GNU Info
(cvs.info)Error messages
Partial list of error messages
==============================
Here is a partial list of error messages that you may see from CVS.
It is not a complete list--CVS is capable of printing many, many error
messages, often with parts of them supplied by the operating system,
but the intention is to list the common and/or potentially confusing
error messages.
The messages are alphabetical, but introductory text such as `cvs
update: ' is not considered in ordering them.
In some cases the list includes messages printed by old versions of
CVS (partly because users may not be sure which version of CVS they are
using at any particular moment).
`cvs COMMAND: authorization failed: server HOST rejected access'
This is a generic response when trying to connect to a pserver
server which chooses not to provide a specific reason for denying
authorization. Check that the username and password specified are
correct and that the `CVSROOT' specified is allowed by
`--allow-root' in `inetd.conf'. See Note: Password
authenticated.
`FILE:LINE: Assertion 'TEXT' failed'
The exact format of this message may vary depending on your
system. It indicates a bug in CVS, which can be handled as
described in Note: BUGS.
`cvs COMMAND: conflict: removed FILE was modified by second party'
This message indicates that you removed a file, and someone else
modified it. To resolve the conflict, first run `cvs add FILE'.
If desired, look at the other party's modification to decide
whether you still want to remove it. If you don't want to remove
it, stop here. If you do want to remove it, proceed with `cvs
remove FILE' and commit your removal.
`cannot change permissions on temporary directory'
Operation not permitted
This message has been happening in a non-reproducible, occasional
way when we run the client/server testsuite, both on Red Hat Linux
3.0.3 and 4.1. We haven't been able to figure out what causes it,
nor is it known whether it is specific to linux (or even to this
particular machine!). If the problem does occur on other unices,
`Operation not permitted' would be likely to read `Not owner' or
whatever the system in question uses for the unix `EPERM' error.
If you have any information to add, please let us know as
described in Note: BUGS. If you experience this error while
using CVS, retrying the operation which produced it should work
fine.
`cvs [server aborted]: Cannot check out files into the repository itself'
The obvious cause for this message (especially for
non-client/server CVS) is that the CVS root is, for example,
`/usr/local/cvsroot' and you try to check out files when you are
in a subdirectory, such as `/usr/local/cvsroot/test'. However,
there is a more subtle cause, which is that the temporary
directory on the server is set to a subdirectory of the root
(which is also not allowed). If this is the problem, set the
temporary directory to somewhere else, for example `/var/tmp'; see
`TMPDIR' in Note: Environment variables, for how to set the
temporary directory.
`cannot open CVS/Entries for reading: No such file or directory'
This generally indicates a CVS internal error, and can be handled
as with other CVS bugs (Note: BUGS). Usually there is a
workaround--the exact nature of which would depend on the
situation but which hopefully could be figured out.
`cvs [init aborted]: cannot open CVS/Root: No such file or directory'
This message is harmless. Provided it is not accompanied by other
errors, the operation has completed successfully. This message
should not occur with current versions of CVS, but it is documented
here for the benefit of CVS 1.9 and older.
`cvs [checkout aborted]: cannot rename file FILE to CVS/,,FILE: Invalid argument'
This message has been reported as intermittently happening with
CVS 1.9 on Solaris 2.5. The cause is unknown; if you know more
about what causes it, let us know as described in Note: BUGS.
`cvs [COMMAND aborted]: cannot start server via rcmd'
This, unfortunately, is a rather nonspecific error message which
CVS 1.9 will print if you are running the CVS client and it is
having trouble connecting to the server. Current versions of CVS
should print a much more specific error message. If you get this
message when you didn't mean to run the client at all, you
probably forgot to specify `:local:', as described in Note:
Repository.
`ci: FILE,v: bad diff output line: Binary files - and /tmp/T2a22651 differ'
CVS 1.9 and older will print this message when trying to check in
a binary file if RCS is not correctly installed. Re-read the
instructions that came with your RCS distribution and the INSTALL
file in the CVS distribution. Alternately, upgrade to a current
version of CVS, which checks in files itself rather than via RCS.
`cvs checkout: could not check out FILE'
With CVS 1.9, this can mean that the `co' program (part of RCS)
returned a failure. It should be preceded by another error
message, however it has been observed without another error
message and the cause is not well-understood. With the current
version of CVS, which does not run `co', if this message occurs
without another error message, it is definitely a CVS bug (Note:
BUGS).
`cvs [login aborted]: could not find out home directory'
This means that you need to set the environment variables that CVS
uses to locate your home directory. See the discussion of `HOME',
`HOMEDRIVE', and `HOMEPATH' in Note: Environment variables.
`cvs update: could not merge revision REV of FILE: No such file or directory'
CVS 1.9 and older will print this message if there was a problem
finding the `rcsmerge' program. Make sure that it is in your
`PATH', or upgrade to a current version of CVS, which does not
require an external `rcsmerge' program.
`cvs [update aborted]: could not patch FILE: No such file or directory'
This means that there was a problem finding the `patch' program.
Make sure that it is in your `PATH'. Note that despite
appearances the message is _not_ referring to whether it can find
FILE. If both the client and the server are running a current
version of CVS, then there is no need for an external patch
program and you should not see this message. But if either client
or server is running CVS 1.9, then you need `patch'.
`cvs update: could not patch FILE; will refetch'
This means that for whatever reason the client was unable to apply
a patch that the server sent. The message is nothing to be
concerned about, because inability to apply the patch only slows
things down and has no effect on what CVS does.
`dying gasps from SERVER unexpected'
There is a known bug in the server for CVS 1.9.18 and older which
can cause this. For me, this was reproducible if I used the `-t'
global option. It was fixed by Andy Piper's 14 Nov 1997 change to
src/filesubr.c, if anyone is curious. If you see the message, you
probably can just retry the operation which failed, or if you have
discovered information concerning its cause, please let us know as
described in Note: BUGS.
`end of file from server (consult above messages if any)'
The most common cause for this message is if you are using an
external `rsh' program and it exited with an error. In this case
the `rsh' program should have printed a message, which will appear
before the above message. For more information on setting up a
CVS client and server, see Note: Remote repositories.
`cvs [update aborted]: EOF in key in RCS file FILE,v'
`cvs [checkout aborted]: EOF while looking for end of string in RCS file FILE,v'
This means that there is a syntax error in the given RCS file.
Note that this might be true even if RCS can read the file OK; CVS
does more error checking of errors in the RCS file. That is why
you may see this message when upgrading from CVS 1.9 to CVS 1.10.
The likely cause for the original corruption is hardware, the
operating system, or the like. Of course, if you find a case in
which CVS seems to corrupting the file, by all means report it,
(Note: BUGS). There are quite a few variations of this error
message, depending on exactly where in the RCS file CVS finds the
syntax error.
`cvs commit: Executing 'mkmodules''
This means that your repository is set up for a version of CVS
prior to CVS 1.8. When using CVS 1.8 or later, the above message
will be preceded by
cvs commit: Rebuilding administrative file database
If you see both messages, the database is being rebuilt twice,
which is unnecessary but harmless. If you wish to avoid the
duplication, and you have no versions of CVS 1.7 or earlier in
use, remove `-i mkmodules' every place it appears in your `modules'
file. For more information on the `modules' file, see Note:
modules.
`missing author'
Typically this can happen if you created an RCS file with your
username set to empty. CVS will, bogusly, create an illegal RCS
file with no value for the author field. The solution is to make
sure your username is set to a non-empty value and re-create the
RCS file.
`cvs [checkout aborted]: no such tag TAG'
This message means that CVS isn't familiar with the tag TAG.
Usually this means that you have mistyped a tag name; however
there are (relatively obscure) cases in which CVS will require you
to try a few other CVS commands involving that tag, before you
find one which will cause CVS to update the `val-tags' file; see
discussion of val-tags in Note: File permissions. You only need
to worry about this once for a given tag; when a tag is listed in
`val-tags', it stays there. Note that using `-f' to not require
tag matches does not override this check; see Note: Common
options.
`*PANIC* administration files missing'
This typically means that there is a directory named CVS but it
does not contain the administrative files which CVS puts in a CVS
directory. If the problem is that you created a CVS directory via
some mechanism other than CVS, then the answer is simple, use a
name other than CVS. If not, it indicates a CVS bug (Note:
BUGS).
`rcs error: Unknown option: -x,v/'
This message will be followed by a usage message for RCS. It
means that you have an old version of RCS (probably supplied with
your operating system), as well as an old version of CVS. CVS
1.9.18 and earlier only work with RCS version 5 and later; current
versions of CVS do not run RCS programs.
`cvs [server aborted]: received broken pipe signal'
This message seems to be caused by a hard-to-track-down bug in CVS
or the systems it runs on (we don't know--we haven't tracked it
down yet!). It seems to happen only after a CVS command has
completed, and you should be able to just ignore the message.
However, if you have discovered information concerning its cause,
please let us know as described in Note: BUGS.
`Too many arguments!'
This message is typically printed by the `log.pl' script which is
in the `contrib' directory in the CVS source distribution. In
some versions of CVS, `log.pl' has been part of the default CVS
installation. The `log.pl' script gets called from the `loginfo'
administrative file. Check that the arguments passed in `loginfo'
match what your version of `log.pl' expects. In particular, the
`log.pl' from CVS 1.3 and older expects the logfile as an argument
whereas the `log.pl' from CVS 1.5 and newer expects the logfile to
be specified with a `-f' option. Of course, if you don't need
`log.pl' you can just comment it out of `loginfo'.
`cvs [update aborted]: unexpected EOF reading FILE,v'
See `EOF in key in RCS file'.
`cvs [login aborted]: unrecognized auth response from SERVER'
This message typically means that the server is not set up
properly. For example, if `inetd.conf' points to a nonexistent
cvs executable. To debug it further, find the log file which
inetd writes (`/var/log/messages' or whatever inetd uses on your
system). For details, see Note: Connection, and Note: Password
authentication server.
`cvs server: cannot open /root/.cvsignore: Permission denied'
`cvs [server aborted]: can't chdir(/root): Permission denied'
See Note: Connection.
`cvs commit: Up-to-date check failed for `FILE''
This means that someone else has committed a change to that file
since the last time that you did a `cvs update'. So before
proceeding with your `cvs commit' you need to `cvs update'. CVS
will merge the changes that you made and the changes that the
other person made. If it does not detect any conflicts it will
report `M FILE' and you are ready to `cvs commit'. If it detects
conflicts it will print a message saying so, will report `C FILE',
and you need to manually resolve the conflict. For more details
on this process see Note: Conflicts example.
`Usage: diff3 [-exEX3 [-i | -m] [-L label1 -L label3]] file1 file2 file3'
Only one of [exEX3] allowed
This indicates a problem with the installation of `diff3' and
`rcsmerge'. Specifically `rcsmerge' was compiled to look for GNU
diff3, but it is finding unix diff3 instead. The exact text of
the message will vary depending on the system. The simplest
solution is to upgrade to a current version of CVS, which does not
rely on external `rcsmerge' or `diff3' programs.
`warning: unrecognized response `TEXT' from cvs server'
If TEXT contains a valid response (such as `ok') followed by an
extra carriage return character (on many systems this will cause
the second part of the message to overwrite the first part), then
it probably means that you are using the `:ext:' access method
with a version of rsh, such as most non-unix rsh versions, which
does not by default provide a transparent data stream. In such
cases you probably want to try `:server:' instead of `:ext:'. If
TEXT is something else, this may signify a problem with your CVS
server. Double-check your installation against the instructions
for setting up the CVS server.
`cvs commit: [TIME] waiting for USER's lock in DIRECTORY'
This is a normal message, not an error. See Note: Concurrency,
for more details.
`cvs commit: warning: editor session failed'
This means that the editor which CVS is using exits with a nonzero
exit status. Some versions of vi will do this even when there was
not a problem editing the file. If so, point the `CVSEDITOR'
environment variable to a small script such as:
#!/bin/sh
vi $*
exit 0
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