The multipass transfer command copies files between host and instance, without the need of mounting a folder on the instance.
For example, to copy a local file local_file.txt to the default home folder of the instance good-prawn, we should issue:
$ multipass transfer local_file.txt good-prawn:.
Conversely, to copy a file instance_file.txt from the default home folder of the ample-pigeon instance to the current working folder, we should run:
$ multipass transfer ample-pigeon:remote_file.txt .
The source file can be the host standard input, on which case the stream will be written on the destination file on the instance. In the same way, the destination can be the standard output of the host and the source a file on the instance. In these two cases, standard input and output are specified with -.
The full multipass help transfer output explains the available options:
$ multipass help transfer
Usage: multipass transfer [options] <source> [<source> ...] <destination>
Copy files between the host and instances.
Options:
-h, --help Displays help on commandline options.
--help-all Displays help including Qt specific options.
-v, --verbose Increase logging verbosity. Repeat the 'v' in the short option
for more detail. Maximum verbosity is obtained with 4 (or more)
v's, i.e. -vvvv.
Arguments:
source One or more paths to transfer, prefixed with <name:> for paths
inside the instance, or '-' for stdin
destination The destination path, prefixed with <name:> for a path inside
the instance, or '-' for stdout