cvs installation (linux server and windows client) basics

[radha krishnan]

CVS:CONCURRENT VERSIONS SYSTEM

Introduction to CVS
CVS maintains a history of a source tree, in terms of a series of
changes. It stamps each change with the time it was made and the user
name of the person who made it. Usually, the person provides a bit of
text describing why they made the change as well. Given that
information, CVS can help developers answer questions like:
Who made a given change? 
When did they make it? 
Why did they make it? 
What other changes did they make at the same time?
Installing CVS Server and GUI Client
CVS Server version for both windows and Linux available as free source
and can be obtained from
for windows version : http://www.cvsnt.org/
and linux: 
https://ccvs.cvshome.org/servlets/ProjectDocumentList?folderID=89&expandFolder=89&folderID=88

Gui cvs client for windows can be downloaded from
http://www.wincvs.org/download.html
It is advisable to load python in order to get certain admin
information from wincvs client.
Python may be downloaded from http://www.python.org/download/ 
In RedHat Version of linux CVS package comes along with the distribution CD.
To Check whether CVS is installed run the following command as root
#rpm -q cvs
cvs-1.11.17-1 
will be displayed 1.11.17-1 is the vesion of cvs.
If not installed you may install the RPM from the RedHat distribution CD.

Configuring CVS Server on LINUX
Create cvs group
Add developers to the cvs group (Security aspect need to be delt as
per the organisation's policy)
Create a directory where project sources will be stored.
Run #mkdir /data/cvsrepos as cvs group
Run #cvs -d /data/cvsrepos init
copy the following in a text editor and save  it in /etc/xinet.d
folder as cvspserver and restart xinetd.
#cvspserver script
# default: on
# description: The cvspserver serves cvs password authentication; it uses \
#       unencrypted username/password pairs for authentication.
service cvspserver
{
        disable = no
        socket_type = stream
        protocol = tcp
        user = root
        wait = no
        server = /usr/bin/cvs
        #server_args = -f --allow-root=/data/cvs pserver
        server_args = -f --allow-root=/home/cvsuser pserver
        log_on_success += USERID
        log_on_failure += USERID
}
Installing and connecting CVS server from Windows clients
run wincvs setup.exe
open wincvs
Click Admin-Preferance and fill the Genaral tab
Authentication : pserver (Authentication method)
Path:/data/cvsrepos (CVS Repository )
Host Name : Name of the server or ip address of the server
Username: name of the developer (login name as given in linux)
 In CVS tab home: d:\sandboxusernameprojectname (path of the folder
where developer works)
 In Globals tab untick checkout read only option.

Import module into CVS
Open wincvs
Click Admin-login
enter ok
Give user unix password
Click  edit-browselocation and browse the module to be imported
Right click the module and click import module
CVS bring a window indicating the extention that will be imported. 
(All files are imported in either text or binary format. Text files
.txt, .frm, .sql, .frm, .pas, .bas, etc,. Will be imported as text
files  and binary files .bmp, .jpg, .doc, .exe, etc,. Will be as
binary files.)
Provide appropriate log/notes  and Click ok
Now CVS client will start importing the selected module to the CVS Server

Checkout Module from CVS server to windowsclient
After Setting Preferences and login into cvs Click edit-Browse
location to your sandboxusernameprojectname folder.
Right Click Sandboxusernameprojectname folder in cvs window and Click
Checkout module. Checkout window will open.
Enter the name of the module you want to checkout in the name of the
module combo box.
Click Ok and module will start checking out from Server to the
sandboxusernameprojectname folder.
Open from cvs window  the files that need  modification and start modify.
(CVS client will open files using respective application automaticlaly)

Commit into server the changes that were made in client machine 
Once any modification done on any file wincvs client will change the
color into red in the cvs window to indicate that those files needed
to be commited into CVS Server.
Right Click the file needed to be commited and select commit file 
Enter approprate log message in the commit window, which will be
helpful while tracing at later stages.
Click Ok and will find that the color changes into normal color.


Update local copy with the latest Server copy of the module 
Open wincvs Client and login into CVS.
Right click module/file and select update
Click Ok for  updating local with the server copy.
Check get a  clean copy box for getting clean server copy.
Golden rule about CVS updating "Always update before Commit".

Tail Piece
Have a better  code control with CVS.