cvs remove faq - how do I move or rename a file?

CVS remove FAQ - How do I move or rename a file that is checked into a CVS repository?

Good question. This is neither obvious or straightforward with CVS. It also requires administrator priviledge.

cvs remove example - how to move a file

To move a file that's checked into CVS and save it's revision history, do the following:

  • In the CVS repository, copy the file to the new name or location.
  • Then in a CVS sandbox, move to the directory where the original file exists, then execute these commands to actually remove the original file:
rm oldfile
cvs remove oldfile
cvs commit -m "moved to newfile" oldfile

As you might guess by looking at those instructions, you should also create a backup copy of your CVS repository before doing this.