GitHub Action for copying files and artifacts via SSH.

Important: Only support Linux docker container.

Copy files and artifacts via SSH:

name: scp files
on: [push]
jobs:

  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: copy file via ssh password
      uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
      with:
        host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
        username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
        password: ${{ secrets.PASSWORD }}
        port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
        source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
        target: your_server_target_folder_path

See the action.yml file for more detail information.

• host - scp remote host
• port - scp remote port, default is 22
• username - scp username
• password - scp password
• passphrase - the passphrase is usually to encrypt the private key
• fingerprint - fingerprint SHA256 of the host public key, default is to skip verification
• timeout - timeout for ssh to remote host, default is 30s
• command_timeout - timeout for scp command, default is 10m
• key - content of ssh private key. ex raw content of ~/.ssh/id_rsa
• key_path - path of ssh private key
• target - target path on the server, must be a directory (required)
• source - scp file list (required)
• rm - remove target folder before upload data, default is false
• strip_components - remove the specified number of leading path elements.
• overwrite - use --overwrite flag with tar, overwrite existing files when extracting
• tar_tmp_path - temporary path for tar file on the dest host
• tar_exec - path to tar executable on the dest host. default is tar
• tar_dereference - use --dereference flag with tar, follow symlinks; archive and dump the files they point to
• use_insecure_cipher - include more ciphers with use_insecure_cipher (see #15)

SSH Proxy Setting:

• proxy_host - proxy host
• proxy_port - proxy port, default is 22
• proxy_username - proxy username
• proxy_password - proxy password
• proxy_passphrase - the passphrase is usually to encrypt the private key
• proxy_timeout - timeout for ssh to proxy host, default is 30s
• proxy_key - content of ssh proxy private key.
• proxy_key_path - path of ssh proxy private key
• proxy_fingerprint - fingerprint SHA256 of the host public key, default is to skip verification
• proxy_use_insecure_cipher - include more ciphers with use_insecure_cipher (see #15)

Make sure to follow the below steps while creating SSH Keys and using them. The best practice is create the SSH Keys on local machine not remote machine. Login with username specified in Github Secrets. Generate a RSA Key-Pair:

# rsa
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

# ed25519
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 200 -C "your_email@example.com"

Add newly generated key into Authorized keys. Read more about authorized keys here.

# rsa
cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh b@B 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

# d25519
cat .ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh b@B 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

Copy Private Key content and paste in Github Secrets.

# rsa
clip < ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# ed25519
clip < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

See the detail information about SSH login without password.

A note from one of our readers: Depending on your version of SSH you might also have to do the following changes:

• Put the public key in .ssh/authorized_keys2
• Change the permissions of .ssh to 700
• Change the permissions of .ssh/authorized_keys2 to 640

If you are currently using OpenSSH and are getting the following error:

ssh: handshake failed: ssh: unable to authenticate, attempted methods [none publickey]

Make sure that your key algorithm of choice is supported. On Ubuntu 20.04 or later you must explicitly allow the use of the ssh-rsa algorithm. Add the following line to your OpenSSH daemon file (which is either /etc/ssh/sshd_config or a drop-in file under /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/):

CASignatureAlgorithms +ssh-rsa

Alternatively, ed25519 keys are accepted by default in OpenSSH. You could use this instead of rsa if needed:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 200 -C "your_email@example.com"

Copy file via a SSH password:

- name: copy file via ssh password
  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
    host: example.com
    username: foo
    password: bar
    port: 22
    source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path

Copy file via a SSH key:

- name: copy file via ssh key
  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
    host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
    username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
    port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
    key: ${{ secrets.KEY }}
    source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path

Example configuration for ignore list:

- name: copy file via ssh key
  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
    host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
    username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
    port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
    key: ${{ secrets.KEY }}
    source: "tests/*.txt,!tests/a.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path

Example configuration for multiple servers:

  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
-   host: "example.com"
+   host: "foo.com,bar.com"
    username: foo
    password: bar
    port: 22
    source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path

Example configuration for exclude custom files:

  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
    host: "example.com"
    username: foo
    password: bar
    port: 22
-   source: "tests/*.txt"
+   source: "tests/*.txt,!tests/a.txt,!tests/b.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path

Upload artifact files to remote server:

  deploy:
    name: deploy artifact
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - run: echo hello > world.txt

    - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: my-artifact
        path: world.txt

    - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: my-artifact
        path: distfiles

    - name: copy file to server
      uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
      with:
        host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
        username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
        key: ${{ secrets.KEY }}
        port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
        source: distfiles/*
        target: your_server_target_folder_path

Remove the specified number of leading path elements:

- name: remove the specified number of leading path elements
  uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
  with:
    host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
    username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
    key: ${{ secrets.KEY }}
    port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
    source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
    target: your_server_target_folder_path
    strip_components: 1

Old target structure:

foobar
  └── tests
    ├── a.txt
    └── b.txt

New target structure:

foobar
  ├── a.txt
  └── b.txt

Only copy files that are newer than the corresponding destination files:

  changes:
    name: test changed-files
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Get changed files
      id: changed-files
      uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v35
      with:
        since_last_remote_commit: true
        separator: ","

    - name: copy file to server
      uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
      with:
        host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
        username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
        key: ${{ secrets.KEY }}
        port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
        source: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}
        target: your_server_target_folder_path

Protecting a Private Key. The purpose of the passphrase is usually to encrypt the private key. This makes the key file by itself useless to an attacker. It is not uncommon for files to leak from backups or decommissioned hardware, and hackers commonly exfiltrate files from compromised systems.

  - name: ssh key with passphrase
    uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
    with:
      host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
      username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
      key: ${{ secrets.SSH2 }}
+     passphrase: ${{ secrets.PASSPHRASE }}
      port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
      source: "tests/a.txt,tests/b.txt"
      target: your_server_target_folder_path

When copying files from a Linux runner to a Windows server, you should:

1. Download git for Windows
2. Change the default OpenSSH shell to git bach with the following powershell command.
3. Set tar_dereference and rm variable to true in the YAML file
4. Avoid putting the port value through a variable
5. Convert the target path to a Unix path: /c/path/to/target/

Change the default OpenSSH shell to git bach with the following powershell command.

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\OpenSSH" -Name DefaultShell -Value "$env:Programfiles\Git\bin\bash.exe" -PropertyType String -Force

Convert the target path to a Unix path: /c/path/to/target/

  - name: Copy to Windows
      uses: appleboy/scp-action@v0.1.7
      with:
        host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
        username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
        key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
        port: 22
        source: 'your_source_path'
-       target: 'C:\path\to\target'
+       target: '/c/path/to/target/'
+       tar_dereference: true
+       rm: true