[KLUG Members] remote copy of /homes directory

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> 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

You probably want the "-r" option for recursive operation.

> If I use a normal user, that user would only have access to one home
> directory (their own).

Yep.

> If I use root it somehow doesn't seem like I'm doing it securely (should
> you ever remotely log in directly as root?).

Depends.

Do you care about file permissions/ownership?  If so better to use
something like tar.

You can:
ssh root@{remotehost} "tar cf - /home | ssh root@{localhost} \"tar -C/
-xf - \" "

To start tar on the remote host, send the tar'd content over an ssh
tunnel back to your host and untar the stream.  I've got a couple of
hosts I backup this way since they don't have local tape drives.

You need to setup the RSA keys, but if the boxes are secure, that should
be pretty safe.