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Asked: 2026-05-25T20:13:59+00:00

I am learning how I can install Mercurial on our team system, but I

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I am learning how I can install Mercurial on our team system, but I am not experienced enough to make some decision.

For our team, we have a server machine used as a repository. Every team member also has her/his own Linux RedHat installed machine. However, we do not do anything on our local terminals and we do everything on the server. Every member has a user directory on the server such as /home/Cassie, /home/john, … and we save all our code and work there. When we turn on the local terminals, the GNOME system shows our personal files on the server not the local machine. Whenever everyone click the terminal application on desktop, it connects to her own home directory. Thus, we do not need to use SSH command to connect to the server. It is like the school multi-users system. Everyone has a user account and she logs into her own account to do her own work. I hope I can install a shared repository on that server and every one can do push, pull, etc. all kind of commands there.

1) Since we use a shared environment, does it mean that I need to install Mercurial on only the server and that is enough for everyone to do “commit”, “push”, “pull”, etc. commands?

2) By installing only system-wide Mercurial, does it eliminate the ability to do local commit? If I would like to let everyone still have the “local commit” ability, how should I do it?

3) I have searched online. Some people mentioned that for a shared network server, it is impossible to have locks for any two users if they are trying to access the same file at the same time. Does it imply my situation?

In sum, we do all the work on the server. I hope to find a plan to have Mercurial control on a repository shared by everyone when everyone still has local commit ability and the repository still has some locks protection if any two users try to access a file at the same time. If this scenario is feasible, can I just install the Mercurial on the server or I need to install Mercurial for both servers and users machines? If it is impossible for the scenario, would someone please suggest me a plan to have version control for our system?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    1) Since we use a shared environment, does it mean that I just need to install the Mercurial on the server and it is enough for everyone to do “commit”,”push”,”pull”..etc commands ?

    If your users are logging into a shell on the server in order to do their work, then yes it is sufficient to have Mercurial installed only on the server.

    2) By installing only system-wide Mercurial, does it eliminate the ability to do local commit ? If I would like to let everyone still have the “local commit” ability, how should I do it ?

    Your users will presumably checkout from a shared “root” repository into their own home directory in order to work on the code. They will have a “local” copy of the repo in their home directory and will push into the shared root repository.

    3) I have searched online. Some people mentioned that for a shared network server, it is impossible to have locks for any two users if they are trying to access the same file at the same time. Does it imply my situation ?

    As long as your users are working within their own local copies of the repo, they will not interfere with one another. The only time a conflict may arise is when committing back to the shared root repository — in which case the user will need to merge their changes and resolve any conflicts.

    I would recommend reading carefully through Joel Spolsky’s excellent Hg Init tutorial for a better understanding of how Mercurial handles “central” and “local” copies.

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