SCP Error in pfSense

03/03/2018 homelab 7 Comments

This isn’t a homelab entry, per se. This is just a note to say the following:

If you’re trying to use scp to transfer a file to a pfSense host and it’s failing with the error “Illegal option -t” then you need to use the root account for the remote user in the scp command instead of the admin account you’d normally use for everything else in pfSense.

I’m posting this simply because I just spent far too long troubleshooting that error. Hopefully this gets indexed so that it is available to the greater Internet and no one else will spend that much time on it ever again.

Virtualizing pfSense in ESXi 6.5

Configuring pfSense for Google Fiber

7 thoughts on “SCP Error in pfSense”

  1. Chris

    Hey thanks for writing down the scp error, it saved my day !!

    Reply
  2. Geovane

    Thanks a lot!

    Reply
  3. Tejas

    Thank you thank you thank you, you are an excellent human being

    Reply
  4. Bean Warring

    THANK YOU!
    What is “Illegal option -t” supposed to mean?
    Why not make a REAL error message…. “USE ROOT ACCOUNT, FOR SCP”
    Oh well, we can’t send everyone to the camps.

    Reply
  5. Fabio Bonanato

    THANK YOU!
    THANK YOU!
    THANK YOU!
    THANK YOU!

    Reply
  6. Bjoern Stappenbeck

    Thanks.. that really helped.

    Reply
  7. Jon

    And 2 years later your post is still helping people. Thanks

    Reply
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