git-cvsserver(1)
================

NAME
----
git-cvsserver - A CVS server emulator for Git

SYNOPSIS
--------

SSH:

[verse]
export CVS_SERVER="git cvsserver"
'cvs' -d :ext:user@server/path/repo.git co <HEAD_name>

pserver (/etc/inetd.conf):

[verse]
cvspserver stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/git-cvsserver git-cvsserver pserver

Usage:

[verse]
'git-cvsserver' [<options>] [pserver|server] [<directory> ...]

DESCRIPTION
-----------

This application is a CVS emulation layer for Git.

It is highly functional. However, not all methods are implemented,
and for those methods that are implemented,
not all switches are implemented.

Testing has been done using both the CLI CVS client, and the Eclipse CVS
plugin. Most functionality works fine with both of these clients.

OPTIONS
-------

All these options obviously only make sense if enforced by the server side.
They have been implemented to resemble the linkgit:git-daemon[1] options as
closely as possible.

--base-path <path>::
Prepend 'path' to requested CVSROOT

--strict-paths::
Don't allow recursing into subdirectories

--export-all::
Don't check for `gitcvs.enabled` in config. You also have to specify a list
of allowed directories (see below) if you want to use this option.

-V::
--version::
Print version information and exit

-h::
-H::
--help::
Print usage information and exit

<directory>::
The remaining arguments provide a list of directories. If no directories
are given, then all are allowed. Repositories within these directories
still require the `gitcvs.enabled` config option, unless `--export-all`
is specified.

LIMITATIONS
-----------

CVS clients cannot tag, branch or perform Git merges.

'git-cvsserver' maps Git branches to CVS modules. This is very different
from what most CVS users would expect since in CVS modules usually represent
one or more directories.

INSTALLATION
------------

1. If you are going to offer CVS access via pserver, add a line in
   /etc/inetd.conf like
+
--
------
   cvspserver stream tcp nowait nobody git-cvsserver pserver

------
Note: Some inetd servers let you specify the name of the executable
independently of the value of argv[0] (i.e. the name the program assumes
it was executed with). In this case the correct line in /etc/inetd.conf
looks like

------
   cvspserver stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/bin/git-cvsserver git-cvsserver pserver

------

Only anonymous access is provided by pserver by default. To commit you
will have to create pserver accounts, simply add a gitcvs.authdb
setting in the config file of the repositories you want the cvsserver
to allow writes to, for example:

------

   [gitcvs]
	authdb = /etc/cvsserver/passwd

------
The format of these files is username followed by the encrypted password,
for example:

------
   myuser:sqkNi8zPf01HI
   myuser:$1$9K7FzU28$VfF6EoPYCJEYcVQwATgOP/
   myuser:$5$.NqmNH1vwfzGpV8B$znZIcumu1tNLATgV2l6e1/mY8RzhUDHMOaVOeL1cxV3
------
You can use the 'htpasswd' facility that comes with Apache to make these
files, but only with the -d option (or -B if your system supports it).

Preferably use the system specific utility that manages password hash
creation in your platform (e.g. mkpasswd in Linux, encrypt in OpenBSD or
pwhash in NetBSD) and paste it in the right location.

Then provide your password via the pserver method, for example:

------
   cvs -d:pserver:someuser:somepassword@server:/path/repo.git co <HEAD_name>
------

No special setup is needed for SSH access, other than having Git tools
in the PATH. If you have clients that do not accept the CVS_SERVER
environment variable, you can rename 'git-cvsserver' to `cvs`.

Note: Newer CVS versions (>= 1.12.11) also support specifying
CVS_SERVER directly in CVSROOT like

------
   cvs -d ":ext;CVS_SERVER=git cvsserver:user@server/path/repo.git" co <HEAD_name>
------

This has the advantage that it will be saved in your 'CVS/Root' files and
you don't need to worry about always setting the correct environment
variable.  SSH users restricted to 'git-shell'