What is CVS?

Concurrent Versions System (CVS) is a configuration management tool that enables you to manage multiple files in a project. For example, in a software project, multiple developers are working on same or different code files. Each developer needs to keep a personal copy of files and avoid overwriting the changes made by other developers. A developer may change or modify code files, according to the needs. As a result, all files in the project undergo revisions frequently. These revisions may form a part of the next release of software. To manage code files for the next release of software, you need to maintain a log that informs about various modifications, such as changes made to code, time when the changes were made, and the developer who made the changes. You also need to avoid accidental deletion or overwriting of code. CVS enables you to perform all these tasks.
CVS manages files and directories of a project. It records various versions of a file in a multi-user environment. It logs changes made to files, directories, and the directory tree structure. CVS also maintains a history of all changes that you can use for a project status report.
The CVS architecture includes the CVS server and the CVS client. The CVS server stores the repository. The CVS client connects to the CVS server to access the repository and checkout a local working copy. This architecture of CVS is ideal for a network environment. CVS supports multiple end users to work simultaneously on the same project from remote locations.
The central server concept in CVS ensures that all project data is synchronized through a common repository and follows the mechanism to update changes in files. There are various CVS clients that you can use to access the CVS server.