NAME
----
-git-cvsimport - Import a CVS repository into git
+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>] [-s <subst>]
- [-p <options-for-cvsps>] [-C <git_repository>] [-i] [-P <file>]
- [-m] [-M regex] [<CVS_module>]
+'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>] [<CVS_module>]
DESCRIPTION
At least version 2.1 is required.
You should *never* do any work of your own on the branches that are
-created by git-cvsimport. The initial import will create and populate a
+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.
+any CVS branches, yourself. It is advisable to specify a named remote via
+-r to separate and protect the incoming branches.
+
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.
+ 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 git-clone --use-separate-remote option.
+
+-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
+ 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.
+ to preserve compatibility with early imported trees.
-u::
Convert underscores in tag and branch names to dots.
--o <branch-for-HEAD>::
- The 'HEAD' branch from CVS is imported to the 'origin' branch within
- the git repository, as 'HEAD' already has a special meaning for git.
- 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.
+-s <subst>::
+ Substitute the character "/" in branch names with <subst>
-p <options-for-cvsps>::
Additional options for cvsps.
+
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::
+-m::
Attempt to detect merges based on the commit message. This option
- will enable default regexes that try to capture the name source
- branch name from the commit message.
+ will enable default regexes that try to capture the name 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 also see the default regexes.
- You must escape forward slashes.
-
--v::
- Verbosity: let 'cvsimport' report what it is doing.
-
-<CVS_module>::
- The CVS module you want to import. Relative to <CVSROOT>.
+ regex. It can be used with '-m' to enable the default regexes
+ as well. You must escape forward slashes.
--h::
- Print a short usage message and exit.
+-S <regex>::
+ Skip paths matching the regex.
--z <fuzz>::
- Pass the timestamp fuzz factor to cvsps.
+-a::
+ Import all commits, including recent ones. cvsimport by default
+ skips commits that have a timestamp less than 10 minutes ago.
--s <subst>::
- Substitute the character "/" in branch names with <subst>
+-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
+ CVS by default uses the Unix username when writing its
commit logs. Using this option and an author-conv-file
in this format
+
their GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL set properly
all along.
+
-For convenience, this data is saved to $GIT_DIR/cvs-authors
-each time the -A option is provided and read from that same
+For convenience, this data is saved to `$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-link[1]::git-cvsexportcommit.
+linkgit:git-cvsexportcommit[1].
+
+-h::
+ Print a short usage message and exit.
OUTPUT
------
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-
+Part of the linkgit:git[7] suite