The SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) command follows this basic syntax:

scp [options] [source] [destination]

For Windows to Linux transfers, you need to specify:

scp d:/test.txt username@remotehost:/etc/var/test/test.txt

1. Local path format: Windows paths should use forward slashes or escaped backslashes

d:/test.txt  OR  d:\\test.txt

2. Remote path format: Must include username and hostname

user@192.168.1.100:/remote/path

You'll need to authenticate with either:

# Password authentication (will prompt)
scp d:/test.txt user@host:/path/

# Key-based authentication (recommended)
scp -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa d:/test.txt user@host:/path/

Permission issues:

# Check remote directory permissions first
ssh user@host "ls -ld /etc/var/test"

Network connectivity:

# Verify SSH access
ssh user@host

For frequent transfers, consider mounting remote directories:

# Using SSHFS on Linux subsystem for Windows
sshfs user@host:/remote/path /mnt/localpath

Recursive directory transfer:

scp -r d:/test_folder user@host:/remote/path/

Port specification (when non-default SSH port):

scp -P 2222 d:/test.txt user@host:/path/

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The issue stems from incorrect path formatting in your SCP command. On Windows systems, you need to properly reference the local file path while maintaining the correct remote server syntax.

Here's the proper way to transfer a file from your Windows D: drive to a Linux server:

scp d:\\test.txt username@remotehost:/etc/var/test/test.txt

Key components that were missing in your original attempt:

• Backslashes (\\) for Windows paths (or forward slashes with proper escaping)
• Remote server username and hostname
• Proper remote path specification

For a complete example with all required parameters:

scp "d:/test.txt" john@192.168.1.100:/etc/var/test/test.txt

Alternative format using backslashes:

scp d:\\test.txt john@192.168.1.100:/etc/var/test/test.txt

If you're using SSH key authentication, ensure your keys are properly configured. For password authentication:

scp -P 22 d:/test.txt john@example.com:/etc/var/test/

For recursive directory transfer:

scp -r d:/test_folder john@example.com:/etc/var/test/

To preserve file attributes during transfer:

scp -p d:/test.txt john@example.com:/etc/var/test/

For faster transfers on good connections:

scp -C d:/test.txt john@example.com:/etc/var/test/

If you encounter "Permission denied" errors:

1. Verify the remote directory exists and is writable
2. Check if you need sudo privileges on the remote server
3. Confirm your SSH key or password is correct

For "No such file or directory" errors:

1. Verify the source file exists on your Windows machine
2. Check if your remote path is absolute (starts with /)
3. Ensure you have proper escape characters for spaces in paths