Chapter 8. Remote Repositories

Most projects involve a remote repository (one that’s on a different machine than the clients). This chapter discusses remote repositories, access methods, how to set up each access method, and security considerations for each type of access.

This chapter also discusses the two access methods for local repositories: local and fork. The fork method presents a way to access a local repository as if it were a remote repository.

CVS can operate equally well as a single program that handles both the sandbox and the repository or as a pair of programs—a client managing the sandbox and a server managing the repository.

CVS can run as a single program if both sandbox and repository are on the same computer, or if the repository is on a file server and the computer that the sandbox is on perceives the shared directories as local.

If you have a personal repository for private work, you may choose to keep the repository on the same computer as your sandbox. If you are sharing a server with several other people, you may have a shared repository on the same server as your sandboxes. In such situations, be particularly careful to back up the repository. When the repository and the sandbox are on different computers, each acts as a partial backup of the other. When they are on the same computer, that inherent backup is not available.

Specifying Repository Paths

Whenever CVS runs a command from a client, it needs to know where to find the CVS repository. The address ...

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