[KLUG Members] remote copy of /homes directory

[Bruce Smith]

> If I wanted to remotely copy (rcp) the /homes directory from a host, how
> could I do it without logging in as root?
> 
> scp WhatUserHere at myhost:/homes /mylocaldirectory
> 
> If I use a normal user, that user would only have access to one home
> directory (their own).
> 
> If I use root it somehow doesn't seem like I'm doing it securely (should
> you ever remotely log in directly as root?).

You could tar up the homes directory tree into one [compressed] tar
file, and just copy that one file to the remote computer.  (and untar 
it on the remote end, or not, depending on what you're trying to
accomplish)

Or if this is a regular occurrence, I'd setup a rsync job to keep the
two directories in sync (and save bandwidth by only copying the files
that have changed since the last copy).  You'd have to do that as root,
but it can be setup to be fairly secure, if you're careful.

 - BS