Transfer Files from Ubuntu to Arch Linux over SSH/SFTP

Requirements

Both machines must:

• be powered on
• be connected to the same local network/Wi-Fi
• have SSH available on the Arch machine

1. Setup SSH server on Arch Linux

On the Arch machine:

Install OpenSSH:

sudo pacman -S openssh

Enable and start SSH server:

sudo systemctl enable --now sshd

Verify SSH server is running:

systemctl status sshd

You should see:

active (running)

2. Find Arch machine IP address

On Arch:

ip addr

Look for your Wi-Fi or Ethernet interface.

Example:

3: wlp0s20f3: ...
    inet 192.168.1.42/24
subho/

Install rsync if needed

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install rsync

Arch:

sudo pacman -S rsync

Large transfers with rsync

Standard transfer

rsync -avh --progress myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

Transfer with compression

rsync -avzh --progress myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

-z enables compression during transfer.

Useful for:

• slower Wi-Fi
• remote transfers
• text/code/compressible files

Usually NOT useful for:

• .mp4
• .mkv
• .zip
• .jpg
• other already-compressed files

Compression may slightly increase CPU usage.

Both commands:

• copy files
• preserve source files
• overwrite changed destination files automatically
• skip identical files

Options:

• -a archive mode
• -v verbose
• -z compress during transfer
• -h human readable
• --progress show progress

Preview changes without modifying anything

rsync -avhn --progress myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

-n means dry run.

Prevent overwriting existing destination files

rsync -avh --ignore-existing myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

Move files instead of copying

rsync -avh --progress --remove-source-files myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

With compression:

rsync -avzh --progress --remove-source-files myfolder/ subho@192.168.1.42:/home/subho/myfolder/

This:

• copies files to Arch
• deletes transferred source files
• does NOT remove empty source directories

Remove leftover empty directories:

find myfolder -type d -empty -delete

Troubleshooting

Test network connectivity

From Ubuntu:

ping 192.168.1.42

Check SSH server again

On Arch:

systemctl status sshd

Firewall issues

Temporarily allow SSH:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

or disable firewall temporarily for testing.

Optional: Passwordless login

Generate SSH key on Ubuntu:

ssh-keygen

Copy key to Arch:

ssh-copy-id subho@192.168.1.42

After this:

• no password prompts
• easier SCP/rsync usage