A.4 Global options
The available `cvs_options' (that are given to the
left of `cvs_command') are:
--allow-root=rootdir- May be invoked multiple times to specify one legal cvsroot directory with
each invocation. Also causes CVS to preparse the configuration file for each
specified root, which can be useful when configuring write proxies, See
Password authentication server & Write proxies.
-a- Authenticate all communication between the client and
the server. Only has an effect on the cvs client.
As of this writing, this is only implemented when using
a GSSAPI connection (see GSSAPI authenticated).
Authentication prevents certain sorts of attacks
involving hijacking the active tcp connection.
Enabling authentication does not enable encryption.
-b bindir- In cvs 1.9.18 and older, this specified that
rcs programs are in the bindir directory.
Current versions of cvs do not run rcs
programs; for compatibility this option is accepted,
but it does nothing.
-T tempdir- Use tempdir as the directory where temporary files are
located. Overrides the setting of the
$TMPDIR environment
variable and any precompiled directory. This parameter should be
specified as an absolute pathname.
(When running client/server, `-T' affects only the local process;
specifying `-T' for the client has no effect on the server and
vice versa.)
-d cvs_root_directory- Use cvs_root_directory as the root directory
pathname of the repository. Overrides the setting of
the
$CVSROOT environment variable. See Repository.
-e editor- Use editor to enter revision log information. Overrides the
setting of the
$CVSEDITOR and $EDITOR
environment variables. For more information, see
Committing your changes.
-f- Do not read the ~/.cvsrc file. This
option is most often used because of the
non-orthogonality of the cvs option set. For
example, the `cvs log' option `-N' (turn off
display of tag names) does not have a corresponding
option to turn the display on. So if you have
`-N' in the ~/.cvsrc entry for `log',
you may need to use `-f' to show the tag names.
-H--help- Display usage information about the specified `cvs_command'
(but do not actually execute the command). If you don't specify
a command name, `cvs -H' displays overall help for
cvs, including a list of other help options.
-R- Turns on read-only repository mode. This allows one to check out from a
read-only repository, such as within an anoncvs server, or from a cd-rom
repository.
Same effect as if the CVSREADONLYFS environment
variable is set. Using `-R' can also considerably
speed up checkouts over NFS.
-n- Do not change any files. Attempt to execute the
`cvs_command', but only to issue reports; do not remove,
update, or merge any existing files, or create any new files.
Note that cvs will not necessarily produce exactly
the same output as without `-n'. In some cases
the output will be the same, but in other cases
cvs will skip some of the processing that would
have been required to produce the exact same output.
-Q- Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only
generate output for serious problems.
-q- Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages,
such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are
suppressed.
-r- Make new working files read-only. Same effect
as if the
$CVSREAD environment variable is set
(see Environment variables). The default is to
make working files writable, unless watches are on
(see Watches).
-s variable=value- Set a user variable (see Variables).
-t- Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of
cvs activity. Particularly useful with `-n' to explore the
potential impact of an unfamiliar command.
-v
--version- Display version and copyright information for cvs.
-w- Make new working files read-write. Overrides the
setting of the
$CVSREAD environment variable.
Files are created read-write by default, unless $CVSREAD is
set or `-r' is given.
-x- Encrypt all communication between the client and the
server. Only has an effect on the cvs client. As
of this writing, this is only implemented when using a
GSSAPI connection (see GSSAPI authenticated) or a
Kerberos connection (see Kerberos authenticated).
Enabling encryption implies that message traffic is
also authenticated. Encryption support is not
available by default; it must be enabled using a
special configure option, --enable-encryption,
when you build cvs.
-z gzip-level- Set the compression level.
Valid levels are 1 (high speed, low compression) to
9 (low speed, high compression), or 0 to disable
compression (the default).
Only has an effect on the cvs client.