Checking out from the contributions repository
The Contributions repository is a separate CVS area from the main core code repository. It is used for third-party modules, themes, translations, etc. If you've heard the phrase "contrib module", this is the place where they get stored. See the Contributions FAQ and the README.txt for more information.
Just like the main repository, anyone can browse the contributions repository anonymously via the cvs web interface. Anonymous users can also check out individual modules or themes via the command line:
Checking out the latest contrib projects
To get the most recent modules, themes, or translations, cd your way to the root of the drupal install for which you wish to update a project, and run the command:
// Checkout one project at a time:
cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib checkout contributions/modules/name_of_contrib_moduleThe -z6 switch enables compression during the download. The
-d switch indicates the location of the repository. pserver is the login method, the first anonymous is the username, and the second anonymous is the password. You'll be accessing the repository at cvs.drupal.org, within the /cvs/drupal-contrib folder. In the example path above, *modules* can also be *themes*, *translations*, or even *profiles*.
It's important to note that sometimes the contributions/modules/name_of_contrib_module path listed above can be several levels deep, as in modules/ecommerce/* rather than just modules/views.
For example paths and project names, Browse the list of contrib modules or contrib themes on cvs.drupal.org.
All contributions at once
To check out all contributions at once, which is highly discouraged as the contributions repository is huge and checking it all out puts a major stranglehold on the drupal.org servers, cd your way to the root of the directory you wish to save to and type:
// Checkout the entire contrib repository:
cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib checkout contributionsCheck out a contrib project into a specific directory
It's often useful to check out a contrib module or theme into a specific directory rather than the full contrib path. That allows you to, for instance, pull a single module directly from CVS into a multi-site's sites/example.com/modules directory. To do so, use a command such as the following:
cd sites/example.com/modules
cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib checkout -d modulenamehere contributions/modules/modulenamehereCheck out all contributions for a certain Drupal version
To check out the contributions directory for a certain Drupal version, do
cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib checkout -r <version tag> contributionswhere
<version tag> is built up according to the Drupal version tags
Checking out a specific version of a contrib module
To target a selected version of a module, such as moduleName_5.x-1.x-dev, do
cvs -z6 -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib checkout -r <version tag> -d moduleName contributions/modules/moduleNameTo get the correct
<version tag>, visit the CVS contrib modules repo, choose your module, and pick one of the available NON-BRANCH tags from the dropdown list at the top of the page (such as DRUPAL-6--1-0).
Updating a contributed module via CVS
In order to update a module via CVS, one must have installed the module via CVS. Read instructions on how to update a contributed module via CVS.
Contributing your own code
If you're looking to add your own modules, themes, translations TO the repository, the Maintaining a project on drupal.org page has a useful introduction to getting started, while the Maintainer quick-start guide provides an easy reference to useful CVS commands.
example
This is an example of how the should be formatted: "DRUPAL-6--1-2"
The first part "DRUPAL-6--" specifies the Drupal's version (BranchName, CASE-SENSITIVE)
and the second part "1-2" is the version number of the module.
So, if the module version is specified as being 6.x-1.2, you will rewrite that at "DRUPAL-6--1-2" as its
Note of Caution
These instructions should be updated in light of the "CVS instructions" module deployment. Each project now has a CVS instructions tab.

not working for me
hi,
I´m trying this but I´m facing problems with some of the modules I try to download. With some of them it works fine, but with most of them my cvs checkout gets completely stuck and does not goes further. I have then to manually stop (ctrl-c) and then get a message of [checkout aborted].
For example, when I try to checkout the imagefield module, I get the following output:
cvs checkout: Updating imagefield
U imagefield/README.txt
U imagefield/UPGRADE.txt
U imagefield/imagefield.css
U imagefield/imagefield.info
U imagefield/imagefield.install
U imagefield/imagefield.module
U imagefield/imagefield_file.inc
U imagefield/imagefield_formatter.inc
U imagefield/imagefield_widget.inc
cvs checkout: Updating imagefield/po
cvs checkout: Updating imagefield/tests
U imagefield/tests/imagefield.test
cvs checkout: Updating imagefield/translations
U imagefield/translations/de.po
U imagefield/translations/es.po
U imagefield/translations/fr.po
U imagefield/translations/imagefield.pot
But at some point it just get stuck (in this case when downloading the imagefield.pot file), and it does not proceed further until the end.
Is any way to overcome this? why module cvs checkout works fine with some contrib modules and does not work at all with anothers (most of them actually)? Also it seems to get stuck at a different stage for the same module, when I try to check it out again.
thanks.
contribs now in main repository
It would appear that contribs are now in the main repository (perhaps that's why this page is marked as "needs updating).