performed on the argument, including word splitting. To pass multiple command-line arguments, use the option once for each argument.

-O options
--options options
SSH options in the format used in the SSH configuration file (see the ssh_config(5) man page for more information). This option may be specified multiple times.

Prompt for a password and pass it to ssh. The password may be used for either to unlock a key or for password authentication. The password is transferred in a fairly secure manner (e.g., it will not show up in argument lists). However, be aware that a root user on your system could potentially intercept the password.

Include error messages from ssh with the -i and \ options.

Recursively copy directories.


The ssh_config file can include an arbitrary number of Host sections. Each host entry specifies ssh options which apply only to the given host. Host definitions can even behave like aliases if the HostName option is included. This ssh feature, in combination with pssh host files, provides a tremendous amount of flexibility.


The exit status codes from pscp are as follows:


Miscellaneous error

Syntax or usage error

At least one process was killed by a signal or timed out.

All processes completed, but at least one scp process reported an error (exit status other than 0).


Written by Brent N. Chun <bnc [at]> and Andrew McNabb <amcnabb [at]>.


ssh(1), ssh_config(5), pssh(1), prsync(1), pslurp(1), pnuke(1),