bcp

bcp (Blob Copy) provides SCP-like functionality for copying files to and from EC2 instances through S3 and AWS Systems Manager (SSM).

Features

• Bidirectional Transfer: Copy files both TO and FROM EC2 instances
• Resource Discovery: List available S3 buckets and SSM-managed EC2 instances
• Robust Error Handling: Retry logic with exponential backoff for transient failures
• Input Validation: Comprehensive validation of paths, instance IDs, and bucket names
• Structured Logging: Configurable logging with multiple levels (debug, info, warn, error)
• Configuration File Support: YAML-based configuration with sensible defaults
• Progress Reporting: Clear progress messages during uploads and downloads
• Automatic Cleanup: S3 objects are automatically cleaned up after successful transfers

Usage

Copy Files

Copy TO remote instance:

bcp [local_source] [ssm_instance_id:remote_destination] --bucket BUCKET_NAME

Copy FROM remote instance:

bcp [ssm_instance_id:remote_source] [local_destination] --bucket BUCKET_NAME

Arguments:

• local_source: Local directory or file path to upload (when copying TO remote)
• local_destination: Local directory or file path to download to (when copying FROM remote)
• ssm_instance_id:remote_path: SSM instance ID and remote path (format: i-xxxxxxxxx:/path/to/file)

List Resources

Discover available AWS resources before copying:

# List all S3 buckets
bcp list buckets

# List SSM-managed EC2 instances
bcp list instances

# List all EC2 instances (including non-SSM)
bcp list instances --all

# List instances in a specific region
bcp list instances --region us-west-2

Global Flags

• -b, --bucket: S3 bucket name for transfer (required if not set in config)
• -c, --config: Path to config file (default: $HOME/.bcp/config.yaml)
• -v, --verbose: Enable verbose output (debug level)
• -q, --quiet: Suppress all output except errors
• -h, --help: Display help information

Prerequisites

• Local Machine:

  • Go 1.20+ (for building from source)
  • AWS CLI installed and configured with appropriate credentials
  • IAM permissions for S3 and SSM

• Remote Instance:

  • AWS CLI installed
  • SSM Agent running
  • IAM instance profile with S3 read permissions

Installation

From Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cowdogmoo/bcp.git
   cd bcp

2. Build the project:

   go build -o bcp

3. (Optional) Move to PATH:

   sudo mv bcp /usr/local/bin/

Configuration

Create a configuration file at $HOME/.bcp/config.yaml:

---
log:
  format: text # text, json, or color
  level: info # debug, info, warn, error

aws:
  region: us-east-1
  profile: default
  bucket: my-default-bucket # Optional: default S3 bucket

transfer:
  max_retries: 3 # Maximum retry attempts
  retry_delay: 2 # Base delay in seconds (exponential backoff)

See cmd/config/config.yaml for a complete example.

Shell Completion

Enable autocomplete for bucket names, instance IDs, and common paths:

Bash:

# One-time setup (Linux)
bcp completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/bcp

# One-time setup (macOS with Homebrew)
bcp completion bash > $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/bcp

# Or source directly in current shell
source <(bcp completion bash)

Zsh:

# Enable completion system (if not already enabled)
echo "autoload -U compinit; compinit" >> ~/.zshrc

# One-time setup
bcp completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_bcp"

# Restart shell or reload
source ~/.zshrc

Fish:

# One-time setup
bcp completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/bcp.fish

# Reload completions
source ~/.config/fish/completions/bcp.fish

Completion Features:

• bcp --bucket <TAB> - Autocomplete S3 bucket names
• bcp file.txt <TAB> - Autocomplete SSM instance IDs
• bcp file.txt i-xxx:<TAB> - Suggest common destination paths (/tmp/, /home/ec2-user/, /opt/, etc.)

Examples

Discover Resources

# List available S3 buckets
bcp list buckets

# List SSM-managed instances (shows instance ID, status, platform, IP, and name)
bcp list instances

# List all instances including non-SSM ones
bcp list instances --all

# List instances in a specific region
bcp list instances --region us-east-1

Basic File Transfer

# Copy a directory TO an EC2 instance
bcp ./my-files i-1234567890abcdef0:/home/ec2-user/files --bucket my-bucket

# Copy a single file TO an EC2 instance
bcp ~/app/binary i-1234567890abcdef0:/usr/local/bin/myapp --bucket my-bucket

# Copy a directory FROM an EC2 instance
bcp i-1234567890abcdef0:/home/ec2-user/files ./my-files --bucket my-bucket

# Copy a single file FROM an EC2 instance
bcp i-1234567890abcdef0:/var/log/app.log ./logs/app.log --bucket my-bucket

With Verbose Logging

# Enable debug logging to see detailed progress
bcp ./my-files i-1234567890abcdef0:/home/ec2-user/files --bucket my-bucket --verbose

Using Configuration File

# Use a custom config file
bcp ./my-files i-1234567890abcdef0:/home/ec2-user/files --config ./my-config.yaml

Quiet Mode

# Only show errors
bcp ./my-files i-1234567890abcdef0:/home/ec2-user/files --bucket my-bucket --quiet

Workflow Example

# 1. Discover available buckets and instances
bcp list buckets
bcp list instances

# 2. Copy files TO remote using discovered resources
bcp ./deployment i-1234567890abcdef0:/opt/app --bucket my-bucket

# 3. Copy files FROM remote
bcp i-1234567890abcdef0:/opt/app/logs ./logs --bucket my-bucket

Development

Running Tests

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run tests with coverage
go test ./... -cover

# Run tests verbosely
go test ./... -v

Building

# Build for current platform
go build -o bcp

# Build with version info
go build -ldflags "-X main.Version=1.0.0" -o bcp

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "bucket name is required": Set bucket via --bucket flag or in config file
2. "invalid SSM instance ID": Ensure instance ID format is i-xxxxxxxxx
3. "AWS CLI is not installed on instance": Install AWS CLI on the remote instance
4. "operation failed after N retries": Check network connectivity and AWS credentials

Enable Debug Logging

bcp ./files i-xxx:/tmp/files --bucket my-bucket --verbose

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add tests for new functionality
4. Ensure all tests pass
5. Submit a pull request