Common shell commands I can't seem to remember

gistfile1.sh

# ----------------- tar-zip a folder 
tar -zcvf path/archive-name.tar.gz directory-path/
# e.g.
tar -zcvf ~/nginx-all.tar.gz /etc/nginx/

# ----------------- copy contents of a folder
cp -a /source/. /dest/

# ----------------- download a file off a remote server
scp USERNAME@REMOTE_HOST:FILE_NAME_IN_HOME_DIR LOCAL_DIR
# or with ssh port
scp -P SSH_PORT USERNAME@REMOTE_HOST:FILE_NAME_IN_HOME_DIR LOCAL_DIR
# e.g. 
scp -P 654 rocky@balboa.com:my_backup.tar.gz ~/backups/