How to configure CVS on linux machine.

Question

I want to configure CVS on linux machine to maintain history and revision of files.

Answer 1

http://fedoranews.org/contributors/thomas_andersen/cvs/

Installation (as root)
Use yum to install rpm:
    # yum install cvs
Create a user called cvs:
    # useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin cvs 
Next, create an anonymous user:
    # useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin anonymous
Edit the /etc/group file to add other users to the cvs group (including the anonymous user).

    cvs:x:501:tma,anonymous

Configure xinetd (as root)

Create a file called /etc/xinetd.d/cvspserver:

service cvspserver
{
  port = 2401
  socket_type = stream
  protocol = tcp
  wait = no
  user = root
  passenv = PATH
  server = /usr/bin/cvs
  server_args = -f --allow-root=/cvs pserver
}

Restart the xinet daemon:
    # service xinetd restart

Configuration (as root)

Choose a directory for the CVS files (fx. /usr/local/cvsroot/) and set CVSROOT:
    # export CVSROOT=/usr/local/cvsroot/

Create directory and set permissions:
    # mkdir $CVSROOT
    # chown -R cvs:cvs $CVSROOT
    # chmod ug+rwx $CVSROOT
    # chmod o-rwx $CVSROOT
    # chmod g+s $CVSROOT

Create a symbolic link. Link matches the "allow-root" in /etc/xinetd.d/cvspserver
    # ln -s $CVSROOT /cvs

Initialize Repository

Login as one of the users in the CVS group and run the following commands:
    $ export CVSROOT=/usr/local/cvsroot/
    $ cvs init
Check that a directory called CVSROOT inside your CVS root directory is created.
CVS can use the system /etc/passwd file to authenticate users, but this is not recommended.

Create a file $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd with the format:
    username:crypt_password:run_as_user

Here is a sample $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/passwd file:

tma:qAju16i7iX2Dc:cvs
anonymous::cvs

Tip: Use htpasswd to create encrypted passwords. (Example: htpasswd -n tma)

To limit the anonymous user to read-only access, create a file called $CVSROOT/CVSROOT/readers with the following line:

    anonymous

Test connection from a remote host

Set the CVSROOT for the current user:
    $ export CVSROOT=':pserver:tma@<hostname>:/cvs'

Login to the CVS server:
    $ cvs login

You can install CVS on cygwin too using step above.

Answer 2

Server configuration

yum install cvs  or  similar command 

Create a CVS user

# useradd cvs
# passwd cvs

Above command will create a user cvs and group cvs with /home/cvs home directory.

Configure CVS

Open /etc/profile and append following line:

# vi /etc/profile

Append following line:

export CVSROOT=/home/cvs

Save the file and exit to shell promot.

Make sure your /etc/xinetd.d/cvs looks as follows:

# less /etc/xinetd.d/cvs

Output:
service cvspserver

{
       disable            = no
       socket_type    = stream
       wait                = no
       user                = cvs
       group              = cvs
       log_type          = FILE /var/log/cvspserver
       protocol          = tcp
       env                 = '$HOME=/home/cvsroot'
       bind                = 192.168.1.100
       log_on_failure  += USERID
       port                = 2401
       server             = /usr/bin/cvs
       server_args     = -f --allow-root=/home/cvsroot pserver
}

Note: Replace 192.168.1.100 with your actual server IP address.

Restart xinetd:

# service xinetd restart

Add users to this group (see this howto for more info)

# adduser username -g cvs
# passwd username

Client configuration

Finally user can connect to this CVS server using following syntax:

$ export CVSROOT=:pserver:mjoshi@192.168.1.100:/home/cvs
$ cvs loginWhere,
mjoshi - username
192.168.1.100 - CVS server IP