Grabbing the sources is a two-stage process. First, we log in to the password server. Then, we grab the sources with a "checkout" command. Here's an example set of commands that can be used to check out the latest Samba sources, a popular UNIX/Windows integration project:

# export CVSROOT=:pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot

This first command sets the CVSROOT environment variable. If you don't set this variable, the following two commands will require an additional "-d :pserver:cvs@pserver.samba.org:/cvsroot" following the "cvs" command. Exporting the CVSROOT saves a us bit of typing.