🔐 Interactive SCP Client (iscp)

A user-friendly, interactive SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) client written in Rust that simplifies secure file transfers over SSH. This tool provides an intuitive command-line interface for uploading files to remote servers with progress tracking and multiple authentication methods.

✨ Features

• Interactive CLI: Step-by-step prompts guide you through the transfer process
• Progress Tracking: Real-time progress bar with transfer speed and ETA
• Multiple Authentication Methods:
  • SSH key authentication (with optional passphrase)
  • Password authentication (fallback)
• Smart Defaults: Automatically suggests sensible remote paths
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
• Secure: Built on the robust ssh2 crate for reliable SSH connections

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.70+ (for the 2024 edition)
• SSH access to your target server

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/byte3-it/iscp.git
   cd iscp

2. Build the project:

   cargo build --release

3. Run the application:

   cargo run --release

Usage

Simply run the application and follow the interactive prompts:

cargo run --release

The application will guide you through:

1. Local file path - The file you want to upload
2. Remote host - Target server (e.g., example.com or 192.168.1.100)
3. Port - SSH port (default: 22)
4. Username - Your SSH username
5. Remote path - Destination path on the remote server (optional)

Example Session

=====================================
🔐 Interactive SCP File Transfer Tool
=====================================
📁 Local file path: ./my-document.pdf
🌐 Remote host (e.g., example.com or 192.168.1.100): myserver.com
🔌 Port (optional, press Enter for default 22):
👤 Username: myuser
📂 Remote path (optional, press Enter for default: /home/myuser/my-document.pdf):

🔗 Connecting to remote host...
🔑 Trying SSH key: /Users/myuser/.ssh/id_rsa
✅ Authenticated with SSH key (no passphrase)
✅ Connected and authenticated successfully!
📤 Starting file transfer...
████████████████████████████████████████ 100% (2.1MB/2.1MB) (00:03)

✅ File transfer completed successfully!

🛠️ Development

Setting Up Development Environment

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/iscp.git
   cd iscp

2. Install dependencies:

   cargo build

3. Run in development mode:

   cargo run

Project Structure

iscp/
├── src/
│   └── main.rs          # Main application logic
├── Cargo.toml           # Project dependencies and metadata
├── Cargo.lock           # Locked dependency versions
└── README.md           # This file

Key Dependencies

• ssh2 - SSH2 protocol implementation for secure connections
• indicatif - Progress bars and terminal UI components
• dialoguer - Interactive command-line prompts
• console - Terminal styling and colors

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository on GitHub
2. Create a feature branch:

   git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

3. Make your changes and test them thoroughly
4. Run tests (when available):

   cargo test

5. Commit your changes:

   git commit -m "Add your feature description"

6. Push to your fork:

   git push origin feature/your-feature-name

7. Create a Pull Request on GitHub

Development Guidelines

• Follow Rust naming conventions
• Add comments for complex logic
• Test your changes with various file types and sizes
• Ensure the code compiles without warnings
• Consider edge cases (network failures, authentication issues, etc.)

⚠️ Current Limitations

Important: This is an early version of the project with the following limitations:

• Upload Only: Currently, the tool only supports uploading files from local to remote servers
• No Download Support: Downloading files from remote to local is not yet implemented
• Single File Transfer: Only one file can be transferred per session
• No Directory Support: Directory transfers are not supported

Planned Features

• Download files from remote servers
• Directory transfer support
• Batch file transfers
• Configuration file support
• Resume interrupted transfers
• Transfer verification (checksums)
• Custom SSH port configuration
• Verbose logging options

🔧 Configuration

SSH Key Setup

For the best experience, set up SSH key authentication:

1. Generate an SSH key (if you don't have one):

   ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

2. Copy your public key to the remote server:

   ssh-copy-id username@your-server.com

3. Test the connection:

   ssh username@your-server.com

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Failed:

• Ensure your SSH key is properly configured
• Check that the remote server allows key-based authentication
• Verify your username and server address

Connection Timeout:

• Check your network connection
• Verify the server address and port
• Ensure the remote server is running SSH

File Transfer Fails:

• Verify you have write permissions on the remote path
• Check available disk space on the remote server
• Ensure the remote directory exists

📄 License

This project is open source. Please check the LICENSE file for details.

🤝 Support

• Issues: Report bugs and request features on GitHub Issues
• Discussions: Join the conversation on GitHub Discussions

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with the amazing Rust ecosystem
• Uses the excellent ssh2 crate for SSH functionality
• Inspired by the need for a more user-friendly SCP experience

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Happy transferring! 🚀