Can ssh and scp to ec2 linux instance but cannot scp from linux instance to local machine

Question

I'm having a very strange issue. When I try to SSH into my linux instance using the following line, it works.

ssh -i "F:\Work\Thomas Final Site\Bhasha.pem" ec2-user@xx.xxx.xxx.xxx

But when I try to scp from the linux instance to my home machine running Windows 7 using the following line, I get the following error.

scp -i "F:\Work\Thomas Final Site\Bhasha.pem" -r ec2-user@xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:~/smart-two-site "F:\Work\smart-two"

Could not create directory '/home/User/.ssh'.
The authenticity of host 'xx.xxx.xxx.xxx (xx.xxx.xxx.xxx)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Failed to add the host to the list of known hosts (/home/User/.ssh/known_hosts).
Permission denied (publickey).

I can't understand why using the same public key I would be able to ssh into the instance, but not scp from it. I can also scp from my local machine to the linux instance, but when I try to scp from my linux instance to my local machine from my local machine it crashes.

Any ideas as to what and why this is happening?

Answer 1

Use Filezilla in sftp protocol it should work. add ppk file to settings under sftp.

Answer 2

General suggestion. The way you are running scp for coying files between Linux and windows box will never work. SCP will presume that the file-system on either side of the connection is Linux/unix based.

Instead, when you need to copy files between Linux and windows hosts, use some software like FileZilla, WinSCP OR BitWise ( and tons of others).

All these software have their own way of utilizing the .pem file which you would need to use for transferring file. Please read their respective manual.