Essential CVS

Connectivity Problems

If you are having difficulty connecting to a repository, first check that the repository path is declared correctly. The most common mistake when checking out a new sandbox is to forget to specify the repository path at all. Another common mistake is to forget to specify the connection method if you are using a method other than local or ext.

If you want to examine the data sent to or received from the server, set the CVS_CLIENT_LOG environment variable to a file name. It must be set on the client computer, and the traffic is logged in files in the current working directory named for that filename, with the suffixes .in and .out. For instance, if you set CVS_CLIENT_LOG to cvslog, the traffic is logged to cvslog.in and cvslog.out. (Traffic to the server is logged to cvslog.in, and traffic from the server is logged to cvslog.out.)

The gserver, kserver, and pserver connection methods rely on a server that is started with inetd. inetd sets a limit on the number of connections per unit of time and delays further connections. If you expect heavy use of CVS, you may need to configure inetd to accept more connections per minute. Not doing so may cause connection refused error messages.

Root and Repository File Problems

If you are in an active sandbox and are receiving an error like the one shown in Example 9-2, the Root or Repository file in the CVS subdirectory of the current sandbox directory has become unreadable. Chapter 6 includes an explanation of these files ...