Setting up the tools

Secure CVS Pserver Mini-HOWTO
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# 3. Setting up the tools

Now that CVS and cvsd are built, let's set them up.

## 3.1. Creating the CVS Repository

Before we begin, I strongly recommend you read the CVS manual that was installed with the rest of CVS. If the stand-alone info browser or the texinfo package is installed on your system, you can see this manual by typing the command info cvs at your shell.

First, plan out where you want your repository. Debian defaults to `/var/lib/cvs`. My repository is under the directory `/cvs/root`, and is on its own small partition. What you do depends on your needs and can vary widely.

| Make sure that the repository is a subdirectory of an empty directory! For example, if you are installing it into `/var/lib/cvs`, put the repository in `/var/lib/cvs/root` (or whatever you want for the last directory). This is because we create a chroot jail for the Pserver!

After you have planned where you want to put your repository, made the necessary partitions, if desired, and run the following command (we assume that it will be at `/cvs/root`):

    $ cvs -d /cvs/root init

That will initialize your repository and set up the necessary `CVSROOT` files.

## 3.2. Setting up the jail

Now that we have the `CVSROOT` set up, we need to copy the appropriate libraries and files for cvsd, which runs the Pserver in the chroot jail.

### 3.2.1. Transferring the necessary files

| If you installed cvsd from a package management system like RPM, this may already be done for you. If that is the case, skip ahead to the next step.

Change your directory to `/cvs` (or whatever the directory before your root is) and enter the following commands:

    $ cvsd-buildroot /cvs
    $ mkdir -p var/lock
    $ adduser cvsd
    $ addgroup cvsd

Thankfully, cvsd comes with the script cvsd-buildroot, so we don't have to do all the necessary copying by hand. However, you should edit the `/cvs/etc/passwd` file, and remove the entry for "root," as it's unneeded.

### 3.2.2. Configuring cvsd

The defaults in `/etc/cvsd/cvsd.conf` are okay, but can be less than desirable. Make sure that `RootJail` is set to wherever the chroot jail you built is, and the repository is the directory where the repository is relative to the chroot jail. Set `maxconnections` to whatever you desire, and make sure that Uid and Gid are set to cvsd. If you are lacking an already-built `cvsd.conf` file, here is mine:

Example 1. My `cvsd.conf`

    Uid cvsd
    Gid cvsd
    PidFile /var/run/cvsd.pid
    RootJail /cvs
    MaxConnections 10
    Nice 1
    Listen * 2401
    Repos /root
    Limit coredumpsize 0

## 3.3. Adding anonymous access

It's back to configuring CVS, but don't worry, we are almost there! We have to edit a couple of necessary files to allow for anonymous access. First, making sure you aren't in the CVS directory, check out the CVSROOT module:

    # cvs -d /cvs/root checkout CVSROOT
    # cd CVSROOT

Now edit the file `READERS`. Create it if it isn't there, and add a line that reads "anonymous".

| You NEED to have an extra line at the end of the file!

The file `READERS` is a list of users who have read-only access to the CVS repository. People with write access are listed in the file `WRITERS`. Read the cvs manual [1] for more information on these files.

Now commit the repository with the command below. We assume that your current working directory is `CVSROOT`. If it isn't, forget the cd step.

    # cd ../
    # cvs -d /cvs/root commit

You should now get a message that says something like `Re-building administrative files`, which means that it was successful.

One last step and we're all done! Run the following command, and when prompted for a password, just press ENTER:

    # cvsd-passwd /cvs/root anonymous

Congratulations! You now have secure, anonymous CVS Pserver access to the repository!

## 3.4. Not quite done yet! Changing lock file locations

There is one small feature here that is really beyond the scope of this Mini-HOWTO but is worth noting nonetheless. It is the ability to change the directory where the Pserver will place lock files.

Normally the Pserver will place lock files in the same directory as the files that you are trying to check out, but this can cause permissions mayhem. Step back to when we built the chroot jail for cvsd; we also created the directory `var/lock`. This is where we will place the lockfiles instead.

So use the following example, replacing `/cvs` with wherever your `chroot` environment is, and `var` with wherever the locks are going to be placed. Mine are placed in `var/lock`, and there is nothing else under `var`, so a chown -R is safe. Also, replace the cvsd user and group ids with the user and group ids that cvsd runs as.

    # cd /cvs
    # chown -R cvsd:cvsd var
    # chmod -R 775 var
    # cd
    # cvs -d /cvs/root checkout CVSROOT
    # cd CVSROOT

Now we want to edit the file `config`. Change lock dir to the directory you want the locks to be placed, in our case `/var/lock`.

| Note that this applies to the Pserver AS WELL AS THE NON-CHROOT SSH LOGIN METHOD! Ensure that this directory is not only in existence, but that you can write to it as well, relative to your root directory. This is why I have chosen `/var/lock`, because it satisfies those conditions.

Now commit the changes:

    # cd ../
    # cvs -d /cvs/root commit

And that's it!

### Notes

[1] | info cvs, if you have the stand-alone info viewer installed on your system

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