Documentation/git-cvsimport.txt - jrn/git - Git at Google

 git-cvsimport(1)
 ================

 NAME
 ----
 git-cvsimport - Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate


 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git cvsimport' [-o <branch-for-HEAD>] [-h] [-v] [-d <CVSROOT>]
 	      [-A <author-conv-file>] [-p <options-for-cvsps>] [-P <file>]
 	      [-C <git_repository>] [-z <fuzz>] [-i] [-k] [-u] [-s <subst>]
 	      [-a] [-m] [-M <regex>] [-S <regex>] [-L <commitlimit>]
 	      [-r <remote>] [-R] [<CVS_module>]


 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 *WARNING:* `git cvsimport` uses cvsps version 2, which is considered
 deprecated; it does not work with cvsps version 3 and later.  If you are
 performing a one-shot import of a CVS repository consider using
 http://cvs2svn.tigris.org/cvs2git.html[cvs2git] or
 https://github.com/BartMassey/parsecvs[parsecvs].

 Imports a CVS repository into Git. It will either create a new
 repository, or incrementally import into an existing one.

 Splitting the CVS log into patch sets is done by 'cvsps'.
 At least version 2.1 is required.

 *WARNING:* for certain situations the import leads to incorrect results.
 Please see the section <<issues,ISSUES>> for further reference.

 You should *never* do any work of your own on the branches that are
 created by 'git cvsimport'.  By default initial import will create and populate a
 "master" branch from the CVS repository's main branch which you're free
 to work with; after that, you need to 'git merge' incremental imports, or
 any CVS branches, yourself.  It is advisable to specify a named remote via
 -r to separate and protect the incoming branches.

 If you intend to set up a shared public repository that all developers can
 read/write, or if you want to use linkgit:git-cvsserver[1], then you
 probably want to make a bare clone of the imported repository,
 and use the clone as the shared repository.
 See linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].


 OPTIONS
 -------
 -v::
 	Verbosity: let 'cvsimport' report what it is doing.

 -d <CVSROOT>::
 	The root of the CVS archive. May be local (a simple path) or remote;
 	currently, only the :local:, :ext: and :pserver: access methods
 	are supported. If not given, 'git cvsimport' will try to read it
 	from `CVS/Root`. If no such file exists, it checks for the
 	`CVSROOT` environment variable.

 <CVS_module>::
 	The CVS module you want to import. Relative to <CVSROOT>.
 	If not given, 'git cvsimport' tries to read it from
 	`CVS/Repository`.

 -C <target-dir>::
 	The Git repository to import to.  If the directory doesn't
         exist, it will be created.  Default is the current directory.

 -r <remote>::
 	The Git remote to import this CVS repository into.
 	Moves all CVS branches into remotes/<remote>/<branch>
 	akin to the way 'git clone' uses 'origin' by default.

 -o <branch-for-HEAD>::
 	When no remote is specified (via -r) the 'HEAD' branch
 	from CVS is imported to the 'origin' branch within the Git
 	repository, as 'HEAD' already has a special meaning for Git.
 	When a remote is specified the 'HEAD' branch is named
 	remotes/<remote>/master mirroring 'git clone' behaviour.
 	Use this option if you want to import into a different
 	branch.
 +
 Use '-o master' for continuing an import that was initially done by
 the old cvs2git tool.

 -i::
 	Import-only: don't perform a checkout after importing.  This option
 	ensures the working directory and index remain untouched and will
 	not create them if they do not exist.

 -k::
 	Kill keywords: will extract files with '-kk' from the CVS archive
 	to avoid noisy changesets. Highly recommended, but off by default
 	to preserve compatibility with early imported trees.

 -u::
 	Convert underscores in tag and branch names to dots.

 -s <subst>::
 	Substitute the character "/" in branch names with <subst>

 -p <options-for-cvsps>::
 	Additional options for cvsps.
 	The options '-u' and '-A' are implicit and should not be used here.
 +
 If you need to pass multiple options, separate them with a comma.

 -z <fuzz>::
 	Pass the timestamp fuzz factor to cvsps, in seconds. If unset,
 	cvsps defaults to 300s.

 -P <cvsps-output-file>::
 	Instead of calling cvsps, read the provided cvsps output file. Useful
 	for debugging or when cvsps is being handled outside cvsimport.

 -m::
 	Attempt to detect merges based on the commit message. This option
 	will enable default regexes that try to capture the source
 	branch name from the commit message.

 -M <regex>::
 	Attempt to detect merges based on the commit message with a custom
 	regex. It can be used with '-m' to enable the default regexes
 	as well. You must escape forward slashes.
 +
 The regex must capture the source branch name in $1.
 +
 This option can be used several times to provide several detection regexes.

 -S <regex>::
 	Skip paths matching the regex.

 -a::
 	Import all commits, including recent ones. cvsimport by default
 	skips commits that have a timestamp less than 10 minutes ago.

 -L <limit>::
 	Limit the number of commits imported. Workaround for cases where
 	cvsimport leaks memory.

 -A <author-conv-file>::
 	CVS by default uses the Unix username when writing its
 	commit logs. Using this option and an author-conv-file
 	maps the name recorded in CVS to author name, e-mail and
 	optional time zone:
 +
 ---------
 	exon=Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>
 	spawn=Simon Pawn <spawn@frog-pond.org> America/Chicago

 ---------
 +
 'git cvsimport' will make it appear as those authors had
 their GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL set properly
 all along.  If a time zone is specified, GIT_AUTHOR_DATE will
 have the corresponding offset applied.
 +
 For convenience, this data is saved to `$GIT_DIR/cvs-authors`
 each time the '-A' option is provided and read from that same
 file each time 'git cvsimport' is run.
 +
 It is not recommended to use this feature if you intend to
 export changes back to CVS again later with
 'git cvsexportcommit'.

 -R::
 	Generate a `$GIT_DIR/cvs-revisions` file containing a mapping from CVS
 	revision numbers to newly-created Git commit IDs.  The generated file
 	will contain one line for each (filename, revision) pair imported;
 	each line will look like
 +
 ---------
 src/widget.c 1.1 1d862f173cdc7325b6fa6d2ae1cfd61fd1b512b7
 ---------
 +
 The revision data is appended to the file if it already exists, for use when
 doing incremental imports.
 +
 This option may be useful if you have CVS revision numbers stored in commit
 messages, bug-tracking systems, email archives, and the like.

 -h::
 	Print a short usage message and exit.

 OUTPUT
 ------
 If '-v' is specified, the script reports what it is doing.

 Otherwise, success is indicated the Unix way, i.e. by simply exiting with
 a zero exit status.

 [[issues]]
 ISSUES
 ------
 Problems related to timestamps:

  * If timestamps of commits in the CVS repository are not stable enough
    to be used for ordering commits changes may show up in the wrong
    order.
  * If any files were ever "cvs import"ed more than once (e.g., import of
    more than one vendor release) the HEAD contains the wrong content.
  * If the timestamp order of different files cross the revision order
    within the commit matching time window the order of commits may be
    wrong.

 Problems related to branches:

  * Branches on which no commits have been made are not imported.
  * All files from the branching point are added to a branch even if
    never added in CVS.
  * This applies to files added to the source branch *after* a daughter
    branch was created: if previously no commit was made on the daughter
    branch they will erroneously be added to the daughter branch in git.

 Problems related to tags:

 * Multiple tags on the same revision are not imported.

 If you suspect that any of these issues may apply to the repository you
 want to import, consider using cvs2git:

 * cvs2git (part of cvs2svn), `http://subversion.apache.org/`

 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
	git-cvsimport(1)
	================

	NAME
	----
	git-cvsimport - Salvage your data out of another SCM people love to hate


	SYNOPSIS
	--------
	[verse]
	'git cvsimport' [-o <branch-for-HEAD>] [-h] [-v] [-d <CVSROOT>]
	[-A <author-conv-file>] [-p <options-for-cvsps>] [-P <file>]
	[-C <git_repository>] [-z <fuzz>] [-i] [-k] [-u] [-s <subst>]
	[-a] [-m] [-M <regex>] [-S <regex>] [-L <commitlimit>]
	[-r <remote>] [-R] [<CVS_module>]


	DESCRIPTION
	-----------
	WARNING: `git cvsimport` uses cvsps version 2, which is considered
	deprecated; it does not work with cvsps version 3 and later. If you are
	performing a one-shot import of a CVS repository consider using
	http://cvs2svn.tigris.org/cvs2git.html[cvs2git] or
	https://github.com/BartMassey/parsecvs[parsecvs].

	Imports a CVS repository into Git. It will either create a new
	repository, or incrementally import into an existing one.

	Splitting the CVS log into patch sets is done by 'cvsps'.
	At least version 2.1 is required.

	WARNING: for certain situations the import leads to incorrect results.
	Please see the section <<issues,ISSUES>> for further reference.

	You should never do any work of your own on the branches that are
	created by 'git cvsimport'. By default initial import will create and populate a
	"master" branch from the CVS repository's main branch which you're free
	to work with; after that, you need to 'git merge' incremental imports, or
	any CVS branches, yourself. It is advisable to specify a named remote via
	-r to separate and protect the incoming branches.

	If you intend to set up a shared public repository that all developers can
	read/write, or if you want to use linkgit:git-cvsserver[1], then you
	probably want to make a bare clone of the imported repository,
	and use the clone as the shared repository.
	See linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].


	OPTIONS
	-------
	-v::
	Verbosity: let 'cvsimport' report what it is doing.

	-d <CVSROOT>::
	The root of the CVS archive. May be local (a simple path) or remote;
	currently, only the :local:, :ext: and :pserver: access methods
	are supported. If not given, 'git cvsimport' will try to read it
	from `CVS/Root`. If no such file exists, it checks for the
	`CVSROOT` environment variable.

	<CVS_module>::
	The CVS module you want to import. Relative to <CVSROOT>.
	If not given, 'git cvsimport' tries to read it from
	`CVS/Repository`.

	-C <target-dir>::
	The Git repository to import to. If the directory doesn't
	exist, it will be created. Default is the current directory.

	-r <remote>::
	The Git remote to import this CVS repository into.
	Moves all CVS branches into remotes/<remote>/<branch>
	akin to the way 'git clone' uses 'origin' by default.

	-o <branch-for-HEAD>::
	When no remote is specified (via -r) the 'HEAD' branch
	from CVS is imported to the 'origin' branch within the Git
	repository, as 'HEAD' already has a special meaning for Git.
	When a remote is specified the 'HEAD' branch is named
	remotes/<remote>/master mirroring 'git clone' behaviour.
	Use this option if you want to import into a different
	branch.
	+
	Use '-o master' for continuing an import that was initially done by
	the old cvs2git tool.

	-i::
	Import-only: don't perform a checkout after importing. This option
	ensures the working directory and index remain untouched and will
	not create them if they do not exist.

	-k::
	Kill keywords: will extract files with '-kk' from the CVS archive
	to avoid noisy changesets. Highly recommended, but off by default
	to preserve compatibility with early imported trees.

	-u::
	Convert underscores in tag and branch names to dots.

	-s <subst>::
	Substitute the character "/" in branch names with <subst>

	-p <options-for-cvsps>::
	Additional options for cvsps.
	The options '-u' and '-A' are implicit and should not be used here.
	+
	If you need to pass multiple options, separate them with a comma.

	-z <fuzz>::
	Pass the timestamp fuzz factor to cvsps, in seconds. If unset,
	cvsps defaults to 300s.

	-P <cvsps-output-file>::
	Instead of calling cvsps, read the provided cvsps output file. Useful
	for debugging or when cvsps is being handled outside cvsimport.

	-m::
	Attempt to detect merges based on the commit message. This option
	will enable default regexes that try to capture the source
	branch name from the commit message.

	-M <regex>::
	Attempt to detect merges based on the commit message with a custom
	regex. It can be used with '-m' to enable the default regexes
	as well. You must escape forward slashes.
	+
	The regex must capture the source branch name in $1.
	+
	This option can be used several times to provide several detection regexes.

	-S <regex>::
	Skip paths matching the regex.

	-a::
	Import all commits, including recent ones. cvsimport by default
	skips commits that have a timestamp less than 10 minutes ago.

	-L <limit>::
	Limit the number of commits imported. Workaround for cases where
	cvsimport leaks memory.

	-A <author-conv-file>::
	CVS by default uses the Unix username when writing its
	commit logs. Using this option and an author-conv-file
	maps the name recorded in CVS to author name, e-mail and
	optional time zone:
	+
	---------
	exon=Andreas Ericsson <ae@op5.se>
	spawn=Simon Pawn <spawn@frog-pond.org> America/Chicago

	---------
	+
	'git cvsimport' will make it appear as those authors had
	their GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL set properly
	all along. If a time zone is specified, GIT_AUTHOR_DATE will
	have the corresponding offset applied.
	+
	For convenience, this data is saved to `$GIT_DIR/cvs-authors`
	each time the '-A' option is provided and read from that same
	file each time 'git cvsimport' is run.
	+
	It is not recommended to use this feature if you intend to
	export changes back to CVS again later with
	'git cvsexportcommit'.

	-R::
	Generate a `$GIT_DIR/cvs-revisions` file containing a mapping from CVS
	revision numbers to newly-created Git commit IDs. The generated file
	will contain one line for each (filename, revision) pair imported;
	each line will look like
	+
	---------
	src/widget.c 1.1 1d862f173cdc7325b6fa6d2ae1cfd61fd1b512b7
	---------
	+
	The revision data is appended to the file if it already exists, for use when
	doing incremental imports.
	+
	This option may be useful if you have CVS revision numbers stored in commit
	messages, bug-tracking systems, email archives, and the like.

	-h::
	Print a short usage message and exit.

	OUTPUT
	------
	If '-v' is specified, the script reports what it is doing.

	Otherwise, success is indicated the Unix way, i.e. by simply exiting with
	a zero exit status.

	[[issues]]
	ISSUES
	------
	Problems related to timestamps:

	* If timestamps of commits in the CVS repository are not stable enough
	to be used for ordering commits changes may show up in the wrong
	order.
	* If any files were ever "cvs import"ed more than once (e.g., import of
	more than one vendor release) the HEAD contains the wrong content.
	* If the timestamp order of different files cross the revision order
	within the commit matching time window the order of commits may be
	wrong.

	Problems related to branches:

	* Branches on which no commits have been made are not imported.
	* All files from the branching point are added to a branch even if
	never added in CVS.
	* This applies to files added to the source branch after a daughter
	branch was created: if previously no commit was made on the daughter
	branch they will erroneously be added to the daughter branch in git.

	Problems related to tags:

	* Multiple tags on the same revision are not imported.

	If you suspect that any of these issues may apply to the repository you
	want to import, consider using cvs2git:

	* cvs2git (part of cvs2svn), `http://subversion.apache.org/`

	GIT
	---
	Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite