> ssh prod-db > mysqldump what-i-need > file.sql > exit > scp prod-db:file.sql . You can definitely do better than that with ssh: ssh prod-db "mysqld

> ssh prod-db > mysqldump what-i-need > file.sql > exit > scp prod-db:file.sql . You can definitely do better than that with ssh: ssh prod-db "mysqldump what-i-need" > file.sql If the dump is large and the network is the bottleneck, you can also do it like this: ssh prod-db "mysqldump what-i-need | p7zip" | p7zip -d > file.sql Edit: Noste gave the right oneliner, sorry I didn't notice it at first. Consider mine only as an expansion of his second point.