[cvsnt] Getting Started

[Marc Chamberlin]

I am interested in setting up a CVS server on a Win2000 Pro machine for
access by users on my LAN and from the internet. I was given a pointer to
CVSNT and have been trying to learn about it and install it on my system. I
am finding the documentation to be very confusing and inadequate!

1. The CVSNT Reference Manual, at http://www.cvsnt.org/cvs.html seems to be
highly focused towards UNIX and not towards running and setting up the
server on Windows. So I am not sure whether I should even try to use this
document???

2. I followed the cookbook instructions, by Bo Berglund, at
http://w1.858.telia.com/~u85831169/InstallCVSNT.html which seemed to work ok
until I got to Step 9, (Adding users) At this point it talks about adding
users if you are going to use the PSERVER protocol to communicate with the
CVSNT server. However, just a bit further on, these instructions directed me
not to use the PSERVER protocol if I plan to allow users to access the
server from the internet, and to delete the pserver_protocol.dll  file. My
question is, if I plan to allow both users FROM MY LAN and from the internet
to access the CVS server, should I still delete this file? Do I add users in
the same fashion, as explained in this section, regardless of the protocol
that the client will be using? Is there any way to just control what
protocols are allowed to be used from over the internet, i.e. from some
other domain than the one for my LAN?

3. For accessing the server from the internet, the instructions say that the
client should use the SSPI protocol. Two of the clients we plan to use are
WinCVS and Eclipse for a Java IDE. Another requested one is TortoiseCVS
which I haven't looked at yet. Nowhere can I find, in the WinCVS
documentation, any mention of using the SSPI protocol. Instead, their
documentation seems to talk about yet another protocol called SSH when
communication with the CVS server over the internet. Does CVSNT support the
SSH protocol? (The CVSNT control applet seems to imply that it might, there
are buttons to start and stop the CVS SSH service but they are grayed out
and a message states the service is not installed, and I do not find any
instructions on how to install it...) If so, how to I add users and their
passwords when using SSH for authentication? Is it still the same as for
using the pserver protocol or without the password as implied by the SSPI
protocol? (Gotta admit that the documentation on limiting users access when
using :SSPI and :NTSERVER has me very confused! I assume the CVSNT
automagically detects the type of protocol being used by a client, but why a
password is needed for some protocols and not others, for authentication, is
beyond me! I would assume a password is always required and the server must
know what it is, especially when a client is accessing the server from over
the internet....)

4. What is the passwd file and the .rhosts file that is often referred to in
various documents? Where are these located?


Anywise, hopefully some kind soul will answer these questions for a starter,
and get me pointed in the right direction... Perhaps the documentation could
be shored up a bit in these areas to make it less confusing about all the
different protocols, when an where they are used, which popular clients
support each, and the authentication model that is used for each.

Thanks, Marc...


--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you think the software industry will ever make software
that is as easy and reliable for a user to use
as the automobile industry makes a car easy and reliable
 for a user to drive?
------------------------------------------------------------------------