<div id="Global-options"></div>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: [[cvs: Common command options#Common command options|Common options]], Previous: [[cvs: Default options and the ~%47.cvsrc file#Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file|~/.cvsrc]], Up: [[cvs: Guide to CVS commands#Guide to CVS commands|CVS commands]] &nbsp; |[[cvs: Index#SEC_Contents|Contents]]||[[cvs: Index#Index|Index]]|</p>
</div>

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<div id="Global-options-1"></div>
=== Global options ===
<div id="index-Options_002c-global"></div>
<div id="index-Global-options"></div>
<div id="index-Left_002dhand-options"></div>

The available &lsquo;<code>cvs_options</code>&rsquo; (that are given to the
left of &lsquo;<code>cvs_command</code>&rsquo;) are:

;<code>--allow-root=<var>rootdir</var></code>
: Specify legal <small>CVSROOT</small> directory.  See [[cvs: Setting up the server for password authentication#Setting up the server for password authentication|Password authentication server]].

<div id="index-Authentication_002c-stream"></div>
<div id="index-Stream-authentication"></div>
;<code>-a</code>
: Authenticate all communication between the client and the server.  Only has an effect on the <small>CVS</small> client. As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see [[cvs: Direct connection with GSSAPI#Direct connection with GSSAPI|GSSAPI authenticated]]). Authentication prevents certain sorts of attacks involving hijacking the active <small>TCP</small> connection. Enabling authentication does not enable encryption.

<div id="index-RCSBIN_002c-overriding"></div>
<div id="index-Overriding-RCSBIN"></div>
;<code>-b <var>bindir</var></code>
: In <small>CVS</small> 1.9.18 and older, this specified that <small>RCS</small> programs are in the <var>bindir</var> directory. Current versions of <small>CVS</small> do not run <small>RCS</small> programs; for compatibility this option is accepted, but it does nothing.

<div id="index-TMPDIR_002c-overriding"></div>
<div id="index-Overriding-TMPDIR"></div>
;<code>-T <var>tempdir</var></code>
: Use <var>tempdir</var> as the directory where temporary files are located.  Overrides the setting of the <code>$TMPDIR</code> environment variable and any precompiled directory.  This parameter should be specified as an absolute pathname. (When running client/server, &lsquo;<code>-T</code>&rsquo; affects only the local process; specifying &lsquo;<code>-T</code>&rsquo; for the client has no effect on the server and vice versa.)

<div id="index-CVSROOT_002c-overriding"></div>
<div id="index-Overriding-CVSROOT"></div>
;<code>-d <var>cvs_root_directory</var></code>
: Use <var>cvs_root_directory</var> as the root directory pathname of the repository.  Overrides the setting of the <code>$CVSROOT</code> environment variable.  See [[cvs: The Repository#The Repository|Repository]].

<div id="index-EDITOR_002c-overriding"></div>
<div id="index-Overriding-EDITOR"></div>
;<code>-e <var>editor</var></code>
: Use <var>editor</var> to enter revision log information.  Overrides the setting of the <code>$CVSEDITOR</code> and <code>$EDITOR</code> environment variables.  For more information, see [[cvs: Committing your changes#Committing your changes|Committing your changes]].

;<code>-f</code>
: Do not read the &lsquo;<tt>~/.cvsrc</tt>&rsquo; file.  This option is most often used because of the non-orthogonality of the <small>CVS</small> option set.  For example, the &lsquo;<code>cvs log</code>&rsquo; option &lsquo;<code>-N</code>&rsquo; (turn off display of tag names) does not have a corresponding option to turn the display on.  So if you have &lsquo;<code>-N</code>&rsquo; in the &lsquo;<tt>~/.cvsrc</tt>&rsquo; entry for &lsquo;<code>log</code>&rsquo;, you may need to use &lsquo;<code>-f</code>&rsquo; to show the tag names.

;<code>-H</code>
;<code>--help</code>
: Display usage information about the specified &lsquo;<code>cvs_command</code>&rsquo; (but do not actually execute the command).  If you don&rsquo;t specify a command name, &lsquo;<code>cvs -H</code>&rsquo; displays overall help for <small>CVS</small>, including a list of other help options.

;<code>-l</code>
: Do not log the &lsquo;<code>cvs_command</code>&rsquo; in the command history (but execute it anyway).  See [[cvs: history--Show status of files and users#history&mdash;Show status of files and users|history]], for information on command history.

<div id="index-Read_002donly-repository-mode"></div>
;<code>-R</code>
: 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 CDROM repository.

: Same effect as if the <code>CVSREADONLYFS</code> environment variable is set. Using &lsquo;<code>-R</code>&rsquo; can also considerably speed up checkout&rsquo;s over NFS.

<div id="index-Read_002donly-mode"></div>
;<code>-n</code>
: Do not change any files.  Attempt to execute the &lsquo;<code>cvs_command</code>&rsquo;, but only to issue reports; do not remove, update, or merge any existing files, or create any new files.

: Note that <small>CVS</small> will not necessarily produce exactly the same output as without &lsquo;<code>-n</code>&rsquo;.  In some cases the output will be the same, but in other cases <small>CVS</small> will skip some of the processing that would have been required to produce the exact same output.

;<code>-Q</code>
: Cause the command to be really quiet; the command will only generate output for serious problems.

;<code>-q</code>
: Cause the command to be somewhat quiet; informational messages, such as reports of recursion through subdirectories, are suppressed.

<div id="index-Read_002donly-files_002c-and-_002dr"></div>
;<code>-r</code>
: Make new working files read-only.  Same effect as if the <code>$CVSREAD</code> environment variable is set (see [[cvs: All environment variables which affect CVS#All environment variables which affect CVS|Environment variables]]).  The default is to make working files writable, unless watches are on (see [[cvs: Mechanisms to track who is editing files#Mechanisms to track who is editing files|Watches]]).

;<code>-s <var>variable</var>=<var>value</var></code>
: Set a user variable (see [[cvs: Expansions in administrative files#Expansions in administrative files|Variables]]).

<div id="index-Trace"></div>
;<code>-t</code>
: Trace program execution; display messages showing the steps of <small>CVS</small> activity.  Particularly useful with &lsquo;<code>-n</code>&rsquo; to explore the potential impact of an unfamiliar command.

;<code>-v</code>
;<code>--version</code>
: Display version and copyright information for <small>CVS</small>.

<div id="index-CVSREAD_002c-overriding"></div>
<div id="index-Overriding-CVSREAD"></div>
;<code>-w</code>
: Make new working files read-write.  Overrides the setting of the <code>$CVSREAD</code> environment variable. Files are created read-write by default, unless <code>$CVSREAD</code> is set or &lsquo;<code>-r</code>&rsquo; is given.

;<code>-x</code>
<div id="index-Encryption"></div>
: Encrypt all communication between the client and the server.  Only has an effect on the <small>CVS</small> client.  As of this writing, this is only implemented when using a GSSAPI connection (see [[cvs: Direct connection with GSSAPI#Direct connection with GSSAPI|GSSAPI authenticated]]) or a Kerberos connection (see [[cvs: Direct connection with kerberos#Direct connection with kerberos|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, &lsquo;<tt>--enable-encryption</tt>&rsquo;, when you build <small>CVS</small>.

;<code>-z <var>gzip-level</var></code>
<div id="index-Compression"></div>
<div id="index-Gzip"></div>
: 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 <small>CVS</small> client.



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<div class="header">
<p>
Next: [[cvs: Common command options#Common command options|Common options]], Previous: [[cvs: Default options and the ~%47.cvsrc file#Default options and the ~/.cvsrc file|~/.cvsrc]], Up: [[cvs: Guide to CVS commands#Guide to CVS commands|CVS commands]] &nbsp; |[[cvs: Index#SEC_Contents|Contents]]||[[cvs: Index#Index|Index]]|</p>
</div>
This document was generated on <i>a sunny day</i> using [http://www.nongnu.org/texi2html/ <i>texi2html</i>].
