How do I check out my own copy of the main page with CVS?
Christopher Brooks, 30 Oct 2012
Last updated: 2 Jan 2014

The main page is under CVS access. To update the main page, you need administrative privileges in the terraswarm workgroup. To request permission, go to Options and request administrative access in the terraswarm workgroup.

Once you have been granted administrative privileges in the terraswarm workgroup, obtain CVS access, and then you can check out your own working copy.

Then, use either WinCVS, the command line or TortoiseCVS to check out a copy onto your local machine.

Tortoise CVS vs. WinCVS

Under Windows 7, Tortoise CVS may have problems, so we suggest trying Tortoise CVS first and if, after a reboot, the right click menus are not visible, then install WinCVS, which may be downloaded via http://cvsgui.sourceforge.net/download.html

Try Tortoise CVS first, if it works then there is no need to try WinCVS

Tortoise CVS

1. Install Tortoise CVS
2. In Windows Explorer (the file browser, not Internet Explorer), right click, select "CVS Checkout" and a window similar to the window below appears:
3. Fill in the following fields:

   Protocol:	Secure shell (:ssh)
   Server:	source.eecs.berkeley.edu
   Repository Folder:	/home/cvs_terraswarm
   User name:	Your login Where yourlogin is your CVS account username that was requested above.
   Module: (Located on the right)	terraswarmwww

4. Then hit OK
5. If you are prompted to accept a certificate, accept it.
6. Enter your password
7. The repository should be downloaded.
   If TortoiseCVS brings up a dialog with the message The handle is invalid, then the update is probably fine. It is not clear why this occurs, it could be because of a long pathname or because of concurrent installations of TortoiseCVS.

To avoid entering your password each time, see When using SSH, how do I make it so I don't need to enter the password every time I do anything?

WinCVS

You need only install WinCVS if there are problems problems with Tortoise CVS.

Install WinCVS, start it up, then click on Remote -> Checkout Module.

Below is a WinCVS screen shot:

Typical WinCVS settings:

Module name:	terraswarmwww
CVSROOT:	ssh:yourlogin@source.eecs.berkeley.edu:/home/cvs_terraswarm

Where yourlogin is your CVS account username that was requested above.

If WinCVS prompts you to install TCL or Python, then it is ok to click the "Don't show me this window again" checkbox. Editing the website pages does not require TCL or Python.

Using the command line to check out the website

Under bash:

export CVS_RSH=ssh

Under csh

setenv CVS_RSH ssh

and then

cvs -d :ext:source.eecs.berkeley.edu:/home/cvs_terraswarm co terraswarmwww

Further information

For additional information about using CVS, see:

How do I edit pages in a group with the "CVS Authoring" option?