Installing and configuring CVS client plug-in in Eclipse

2023-11 update: Eclipse 2023-09
2023-3 update: Eclipse 2023-03
Workaround that worked up until Eclipse 2022-09

Last verification:

2024-8: macOS 14.6.1, Eclipse JEE 2024-06 (4.32.0).

2023-11 update: Eclipse 2023-09

As of Eclipse 2023-09 and 2023-11, to a better way to install the plug-in and get updates is to use the installation URL (Help > Install new software > Work with)

Update site URL: https://storage.googleapis.com/eclipse-cvs-plugin/

following the new Git repository's author's instruction at

https://github.com/JAndrassy/org.eclipse.team.cvs

2023-3 update: Eclipse 2023-03

The old workaround for installing CVS client in Eclipse I brought up last year stopped working earlier this year with the newest version of Eclipse (2023-03 (4.27.0), or maybe even 2023-01). The symptoms to look for is you'll get errors doing some CVS operations with, for example, https://cvs.example.com/viewvc/XXX/.

The new workaround:

method 1: Use the 'Eclipse CVS Client' plug-in built off of the forked repository dedicated for maintaining Eclipse CVS Client: https://github.com/JAndrassy/org.eclipse.team.cvs/. Concretely,

Go to
JAR files: https://github.com/JAndrassy/org.eclipse.team.cvs/releases
e.g. https://github.com/JAndrassy/org.eclipse.team.cvs/releases/tag/2023RC1
Download the jar files to your eclipse/dropins directory (e.g., for macOS, /Applications/Eclipse.app/Contents/Eclipse/dropins) and restart Eclipse.

method 2: Stop using CVS in Eclipse. Instead, use command-line cvs.

(On Windows which doesn't have native command-line, either use some standalone CVS client software or set up some command-line environment and use cvs inside it, for example, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about)

Workaround that worked up until Eclipse 2022-09

The older workaround that worked up until Eclipse version 2022-09 is

Go to Eclipse menu: Help > Install new softwares
Add the last repo that contains CVS client plug-in:

https://download.eclipse.org/releases/2021-12

https://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/4.22

Search for 'CVS' and install the 'Eclipse CVS Client' plug-in (see the screenshot below).

More info about the issue can be found in

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71568122/eclipse-2022-3-no-longer-support-cvs
https://github.com/eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.team/issues/29
https://mail-archive.wolfram.com/archive/t-alpha-development/2022/Mar00/0090.html