  CVS-RCS-HOWTO Document for Linux (Source Code Control Sys­
  tem)
  Al Dev (Alavoor Vasudevan)        alavoor[AT]yahoo.com
  v22.9, 28 March 2003

  This document is a "practical guide" to very quickly setup CVS/RCS
  source code control system. This document has custom shell scripts
  that are wrappers on top of CVS. These scripts provide an easy user
  interface for CVS. Several shell scripts are provided to make RCS eas­
  ier to use.  The information in this document applies to Linux and as
  well as to all other flavors of Unix like Solaris, HPUX, AIX, SCO,
  Sinix, BSD, SCO, Apple Macintosh (which is BSD unix) etc.. and BeOS.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents



  1. Introduction

  2. Which One Is for Me? CVS or RCS

  3. Setting up CVS

     3.1 Environment variables
     3.2 Setup CVS on Client Box
     3.3 Migrate RCS to CVS

  4. Intro to CVS Commands

     4.1 checkout
     4.2 Staying in sync with other developers - 'cvs update'
     4.3 add
     4.4 remove
     4.5 commit
     4.6 diff
     4.7 Creating Releases
     4.8 Emacs Editor

  5. Strong, Weak or No Locking

  6. Shell Scripts

  7. CVS Documentation

     7.1 Online Documentation
     7.2 CVS Org Documentation
     7.3 CVS Training
     7.4 CVS Online Textbook

  8. Graphical Front Ends

  9. CVS for MS Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP

     9.1 Method 1: Using VNC, Samba
     9.2 Method 2: Using Cygwin
     9.3 CVS exe for Windows 95/NT/2000/XP
     9.4 Windows 95/NT/2000/XP FTP Tools
     9.5 Visual Cafe(Java), JBuilder, MS Visual C++, HTML files
     9.6 Samba Admin tool

  10. Security of CVS Repository

  11. Remote, Multi-User CVS Repository

     11.1 SSH Authentication
     11.2 Securing CVS by pserver Port Forwarding using an SSH Tunnel
     11.3 An Example - Access Remote CVS Server

  12. RCS Shell Scripts

  13. Performance Tuning of a CVS Server

  14. Problem Reporting System

  15. Configuration Management System Tools

  16. Related Sites

  17. SCCS v/s CVS-RCS

  18. Other Formats of this Document

     18.1 Acrobat PDF format
     18.2 Convert Linuxdoc to Docbook format
     18.3 Convert to MS WinHelp format
     18.4 Reading various formats

  19. CVS Shell Scripts

  20. Copyright and License



  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction

  (The latest version of this document is at
  <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com>.  You may want to check
  there for changes).

  A source code control system is a MUST to manage the changes occurring
  to a software project during development. Developers need a complete
  history of changes to backtrack to previous versions in case of any
  problems.  Since source code is the most vital component of any
  software project and software development takes a huge amount of time
  and money, it is very important to spend some time in safe-guarding
  the source code by using source code control systems like CVS and RCS.

  CVS (Concurrent Version Control System) is a powerful tool which
  allows concurrent development of software by multiple users. It uses
  RCS underneath and has an application layer interface as a wrapper on
  top of RCS.

  CVS can record the history of your files (usually, but not always,
  source code). CVS only stores the differences between versions,
  instead of every version of every file you've created. CVS also keeps
  a log of who, when and why changes occurred, among other aspects.

  CVS is very helpful for managing releases and controlling the
  concurrent editing of source files among multiple authors. Instead of
  providing version control for a collection of files in a single
  directory, CVS provides version control for a hierarchical collection
  of directories consisting of revision controlled files.

  These directories and files can then be combined to form a software
  release.

  CVS can be used for storing "C", "C++", Java, Perl, HTML and other
  files.

  HISTORY of CVS: CVS is a very highly sophisticated and complex system.
  It is the "State of the Art" technology and is so called "software
  miracle". The CVS software is a very advanced and capable system
  developed over a very long period of time. And it took several years
  to mature!! It took about 20 to 30 years of research to develop CVS
  algorithms and later it was coded into a software. And even today, it
  is still evolving!!

  CVS algorithms actually started in Universities several decades ago
  and CVS implementation started out as a bunch of shell scripts written
  by Dick Grune, who posted it to the newsgroup comp.sources.unix in the
  volume 6 release of December, 1986. While no actual code from these
  shell scripts is present in the current version of CVS much of the CVS
  conflict resolution algorithms come from them.  In April, 1989, Brian
  Berliner designed and coded CVS. Jeff Polk later helped Brian with the
  design of the CVS module and vendor branch support.


  And today each and every major software development project in the
  world is written using CVS as the safe repository. As good old
  software hats say - "You are in very safe hands, if you are using CVS
  !!!"



  2.  Which One Is for Me? CVS or RCS

  CVS actually uses RCS underneath. CVS is a lot more powerful tool and
  can control a complete source code tree.  It is very strongly
  recommended that you use CVS, because you can greatly customize CVS
  with scripting languages like PERL, Korn and bash shells.  See the
  sample korn shell scripts at ``''.

  Advantages of CVS:

  ·  CVS is decentralized so a user checks out files/directories from
     the repository and have his own separate stable source directory
     tree.

  ·  CVS can "STAMP" releases of an entire project source tree.

  ·  CVS can enable concurrent editing of files.

  ·  CVS can be greatly customized to enable strong locking of files via
     shell scripts or PERL scripts.  CVS supports weak locking with the
     command 'cvs watches' and also no locking permitting concurrent
     editing of files.

  Disadvantages of CVS:

  ·  Needs a little more administration than RCS.

  ·  Very highly sophisticated and complex system. It is "State of the
     Art" technology. The cvs software is a very advanced and capable
     system developed over a very long period of time (it took several
     years!!). It took about 20 to 30 years of research to develop CVS
     and it is still evolving!!

  ·  Has a large number of commands and command options, hence a steeper
     learning curve for beginners. The shell scripts at ``'' can ease
     usage.

  Advantages of RCS:

  ·  RCS is very simple to setup, with less administrative work.

  ·  RCS is used in a centralized area where everyone works.

  ·  RCS is useful for simple systems.

  ·  Very strong locking of files - concurrency eliminated.

  Downside of RCS:

  ·  Concurrent development by multiple developers is not possible due
     to file locking and being limited to a single working directory.
     Because of the single working directory limitation, changes to
     files by multiple developers can cause failure of the 'make'
     command.

  ·  Cannot stamp releases of an entire software project.


  This document also has shell scripts which provide simple commands to
  check-out, check-in, and commit files.  See shell scripts at ``''

  For RCS see the RCS mini-howto on the Linux cdrom:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS
  ls -l howto-6.0-*.noarch.rpm
  rpm -qpl howto-6* | grep -i rcs
  ______________________________________________________________________


  or visit  <http://www.LinuxDoc.org/HOWTO/mini/RCS.html>

  See also the RCS shell scripts at ``''



  3.  Setting up CVS

  First you need to install the CVS package. On Redhat Linux use:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS
  rpm -i rcs*.rpm
  rpm -i cvs*.rpm
  rpm -i openssh*.rpm
  To see the list of files installed do -
  rpm -qpl cvs*.rpm | less
  ______________________________________________________________________


  and browse the output using j,k, CTRL+f, CTRL+D, CTRL+B, CTRL+U or
  using arrow keys, page up/down keys.  See 'man less'.

  The Openssh is required if you want to use ssh (Secure Shell) with
  CVS.

  On other flavors of Unix, you may need to download the RCS and CVS tar
  balls and follow the README, INSTALL files to setup CVS.  Visit
  <http://www.cyclic.com> and  <http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-
  index.html>



  3.1.  Environment variables

  The following environment variables need to be setup in /etc/profile -
  default values required for all users.  If not set in /etc/profile,
  then you should add these to your local profile file  /.bash_profile.


  ______________________________________________________________________
  export EDITOR=/bin/vi
  export CVSROOT=/home/cvsroot

  # WARNING!! WARNING: If you set CVSREAD to yes, checkout and update will try hard to
  # make the files in your working directory read-only.  When this is not set,
  # the default behavior is to permit modification of your working files.
  #export CVSREAD=yes
  ______________________________________________________________________



  And of course, individual users can override the environment variables
  set in /etc/profile by resetting them in their local profile file
   /.bash_profile

  ______________________________________________________________________
  # File ~/.bash_profile
  # Overriding env variables by resetting
  export EDITOR=/usr/bin/emacs
  export CVSROOT=/home/someotherdir/java/cvsroot
  ______________________________________________________________________



  Create a directory to store the source code repository and give read,
  write access to Unix group/user.  Also make sure that the directory
  name of CVSROOT does not contain any blank spaces. For example CVSROOT
  should not be like '/home/my rootcvs'.



  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ su - root
  bash# export CVSROOT=/home/cvsroot
  bash# groupadd --help
  bash# groupadd cvs
  bash# useradd --help
  bash# useradd -g cvs -d $CVSROOT cvs
  bash# mkdir $CVSROOT

  bash# ls -ld $CVSROOT   ... (you should see the listing)
  bash# chgrp -R cvs $CVSROOT
  bash# chmod o-rwx $CVSROOT
  bash# chmod ug+rwx $CVSROOT

  # To initialize the CVS repository and to put in source code files
  # do (but requires env CVSROOT to be set) :
  bash# cvs init

  # Add the unix users to the cvs group. Create supplementary groups for users.
  # Note that you MUST not put any blank spaces after comma separating the
  # group names in -G option.
  # In example below user tom belongs to groups cvs, users and staff and user
  # johnson belongs to group cvs only.
  bash# usermod --help
  bash# usermod -G cvs some_unix_username
  bash# usermod -G cvs,users,staff tom
  bash# usermod -G cvs,users,staroffice billclinton
  bash# usermod -G cvs johnson
  bash# exit    .... (logout of root superuser mode)

  # Login as a user and import files into cvs....
  bash$ su - billclinton
  bash$ export EDITOR=/bin/vi
  bash$ export CVSROOT=/home/cvsroot

  # WARNING! WARNING: If you set CVSREAD to yes, checkout and update will try hard to
  # make the files in your working directory read-only.  When this is not set,
  # the default behavior is to permit modification of your working files.
  bash$ export CVSREAD=yes

  # Change directory is a must (MANDATORY)
  bash$ cd $HOME/somedir/anotherdir/directory/my_source_code_dir

  # Must give vendor tag and revision tag
  cvs import somedir/anotherdir/directory/my_source_code_dir vendor_1_0 rev_1_0

  # Also note that it is very important to give the directory tree starting
  # from the $HOME, that is, in above example starting from somedir.
  # For example I did:
  bash$ cd $HOME/howto/foobar
  bash$ cvs import howto/foobar vendor_1_0 rev_1_0

  # Another example is:
  bash$ cd $HOME/javafilesdir
  bash$ cvs import javafilesdir vendor_1_0 rev_1_0

  # A sample testing and verification:
  bash$ cd $HOME/howto/foobar
  bash$ cvs checkout myfoo.java
  ______________________________________________________________________



  TROUBLESHOOTING: When doing checkout it says module is unknown. It is
  a common mistake not to change directory while doing cvs import. You
  MUST change directory to the source-code-directory and then do cvs
  import. For example:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cd $HOME/somedirectory/foobardir
  bash$ cvs import somedirectory/foobardir vendor_1_0 rev_1_0
  ______________________________________________________________________



  3.2.  Setup CVS on Client Box

  On client boxes where you want to use the CVS, you should install cvs
  packages and ssh package (if you want to use ssh).  Setup the
  environment variables:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ export CVSROOT=":ext:developer@cvs_server_box.domain.com:/home/cvsroot"
  bash$ export CVS_RSH="ssh"
  ______________________________________________________________________


  The cvs_server_box.domain.com is the IP address of the remote CVS
  repository server and 'developer' is the user id.  Another example
  using pserver is given below:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ export CVSROOT=:pserver:username@cvs.tldp.org:/cvsroot
  bash$ export CVS_RSH="ssh"
  ______________________________________________________________________


  See also ``''.



  3.3.  Migrate RCS to CVS

  To migrate the existing RCS files to CVS, use the following script
  from ``'' . Make sure that you installed the Korn shell package
  pdksh*.rpm from the Linux contrib cdrom.

  NOTE : Get the Korn shell /bin/ksh by installing pdksh*.rpm from the
  Linux contrib cdrom

  Now the RCS is migrated to CVS as 'project'. You can start using the
  CVS commands on module 'project'.



  4.  Intro to CVS Commands

  CVS provides a rich variety of  commands  (cvs_command  in the
  Synopsis),  each  of  which  often  has  a  wealth of options, to
  satisfy the many needs of source management in distributed
  environments.  However, you don't have to master every detail to do
  useful work with CVS; in fact, five commands  are  sufficient  to  use
  (and contribute to) the source repository.  The most commonly used CVS
  commands are: checkout, update, add, remove, commit and diff.



  4.1.  checkout

  cvs checkout modules...  A necessary preliminary for most CVS work:
  creates your  private copy of the source for modules (named
  collections of source; you can also use a path relative to the source
  repository here).  You can work with this copy  without  interfering
  with  others' work.   At  least  one subdirectory level is always
  created.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help checkout
  Usage:
    cvs checkout [-ANPRcflnps] [-r rev | -D date] [-d dir]
      [-j rev1] [-j rev2] [-k kopt] modules...
          -A      Reset any sticky tags/date/kopts.
          -N      Don't shorten module paths if -d specified.
          -P      Prune empty directories.
          -R      Process directories recursively.
          -c      "cat" the module database.
          -f      Force a head revision match if tag/date not found.
          -l      Local directory only, not recursive
          -n      Do not run module program (if any).
          -p      Check out files to standard output (avoids stickiness).
          -s      Like -c, but include module status.
          -r rev  Check out revision or tag. (implies -P) (is sticky)
          -D date Check out revisions as of date. (implies -P) (is sticky)
          -d dir  Check out into dir instead of module name.
          -k kopt Use RCS kopt -k option on checkout.
          -j rev  Merge in changes made between current revision and rev.
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.2.  Staying in sync with other developers - 'cvs update'

  cvs update Execute  this  command  from  within  your  private source
  directory  when  you  wish  to  update your copies of source  files
  from  changes  that  other developers  have  made to the source in the
  repository.



  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help update
  Usage: cvs update [-APdflRp] [-k kopt] [-r rev|-D date] [-j rev]
      [-I ign] [-W spec] [files...]
          -A      Reset any sticky tags/date/kopts.
          -P      Prune empty directories.
          -d      Build directories, like checkout does.
          -f      Force a head revision match if tag/date not found.
          -l      Local directory only, no recursion.
          -R      Process directories recursively.
          -p      Send updates to standard output (avoids stickiness).
          -k kopt Use RCS kopt -k option on checkout.
          -r rev  Update using specified revision/tag (is sticky).
          -D date Set date to update from (is sticky).
          -j rev  Merge in changes made between current revision and rev.
          -I ign  More files to ignore (! to reset).
          -W spec Wrappers specification line.
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)

  In order to receive changes from the latest commits from your peer developers, do:
  bash$ cvs update

  If another developer has done bigger changes such as adding new directories etc. do:
  bash$ cvs update -d
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.3.  add

  cvs add file...  Use this command to enroll new files in CVS records
  of your working directory.  The files will be added to the  repository
  the  next  time  you  run  `cvs commit'.   Note:  You  should  use the
  `cvs import' command to bootstrap new sources  into  the  source
  repository.   `cvs  add' is only used for new files to an already
  checked-out module.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help add
  Usage: cvs add [-k rcs-kflag] [-m message] files...
          -k      Use "rcs-kflag" to add the file with the specified kflag.
          -m      Use "message" for the creation log.
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)

  To add a new file to the repository do:
  bash$ cvs add newFile
  bash$ cvs commit

  To add a new binary file to the repository do:
  bash$ cvs add -kb newBinaryFile
  bash$ cvs commit
  (-kb specifies that file is binary)

  To add a new directory to the repository do:
  bash$ cvs add newDirectory
  bash$ cvs commit

  To remove an existing file from the repository do:
  bash$ rm existingFile
  bash$ cvs remove existingFile
  bash$ cvs commit
  ______________________________________________________________________

  4.4.  remove

  cvs remove file...  Use this command (after erasing any  files
  listed) to  declare  that  you wish to eliminate files from the
  repository.  The removal does not affect others until you run `cvs
  commit'.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help remove
  Usage: cvs remove [-flR] [files...]
          -f      Delete the file before removing it.
          -l      Process this directory only (not recursive).
          -R      Process directories recursively.
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.5.  commit

  cvs commit file...  To check in modifications (on existing files).
  Use this command when you wish to ``publish'' your changes to other
  developers, by incorporating  them in the source repository.

  NOTE :  It's usually a very good idea to do 'cvs update' before
  committing changes.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help commit
  Usage: cvs commit [-nRlf] [-m msg | -F logfile] [-r rev] files...
          -n      Do not run the module program (if any).
          -R      Process directories recursively.
          -l      Local directory only (not recursive).
          -f      Force the file to be committed; disables recursion.
          -F file Read the log message from file.
          -m msg  Log message.
          -r rev  Commit to this branch or trunk revision.
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.6.  diff

  cvs diff file...  Show differences between files in the working
  directory and  source repository, or between two revisions in the
  source repository.  (Does not change either repository or working
  directory.)



  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs --help diff
  Usage: cvs diff [-lNR] [rcsdiff-options]
      [[-r rev1 | -D date1] [-r rev2 | -D date2]] [files...]
          -l      Local directory only, not recursive
          -R      Process directories recursively.
          -D d1   Diff revision for date against working file.
          -D d2   Diff rev1/date1 against date2.
          -N      include diffs for added and removed files.
          -r rev1 Diff revision for rev1 against working file.
          -r rev2 Diff rev1/date1 against rev2.
          --ifdef=arg     Output diffs in ifdef format.
  (consult the documentation for your diff program for rcsdiff-options.
  The most popular is -c for context diffs but there are many more).
  (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.7.  Creating Releases

  Since there usually are several files with different version numbers
  in a project, it's a good idea to "stamp" the files with a release tag
  for each release, this can be done like this (for version "v001"):

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ cvs tag -R "v001"
  bash$ cvs commit

  This release can be checked out with
  bash$ cvs checkout -r "v001" YourProject
  ______________________________________________________________________



  4.8.  Emacs Editor

  Emacs is a powerful editor and it supports CVS/RCS - especially for
  revision merging and comparing. The main Emacs site is at
  <http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html>.



  5.  Strong, Weak or No Locking

  CVS is a powerful system and is highly customizable. CVS supports:

  ·  Strong locking with "reserved checkouts" via cvs admin -l or ``''.
     Also read the Reserved checkouts
     <http://www.cvshome.org/docs/inforeserve.html>.  Here is a patch (
     <http://www.cvshome.org/dev/patches/editf>) from Eric Griswold for
     reserved checkouts.


  ·  Weak locking via 'cvs watch' features.  Also see "cvs edit" to give
     a warning( <http://www.cvshome.org/dev/text2/res2>) if someone else
     is already editing the file.



  ·  No locking - the default permitting concurrent editing of files.



  6.  Shell Scripts

  The following are wrappers around the basic CVS commands. These
  scripts give you initial booster-push into the CVS system and are
  useful until you become very familiar with the CVS commands. The
  scripts are written for Korn shell since it is always available on all
  flavors of Unix, but you can translate to bash or Perl if needed. You
  can customize these scripts to your taste. They are basically CVS
  commands, but features are added to make it site specific. For
  example, the sedit script provides locking so that users will know
  someone is editing the file. Of course users can directly use the CVS
  commands to bypass these scripts. These scripts demonstrate how CVS
  can be customized to a great extent.

  NOTE:  The wrapper shell scripts assume the user's home directory as
  the root and check out the tree from CVS to build the tree underneath
  user's home directory.

   TIP:  In these shell scripts, every target filename is composed of 3
  parts - Home directory, sub-directory and the filename. The full-path
  is $HOME/$subdir/$fname And in CVS the same directory structure is
  maintained (by variable $subdir) therefore in cvs there will be
  something like  $CVSROOT/$subdir/$fname.  In all scripts, these 4
  variables $HOME, $CVSROOT, $subdir and $fname play an important role.
  For example, sample values can be like HOME=/home/aldev,
  subdir=myproject/src, CVSROOT=/home/cvsroot, and fname=foo.cpp

  Copy these scripts to /usr/local/bin and this should be in the user's
  PATH environment.

  1. sget [-r revision_number] <file/directory name> To get a file or
     entire directory from CVS in READ ONLY mode.  Click ``'' to get
     this.

  2. sedit [-r revision_number] <filename> To edit a file in order to
     make changes to code. This will lock the file so that nobody else
     can check it out. Of course you can change the script to your
     requirement - make no locking, warning message, or very strong
     locking.  Click ``'' to get this.

  3. scommit [-r revision_number] <filename> To commit the changes you
     made to filename or entire directory. Upload your changes to CVS.
     Click ``'' to get this.

  4. supdate  <filename/directory> To update a filename or to update an
     entire directory by getting the latest files from CVS.  Click ``''
     to get this.

  5. sunlock [-r revision_number] <filename> To unlock the file got by
     sedit. Will release the lock.  Click ``'' to get this.

  6. slist To see the list of files currently being edited by you.  Does
     'ls -l | grep | ...' command.  Click ``'' to get this.  Note that
     there is also another Unix command by the name slist (list
     available Netware servers). You should make sure cvs script slist
     comes before other in your PATH environment.

  7. sinfo <filename/directory> To get the information of
     changes/revisions to a file.  Click ``'' to get this.


  8. slog <filename> To get the history of changes/revisions to a file
     from CVS.  Click ``'' to get this.

  9. sdif <filename>

     sdif -r rev1 -r rev2 <filename> To get the diff of your file with
     CVS.  Click ``'' to get this.

     NOTE: sdif has only one 'f' because there is already another Unix
     command called 'sdiff'


  10.
     sadd <filename> To add a new file to CVS repository.  Click ``'' to
     get this.

  11.
     sdelete  <filename> To delete a file from CVS repository.  Click
     ``'' to get this.

  12.
     sfreeze  <revision name> <directory name> To freeze the code, that
     is make a release of the entire source tree.  Click ``'' to get
     this.

     For example :

     ___________________________________________________________________
             cd $HOME;
             sfreeze REVISION_1_0  srctree
     ___________________________________________________________________


  This will freeze code with tag REVISION_1_0  so that you can later
  checkout the entire tree by using the revision name.



  7.  CVS Documentation

  At Unix prompt type:

  1. cvs --help

  2. cvs --help-options

  3. cvs --help-commands

  4. cvs -H checkout

  5. cvs -H commit

  6. man cvs

  7. man tkcvs

  8. Visit  <http://www.cyclic.com>

  9. Visit  <http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-index.html>

  The tkcvs <http://www.tkcvs.org> is the Tcl/Tk GUI interface to CVS.
  It also has online help. Try the following:

  ·  cd $HOME/src/foo.cpp

  ·  tkcvs

  ·  Click on foo.cpp

  ·  Click on 'Revision Log Icon' which is located next to 'spectacle'
     icon.

  ·  This will display the branch TREE in the window. Now click the
     RIGHT Mouse button on the text '1.3' and click the LEFT Mouse
     button on text '1.1'. Then click on "Diff" button. This will
     display a two-pane window!!

  ·  Click on the "Next" button to step thru more diffs.  Click on
     "Center" to center the text.

  There is also a Windows 95 client for CVS called WinCVS  (see:
  <http://www.wincvs.org> and cyclicsite
  <http://www.cvshome.org/cyclic/cvs/soft-maccvs.html>).  WinCVS can be
  used along with Samba(on cdrom samba*.rpm) -  <http://www.samba.org>

  The essential command are:

  ·  cvs checkout <filename >

  ·  cvs update <filename>

  ·  cvs add <file, ..>

  ·  cvs remove <file, ..>

  ·  cvs commit <file>

  ·  cvs status <filename>

  ·  cvs log <filename>

  ·  cvs diff -r1.4 -r1.5 <filename> This gives a diff between version
     1.4 and 1.5 on filename.



  7.1.  Online Documentation

  On Linux systems, you can find the CVS documentation in postscript
  format at /usr/doc/cvs*/*.ps. Also there is an FAQ and other useful
  information.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash# cd /usr/doc/cvs*
  bash# gv cvs.ps
  ______________________________________________________________________



  7.2.  CVS Org Documentation

  The documentation on CVS from "CVS Organization" is at
  <http://www.cvshome.org/docs>

  The Official manual for CVS by Cederqvist is at
  <http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs.html>

  FAQ for CVS is at
  <http://www.cs.utah.edu/dept/old/texinfo/cvs/FAQ.txt>



  7.3.  CVS Training


  ·  <http://rpmfind.net/tools/CVS/training/cvstrain.html>

  ·  <http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs/cvs-tut/cvs_tutorial_toc.html>

  ·  <http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/SOFTWARE/OO/tools/srt/>

  ·  <http://durak.org/cvswebsites/>

  ·  <http://www-users.informatik.rwth-
     aachen.de/~wge/tools/cvs/cvsclient/cvsclient_toc.html>

  ·  <http://www-users.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~wge/tools/cvs.html>

     General utilities for cvs (third party):

  ·  The textbook "Open Source Development with CVS" by Karl Fogel at
     <http://cvsbook.red-bean.com> has third-party-tools
     <http://cvsbook.red-bean.com/cvsbook.html#Third-Party_Tools> and
     mirror sites at Zevils
     <http://www.zevils.com/doc/cvsbook/cvsbook_8.html>

  ·  <http://rcs.ee.washington.edu/spp/Projects/Manastash/Links/cvsbook_toc.html>



  7.4.  CVS Online Textbook

  The following CVS textbook is available online.

  1. "CVS Best Practices" Version: 0.5 by Vivek Venugopalan,
     vivek@magic-cauldron.com at  <http://www.tldp.org/REF/CVS-
     BestPractices/html/index.html>


  2. Open Source Development with CVS by Karl Fogel
     <http://cvsbook.red-bean.com>


  3. The Official manual for CVS by Cederqvist is at
     <http://www.cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs.html>



  8.  Graphical Front Ends

  The following GUI front ends for CVS are available:

  ·  Popular CVS GUI front end  <http://cervisia.sourceforge.net>, get
     RPM packages at Cervisia RPMs
     <http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=cervisia>

  ·  CVS home.org  <http://www.cvshome.org/dev/addons.html>

  ·  CVS Web for windows
     <http://www.devguy.com/fp/cfgmgmt/cvs/cvs_admin_nt.htm#CVSWEBIIS>
     and at  <http://stud.fh-heilbronn.de/~zeller/cgi/cvsweb.cgi>


  ·  TkCVS  <http://www.tkcvs.org> is the Tcl/Tk GUI interface to CVS
     and at cyclicsite <http://www.cvshome.org/cyclic/tkcvs/index.html>

  ·  gCVS: A portable GUI for the non-technical CVS user
     <http://www.arachne.org/software/gcvs>

  ·  jCVS is a CVS client package written entirely in Java
     <http://www.jcvs.org> And at cyclicsite
     <http://www.cvshome.org/cyclic/jcvs/index.html>

  ·  WinCVS  <http://www.cvshome.org/cyclic/cvs/soft-maccvs.html> and at
     cyclicsite <http://www.cvshome.org/cyclic/cvs/soft-maccvs.html>

  ·  Component soft Win CVS  <http://www.componentsoftware.com/cvs>

  ·  JA-SIG UPortal CVS  <http://www.mis3.udel.edu/~jlaker/development>

  ·  <http://ppprs1.phy.tu-dresden.de/~trogisch/lincvs/lincvsen.html>

  ·  <http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs/doc/cvs_toc.html>

     It is very strongly recommended that you use Samba(on cdrom
     samba*.rpm) <http://www.samba.org> and a ``PC X Server'' on MS
     Windows 95/NT. By using Samba the remote directory on Unix will
     look like local folder on MS Windows. See the next section for ``PC
     X Server''.

  For Apple Macintosh - Mac OS: See MacCvs at  <http://www.cvsgui.org>
  and MacCvsPro at  <http://www.maccvs.org>



  9.  CVS for MS Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP



  9.1.  Method 1: Using VNC, Samba

  It is VERY STRONGLY recommended that you use Samba(on cdrom
  samba*.rpm) <http://www.samba.org> and a VNC viewer (or PC X Server)
  on MS Windows 95/NT.  With samba the Unix/Linux CVS server will be
  like a file server.  By using Samba the remote directory on Unix will
  look like a local folder on MS Windows on the local disk.  Install
  samba*.rpm on Unix/Linux server(which has the CVS repository) and
  install the VNC viewer (or PC X server) on MS Windows 95/NT/2000/XP
  desktop. Using a VNC (or PC X server) you can easily log on to the
  Unix box and check-out/check-in the files. And you can use tools like
  Java Visual Cafe or Java JBuilder on MS Windows to edit the files
  located in Unix/Linux folder(via samba).  After editing, you can
  check-in the files to Unix through VNC or PC X-server.

  Advantages of using CVS on Linux/Unix via MS Windows are:

  ·  Only one single Linux File server (CVS server) can serve many MS
     Windows clients.

  ·  A Linux file server (CVS) is very robust, secure and reliable

  ·  Only one UPS (uninterrupted power supply) battery is required for a
     linux server.

  ·  Linux can serve as MS Windows folder through Samba package.

  ·  A Linux file server (CVS) supports centralized backups via tools
     like BRS, Arkeia, Bru <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com>
     mirrors at angelfire <http://www.angelfire.com/country/aldev0>,
     geocities <http://www.geocities.com/alavoor/index.html>, virtualave
     <http://aldev0.virtualave.net>, Fortunecity
     <http://members.fortunecity.com/aldev>, Freewebsites
     <http://aldev.freewebsites.com>, Tripod
     <http://members.tripod.lycos.com/aldev>, 101xs
     <http://www.101xs.com/101xs/aldev>, 50megs
     <http://aldev0.50megs.com>,

  ·  A Linux file server (CVS) requires just one small server room which
     can air-conditioned and dust free. Small room keeps the
     cooling/heating costs down.

  ·  A Linux file server (CVS) provides security via Unix groups and
     user id authentication

  The best tool for remote access is VNC. The VNC is lightweight and is
  much better than the PC X servers. The VNC is very strongly
  recommended over PC X server. The remote access methods available are:

  ·  VNC (Virtual Network Computing) at
     <http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc> VNC is not an X-server but can
     display the remote Unix on Windows.  VNC is the best tool in the
     market for remote access, it is very lightweight and is a very
     powerful software.


  ·  Get VNC rpms from rpmfind
     <http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=vnc>.


  ·  The best Window manager for VNC is QVWM which is like MS Windows
     98/NT/2000/XP interface, get it from  <http://www.qvwm.org>.


  ·  After starting vncserver, you can start the vncviewer program on
     clients like MS Windows, Mac or Linux.


  ·  See also the List of X11 Windows Managers
     <http://www.dlhoffman.com/publiclibrary/RPM/X11_Window_Managers.html>.

  Compiling qvwm on Solaris : On Solaris you should install the
  following packages which you can get from  <http://sun.freeware.com> -
  xpm, imlib, jpeg, libungif, giflib, libpng, tiff.  And you can
  download the binary package for solaris from <http://www.qvwm.org>.

  Or you can download the qvwm source for solaris from
  <http://www.qvwm.org> and compile it using gcc.

  Troubleshooting compile: You should put unsigned long before arg in
  usleep() usleep((unsigned long) 10000)

  The following PC X servers are available:

  ·  Low cost, best and small size (3 MB)  <http://www.microimages.com>
     and click on "X-Server (MI/X) for Windows"

  ·  Humming bird eXceed 14 MB  <http://www.hummingbird.com>

  ·  Starnet 5.2 MB <http://www.starnet.com>


     There are more than 2 dozen vendors for X servers for Windows:
  ·  X-win pro 6.34 MB  <http://www.labf.com>

  ·  X-WinPro  <http://lab-pro.com>

  ·  X-Link  <http://www.xlink.com/x.htm>

  ·  Xoftware  <http://www.age.com>

     University resources:

  ·  University listings  <http://www.et.byu.edu/support/pc/xterm.html>

  ·  Floppy based PC "X server"
     <http://mirriwinni.cse.rmit.edu.au/~brad/co338/sem1/floppy.html>



  9.2.  Method 2: Using Cygwin

  You can install the Redhat Cygwin <http://www.cygwin.com> and install
  the CVS clients and SSH packages via Cygwin. With cygwin the Windows
  95/NT/2000/XP will be like a Unix client. Bring up the cygwin bash
  shell prompt and you can access the remote CVS server. With cygwin the
  Windows 95/NT will be like any other Linux CVS client.



  9.3.  CVS exe for Windows 95/NT/2000/XP

  You can install and run CVS on MS Windows directly.  Download cvsnt
  from  <http://www.cvsnt.org>.  See the installation instructions and
  other documents of CVS on NT/2000 at
  <http://www.devguy.com/fp/cfgmgmt/cvs/cvs_admin_nt.htm#install>.



  9.4.  Windows 95/NT/2000/XP FTP Tools

  You can also use the ftp tools on MS Windows to transfer files from a
  Unix/Linux (CVS repository) to windows:

  ·  Go to Tucows and search "ftp tools" for MS Windows
     <http://www.tucows.com>



  9.5.  Visual Cafe(Java), JBuilder, MS Visual C++, HTML files

  Using Samba and a PC X server it is possible to use CVS on MS Windows
  platform.  And the tools like Symantec Visual Cafe (Java), Inprise
  JBuilder, MS Visual C++ and others are easily supported by CVS.

  You can also store the HTML files on a CVS repository via Samba and
  easily access them from MS Windows.



  9.6.  Samba Admin tool

  To administer samba use the admin tools from  <http://www.samba.org>.
  Go here and click on "GUI Interfaces Tools".



  10.  Security of CVS Repository

  To make a CVS server and CVS repository secure do the following:

  ·  Run CVS on a stand-alone Linux/Unix box, see ``Performance
     Tuning''.

  ·  Remove unnecessary software packages from CVS linux box - to
     prevent external vandals running it. Just in case vandals break
     into the system, you do not want to give them a chance to run
     dangerous programs.

  ·  Consider SSH as given in the chapter ``Multi-User Repository''

  ·  Consider Kerberos - install cvs-*-kerberos*.rpm package
     <http://cvshome.org/dev/codelinux.html>.

  ·  Visit  <http://www.cvshome.org> and post your security questions in
     the mailing list <http://cvshome.org/communication.html>.



  11.  Remote, Multi-User CVS Repository

  The Cederqvist manual at
  <http://cvshome.org/docs/manual/cvs_2.html#SEC30> describes how to
  setup CVS for external access.

  In order to use CVS for a group, one has to set up a permissions
  system to allow people to access the system from other machines.
  There are three ways to do this (:server:, :pserver:, and :ext:).  The
  pserver mechanism and use of rsh are both insecure.  Only the :ext:
  (with ssh) offers sufficient security protection.

  If you set CVS_RSH to SSH or some other rsh replacement, the
  instructions may be similar to `.rhosts' but consult the documentation
  for your rsh replacement.

  To get ssh visit <http://rpmfind.net> and in the search box enter
  "ssh".  Or visit  <http://www.redhat.com/apps/download> and in the
  search box enter "ssh".  Download and install the ssh RPM and then
  configure CVS to use it.  See also  <http://www.ssh.org>.

  Note: If you plan to configure CVS for use with rsh then you MUST do
  this critical step:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash# chmod 600 .rhosts
  ______________________________________________________________________



  See also JA-SIG UPortal CVS repository
  <http://www.mis3.udel.edu/~jlaker/development>.



  11.1.  SSH Authentication

  If you're tired of entering passwords for each simple CVS command,
  then you can distribute your ssh-identity from the client to the
  server in order to allow automatic identification (i.e. no password
  needed!), this can be done by On the CVS server box do:


  ______________________________________________________________________
  For ssh 1:
  bash$ cd $HOME
  bash$ ssh-keygen

  For ssh 2:
  bash$ cd $HOME
  bash$ ssh-keygen -t rsa
  ______________________________________________________________________



  You should be asked to save 'your identification' in
  /home/developer/.ssh/identity (ssh 1) or
  /home/developer/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (ssh 2) (or wherever $HOME points to),
  just hit enter. When asked for password and confirmation of password,
  continue hitting enter. Then copy your public key (identity.pub for
  ssh 1 or id_rsa.pub for ssh 2) to the server using secure copy (a part
  of ssh):


  ______________________________________________________________________
  ssh 1:
  clientbox$ scp .ssh/identity.pub developer@serverbox.domain.com:~/.ssh

  ssh 2:
  clientbox$ scp .ssh/id_rsa.pub developer@serverbox.domain.com:~/.ssh
  ______________________________________________________________________



  Then log onto the server and fix the authorized_keys file.

  ______________________________________________________________________
  ssh 1:
  clientbox$ ssh developer@serverbox.domain.com
  serverbox$ cd .ssh
  serverbox$ cat identity.pub >> authorized_keys

  ssh 2:
  clientbox$ ssh developer@serverbox.domain.com
  serverbox$ cd .ssh
  serverbox$ cat id_rsa.pub >> authorized_keys2
  serverbox$ chmod go-w authorized_keys2
  ______________________________________________________________________



  You should now be able to ssh directly from the client to server
  without having to enter password, this can be tested with:


  ______________________________________________________________________
  ssh 1 or ssh 2:
  clientbox$ ssh developer@serverbox.domain.com
  ______________________________________________________________________



  Version control from this point should not require you to enter the
  password.

  Note: This enables anyone getting access to your client to continue
  into the server without knowing the password on the server.


  Encrypted Disks

  If you fear such a situation, this can (somewhat) be prevented by
  using a encrypted disk, e.g. PGPDisk holding the $HOME directory on
  the client. So when an intruder takes over your machine s/he needs to
  know the password for your encrypted disk in order to get further into
  the server. Another advantage of using a encrypted disk is that your
  (checked out) source code can reside on it.



  11.2.  Securing CVS by pserver Port Forwarding using an SSH Tunnel


  From :  <http://www.cycom.co.uk/howto/cvssshtunnel.html>

  The Concurrent Versions System, in its "pserver" client/server mode,
  and secured by "ssh" encrypted tunnels, can allow multiple authors to
  safely collaborate over the internet. CVS is a source file version
  control system optimised for wide area networks, concurrent editing,
  and reuse of 3rd party source libraries. Pserver is a protocol used
  for communication between CVS clients and servers. SSH is a tool to
  transparently encrypt TCP/IP network connections.  MSWindows users can
  use a posix shell

  The tools discussed here are most functional in a unix environment but
  windows users can obtain similar functions by using a posix shell
  available from http://www.cygwin.com/. which will include an openssh
  package in 'latest' and a cvs package in 'contrib'. Other native
  windows ports of the tools are available but may lack needed features
  such as SSH2 DSA support.  Creating the CVS Repository on the
  repository server machine

  If you are a contributing author, you don't need to know how the
  repository was created. You may skip this section.  If you are the
  unix repository administrator, you would create a directory and run
  cvs init then adjust the control files in CVSROOT to suit the
  permitted users (writers, passwd). It is convenient to have all files
  owned by "cvsuser" Starting the repository service

  If you are a contributing author, you don't need to know how the
  repository server is started. You may skip this section. If you are
  the unix repository administrator, you allow the server to be started
  by xinetd with security constraints that specify that only clients
  local to the server machine may connect. To do this, create a
  configuration file named "/etc/xinetd.d/cvspserver" with contents
  similar to:


  ______________________________________________________________________
  service cvspserver
  {
          flags           = REUSE
          socket_type     = stream
          wait            = no
          user            = cvsuser
          server          = /usr/bin/cvs
          server_args     = -f --allow-root=/cycomcvs pserver
          passenv         =
          log_on_failure  += USERID
          only_from               = 127.0.0.1
          bind                    = 127.0.0.1
  }
  ______________________________________________________________________


  then restart the xinetd super-service.  Generating a public/private
  DSA keypair on the author's client machine

  Contributing authors must perform this step only once. The "ssh" tools
  have various ways of authenticating users. The method chosen here is
  to use the DSA Digital Signature Algorithm. This is a public/private
  keypair algorithm which means that the secret private key need never
  be communicated to anyone and can stay safe on the clients hard disk
  (protected by a passphrase). The public key can be advertised to
  anyone with no loss of security. If you do not already have the ssh
  tools then you should obtain them from http://www.openssh.com/. They
  must support SSH2 as we use the DSA algorithm not RSA.

  A unix client will generate the keypair using:- ssh-keygen -d This
  will result in the creation of a file " /.ssh/id_dsa.pub". You must
  send this public file to the unix repository administrator. Do not
  send any other file nor reveal any passphrase.  Authorizing a client
  to tunnel to the repository server machine

  If you are a contributing author, you don't need to know how
  authorization is allowed. You may skip this section.  If you are the
  unix repository administrator, on receipt of a clients "id_dsa.pub"
  file, append the single line therein to the
  " cvsnobody/.ssh/authorized_keys2" file on the server.  Creating the
  secure tunnel between author's client machine and the repository
  server machine.

  CVS keeps a single copy of the master sources called a source
  repository. Remote authors access the repository using CVS client
  programs which talk to the repository service using a "pserver"
  protocol and connect using a registered TCP/IP port (port 2401).

  The pserver protocol is insecure because passwords are transmitted
  unencrypted and there are often some hacked hosts on a network that
  are sniffing for passwords. The connection to be used for the pserver
  protocol therefore needs to be encrypted where it passes over any
  network. The "ssh" suite of programs provides such encrypted
  connections.

  SSH will create a secure tunnel which makes the repository service
  appear to be local to your client machine. Similarly, your client
  machine will appear to be local to the repository service. Both client
  and server are fooled into thinking that they are on the same machine
  and that no traffic travels over any network.

  The single line unix command to achieve this is:- /usr/bin/ssh -v -a
  -e none -N -o 'KeepAlive=yes' -o 'BatchMode=yes' -L
  2401:localhost:2401 cvsnobody@j2ee.cycom.co.uk The fixed cvsnobody
  user is just for ssh tunneling purposes; it is not relevant to CVS.
  The j2ee.cycom.co.uk is the repository server machine name. This
  command will block. To destroy the tunnel, cntrl-c the command. If the
  tunnel collapses in use, reestablish it by repeating the command. Use
  another window to operate the CVS clients.  Operating CVS clients on
  the author's client machine

  Having established a tunnel, the remote CVS repository service now
  appears to be local to your client machine (i.e. at localhost). The
  CVS client programs obtain configuration data from a CVSROOT
  environment variable which should be set in unix (e.g in your
  ".bash_profile") using:-



  ______________________________________________________________________
  CVSROOT=':pserver:jsharp@localhost:/cycomcvs'
  export CVSROOT
  ______________________________________________________________________



  The username "jsharp" and the repository root "/cycomcvs" will have
  been sent to you by the repository administrator.

  The first CVS client command should always be:- cvs login You will be
  prompted for a password (again sent to you by the repository
  administrator).

  To create a new cvs working directory and populate it from Honest John
  Car Rental Demo sources, use :-


  ______________________________________________________________________
  mkdir mywork
  cd mywork
  cvs co hjvh
  cvs co hjvhear
  cvs co hjvhmodel
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To freshen an existing working directory with updates from other
  authors, use:-


  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd mywork/hjvh
  cvs update
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To publish the files that you have changed in an existing working
  directory, use:-


  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd mywork/hjvh
  cvs commit
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To publish a newly created file in an existing working directory,
  use:-


  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd mywork/hjvh
  cd mywork/hjvh
  cvs add mynewfile.txt
  cvs commit
  ______________________________________________________________________



  To import a new independent directory tree of sources into the
  repository, make sure all files in the tree are useful source and then
  use:-


  ______________________________________________________________________
  cd projdir
  cvs import projdir projV1_1 proj_V1_1
  cd ..
  mv projdir origprojsources
  cvs co projdir
  ______________________________________________________________________



  11.3.  An Example - Access Remote CVS Server

  To access a remote cvs server, here is an example:

  ______________________________________________________________________

  # Set env variable
  export EDITOR=/bin/vi
  export CVSROOT=:pserver:yourname@cvs.tldp.org:/cvsroot

  # Login to remote cvs server
  cvs -d $CVSROOT login

  # Goto some local directory
  cd $HOME/<somedirectory>

  # You MUST create a new directory, as below...
  mkdir cvsroot   # Create the local cvs directory which has the same name as in CVSROOT

  # Now get the files from remote CVS repository
  cd cvsroot
  cvs get LDP/howto   # Or you can do 'cvs get . ' which will get everything

  # After you make changes some file and later check-in that do
  cd $HOME/<somedirectory>/cvsroot
  cvs ci -m "your update comments here" LDP/howto/somefilename.java
  ______________________________________________________________________



  12.  RCS Shell Scripts

  If you want to use RCS instead of CVS then you can use the following
  shell scripts.

  1. cotree.sh  - Will check out the entire directory tree from RCS.
     Instead of doing 'co -l name' on each file one-by-one, you can give
     just one command. Very useful shell script.

  2. cofiles.sh  - Will check out all the files in the directory.

  3. ciall.sh - Will check in all the files into RCS with just one shell
     command.

     You can get these scripts from ``''.

  13.  Performance Tuning of a CVS Server

  For optimum performance a CVS server must be running on a stand alone
  Linux/Unix box.

  To get more bang for a given CPU processing power, do the following:

  ·  Recompile the Linux kernel to make it small and lean. Remove items
     which are not used. See the kernel howto at
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html>


  ·  Turn off unneccessary Unix processes - on Linux/Unix systems run
     chkconfig.

     ___________________________________________________________________
     bash$ su - root
     bash# man chkconfig
     bash# chkconfig --help
     bash# chkconfig --list | grep on | less
     From the above list, turn off the processes you do not want to start automatically -
     bash# chkconfig --level 0123456 <service name> off
     Next time when the machine is booted these services will not be started.
     Now, shutdown the services manually which you just turned off.
     bash# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d
     bash# ./<service name> stop
     ___________________________________________________________________



  ·  Do not run any other application processes which are unnecessary.


  ·  Do not leave X Window running unattended because its processes
     consume memory and contribute to CPU load. It can also be a serious
     security hole from outside attacks.  The X Window managers
     generally used are KDE, GNOME, CDE, XDM and others.  You must exit
     the X Window immediately after using and most of the time you
     should see a command line console login prompt on the CVS server
     machine.



  14.  Problem Reporting System

  Along with CVS, you may want to use project tracking system or problem
  reporting system. Every software project needs a problem reporting
  system that track bugs and assigns them to various developers.  See
  GNU gpl GNATS at  <http://www.gnu.org/software/gnats/gnats.html> and
  <http://dcl.sourceforge.net> And commercial PRS at
  <http://www.stonekeep.com> look for a project tracking system.



  15.  Configuration Management System Tools

  What is Configuration Management (CM) ?

  There are a number of different interpretations.  It is about the
  tracking and control of software development and its activities. That
  is, it concerns the management of software development projects with
  respect to issues such as multiple developers working on the same code
  at the same time, targeting multiple platforms, supporting multiple
  versions, and controlling the status of code (for example a beta test
  versus a real release).  Even within that scope there are different
  schools of thought:


  ·  Traditional Configuration Management - checkin/checkout control of
     sources (and sometimes binaries) and the ability to perform builds
     (or compiles) of the entities. Other functions may be included as
     well.

  ·  Process Management - control of the software development
     activities. For example, it might check to ensure that a change
     request existed and had been approved for fixing and that the
     associated design, documentation, and review activities have been
     completed before allowing the code to be "checked in" again.

  While process management and control are necessary for a repeatable,
  optimized development process, a solid configuration management
  foundation for that process is essential.

  Visit the following links:

  ·  FAQ on Configuration Management tools
     <http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/CMFAQ.html>

  ·  Linux version control and configuration management tools
     <http://linas.org/linux/cmvc.html>

  ·  Configuration Management systems
     <http://www.cmtoday.com/yp/commercial.html>

  ·  Configuration Management Tools
     <http://www.iac.honeywell.com/Pub/Tech/CM/CMTools.html>

  ·  DevGuy CVS config mgmt  <http://devguy.com/fp/cfgmgmt/cvs>

  ·  Yahoo category site
     <http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/software/programming_tools/software_engineering/configuration_management/cvs___concurrent_versions_system>

  ·  Free config mgmt tool
     <http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/aegis/aegis.html>

  ·  Free CM tools  <http://www.loria.fr/cgi-bin/molli/cm/wilma/fcmt>

  ·  Rational ClearCase tool
     <http://www.rational.com/products/clearcase/prodinfo.jsp>



  16.  Related Sites

  Related URLs are at:

  ·  Linux goodies main site is at  <http://24.221.230.253> and
     secondary site at  <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com>
     Mirror sites are at - angelfire
     <http://www.angelfire.com/country/aldev0>, geocities
     <http://www.geocities.com/alavoor/index.html>, virtualave
     <http://aldev0.virtualave.net>, Fortunecity
     <http://members.fortunecity.com/aldev>, Freewebsites
     <http://aldev.freewebsites.com>, Tripod
     <http://members.tripod.lycos.com/aldev>, 101xs
     <http://www.101xs.com/101xs/aldev>, 50megs
     <http://aldev0.50megs.com>,

  ·  CVS Bubbles  <http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-index.html>

  ·  CSSC (SCCS like system) <http://cssc.sourceforge.net> and mirror-
     site <ftp://alpha.gnu.org/pub/gnu/CSSC>

  ·  SCCS for Linux  <http://www.bitmover.com/bitkeeper>



  17.  SCCS v/s CVS-RCS

  SCCS (Source Code Control System) is no longer being enhanced or
  improved.  The general consensus has been that this tool is clumsy and
  not suited to large numbers of users working on one project.
  Actually, SCCS interleaves all the versions, but it can make new
  development get progressively slower. Hence, SCCS is NOT recommended
  for new projects; however, it is still there to support old code base
  in SCCS.

  RCS (Revision Control System) is often considered to be better than
  SCCS. One reason for this is that RCS baselines the most recent
  version and keeps deltas for earlier ones, making new development
  faster. Additional discussions concerning SCCS vs RCS are at
  <http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/faq/part7>

  Note that RCS learned from the mistakes of SCCS...

  CVS, which requires RCS, extends RCS to control concurrent editing of
  sources by several users working on releases built from a hierarchical
  set of directories. "RCS is [analogous to using] assembly language,
  while CVS is [like using] Pascal".



  18.  Other Formats of this Document

  This document is published in 14 different formats namely: DVI,
  Postscript, Latex, Adobe Acrobat PDF, LyX, GNU-info, HTML, RTF(Rich
  Text Format), Plain-text, Unix man pages, single HTML file, SGML
  (Linuxdoc format), SGML (Docbook format), and MS WinHelp format.

  This howto document is located at:

  ·  <http://www.linuxdoc.org> and click on HOWTOs and search for the
     howto document name using CTRL+f or ALT+f within the web-browser.

  You can also find this document at the following mirrors sites:

  ·  <http://www.caldera.com/LDP/HOWTO>

  ·  <http://www.linux.ucla.edu/LDP>

  ·  <http://www.cc.gatech.edu/linux/LDP>

  ·  <http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP>

  ·  Other mirror sites near you (network-address-wise) can be found at
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/mirrors.html> select a site and go to
     directory /LDP/HOWTO/xxxxx-HOWTO.html



  ·  You can get this HOWTO document as a single file tar ball in HTML,
     DVI, Postscript or SGML formats from -
     <ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/> and
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>


  ·  Plain text format is in:
     <ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO> and
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>


  ·  Single HTML file format is in:
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto>

     A single HTML file can be created with the command (see man
     sgml2html) - sgml2html -split 0   xxxxhowto.sgml


  ·  Translations to other languages like French, German, Spanish,
     Chinese, and Japanese are in
     <ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO> and
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto> Any help from you to
     translate to other languages is welcome.

     The document is written using a tool called "SGML-Tools" which can
     be got from: <http://www.sgmltools.org> Compiling the source you
     will get the following commands like:

  ·  sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml     (to generate html file)

  ·  sgml2html -split 0   xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html
     file)

  ·  sgml2rtf  xxxxhowto.sgml     (to generate RTF file)

  ·  sgml2latex xxxxhowto.sgml    (to generate latex file)



  18.1.  Acrobat PDF format

  A PDF file can be generated from postscript file using either acrobat
  distill or Ghostscript.  And a postscript file is generated from DVI
  which in turn is generated from a LaTex file.  You can download
  distill software from  <http://www.adobe.com>. Given below is a sample
  session:

  ______________________________________________________________________
  bash$ man sgml2latex
  bash$ sgml2latex filename.sgml
  bash$ man dvips
  bash$ dvips -o filename.ps filename.dvi
  bash$ distill filename.ps
  bash$ man ghostscript
  bash$ man ps2pdf
  bash$ ps2pdf input.ps output.pdf
  bash$ acroread output.pdf &
  ______________________________________________________________________


  Or you can use the Ghostscript command ps2pdf.  ps2pdf is a work-alike
  for nearly all the functionality of Adobe's Acrobat Distiller product:
  it converts PostScript files to Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
  ps2pdf is implemented as a very small command script (batch file) that
  invokes Ghostscript, selecting a special "output device" called
  pdfwrite. In order to use ps2pdf, the pdfwrite device must be included
  in the makefile when Ghostscript was compiled; see the documentation
  on building Ghostscript for details.
  18.2.  Convert Linuxdoc to Docbook format

  This document is written in linuxdoc SGML format. The Docbook SGML
  format supercedes the linuxdoc format and has a lot more features than
  linuxdoc.  The linuxdoc is very simple and easy to use. To convert
  linuxdoc SGML file to Docbook SGML use the program ld2db.sh and some
  Perl scripts.  The ld2db output is not 100% clean and you need to use
  the clean_ld2db.pl Perl script. You may need to manually correct a few
  lines in the document.

  ·  Download the ld2db program from
     <http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rrt/docbook.html> or from Milkyway
     Galaxy site <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com> click on
     "Source code for C++ howto".

  ·  Download the cleanup_ld2db.pl perl script from from Milkyway Galaxy
     site <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com> click on "Source
     code for C++ howto".

     The ld2db.sh is not 100% clean, so you will get some errors when
     you run it.

     ___________________________________________________________________
             bash$ ld2db.sh file-linuxdoc.sgml db.sgml
             bash$ cleanup.pl db.sgml > db_clean.sgml
             bash$ gvim db_clean.sgml
             bash$ docbook2html db.sgml
     ___________________________________________________________________


  And you may have to manually edit some of the minor errors after run­
  ning the Perl script. For example you may need to put closing tag <
  /Para> for each < Listitem>



  18.3.  Convert to MS WinHelp format

  You can convert the SGML howto document to a Microsoft Windows Help
  file, First convert the sgml to html using:

  ______________________________________________________________________
          bash$ sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml     (to generate html file)
          bash$ sgml2html -split 0   xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html file)
  ______________________________________________________________________


  Then use the tool HtmlToHlp <http://javadocs.planetmirror.com/html­
  tohlpe.html>.  You can also use sgml2rtf and then use the RTF files
  for generating winhelp files.



  18.4.  Reading various formats

  In order to view the document in dvi format, use the xdvi program. The
  xdvi program is located in tetex-xdvi*.rpm package in Redhat Linux
  which can be located through ControlPanel | Applications | Publishing
  | TeX menu buttons.  To read a dvi document give the command:


               xdvi -geometry 80x90 howto.dvi
               man xdvi



  And resize the window with the mouse.  To navigate use Arrow keys,
  Page Up, Page Down keys, also you can use 'f', 'd', 'u', 'c', 'l',
  'r', 'p', 'n' letter keys to move up, down, center, next page, previ­
  ous page etc.  To turn off expert menu press 'x'.

  You can read a postscript file using the program 'gv' (ghostview) or
  The ghostscript program is in the ghostscript*.rpm package and the gv
  program is in the gv*.rpm package in Redhat Linux which can be located
  through ControlPanel | Applications | Graphics menu buttons. The gv
  program is much more user friendly than ghostscript.  Also ghostscript
  and gv are available on other platforms like OS/2, Windows 95 and NT.
  You  can view this document even on those platforms.


  ·  Get ghostscript for Windows 95, OS/2, and for all OSes from
     <http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost>

  To read a postscript document give the command:


                       gv howto.ps
                       ghostscript howto.ps



  You can read an HTML format document using Netscape Navigator,
  Microsoft Internet explorer, Redhat Baron Web browser or any of the 10
  other web browsers.

  You can read the latex, LyX output using LyX an X Window front end to
  LaTex.


  19.  CVS Shell Scripts

  You can get the shell scripts for a nominal fee (which covers code
  maintenance and ISP charges) from Milkyway Galaxy site
  <http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com>.  These shell scripts are
  very useful.



  20.  Copyright and License

  Copyright Al Dev (Alavoor Vasudevan) 1998-2002.

  License is GNU GPL, but it is requested that you retain the author's
  name and email on all copies.



