<p>I'm trying to find a source control for my own personal use that's as simple as possible.  The main feature I need is being able to read/pull a past version of my code.  I am the only developer.  I've looked at a lot of different version control systems, but they all seem way more complicated than I need.  I need one that's simple, runs under Windows, and doesn't expose itself to the network.</p>

<p>Specifically, the version control system should <em>not</em> require exposing an HTTP interface, it should interact with the local filesystem only.  It just needs to be a version control system geared for one guy and one guy only.  Graphical UI is a plus.</p>

<p>Does anyone know of software would satisfy what I'm looking for?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>-Mike</p>

[{'answer_id': 49605, 'author': 'Biri', 'author_id': 968, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/968', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>You should check <a href="http://www.cvsnt.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CVSNT</a> as server and use any of the clients you would like (standalone or integrated with your IDE). There are plenty of them.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49606, 'author': 'Ryan Lanciaux', 'author_id': 1385358, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1385358', 'pm_score': 6, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p><a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Subversion</a> is great -- you can run the server yourself or use something like assembla.com to host your code (although that exposes it to the network).</p>\n\n<p>There are numerous gui applications like <a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tortoise svn</a> that would allow you to interact w/ the source control repo</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49608, 'author': 'Matt Sheppard', 'author_id': 797, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/797', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p><a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Subversion</a> with <a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TortoiseSVN</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Like all version control systems, it will sound reasonably complex when you start off, but it\'s really very simple once you get into it, works well for a single developer, and doesn\'t require any network access if you don\'t want it to.</p>\n\n<p>Plus, it\'s free.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49611, 'author': 'Mark Biek', 'author_id': 305, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/305', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>You really can\'t get much easier than <a href="http://www.visualsvn.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">VisualSVN</a> for version control on Windows.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49627, 'author': 'BrianP', 'author_id': 4811, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4811', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I have heard of a hosted Subversion vendor Versionshelf (<a href="http://www.versionshelf.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.versionshelf.com</a>) on a podcast I listen to.</p>\n\n<p>This site also has a list: <a href="http://snook.ca/archives/servers/hosted_subversion/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://snook.ca/archives/servers/hosted_subversion/</a></p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49631, 'author': 'rams', 'author_id': 3635, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3635', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Use Visual SVN to setup your server and then use Tortoise to access your repository. Both are free to use and we have been successfully using it for quite sometime now.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49650, 'author': 'Chris Upchurch', 'author_id': 2600, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2600', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p><a href="http://sourcegear.com/vault/index.html" rel="noreferrer">Sourcegear Vault</a> is free for a single user and you can run both the client and the server on your own machine.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49657, 'author': 'Christian Oudard', 'author_id': 3757, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3757', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I like to use <a href="http://code.google.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Code</a>, even for my one man projects, as it provides a Subversion repository already set up. Also, the server is offsite, which protects against hard drive failures and other disasters.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49665, 'author': 'nickd', 'author_id': 2373, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/2373', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>@gorgapor: Doesn't the Google Code TOS specify an open source license? It's not a generally applicable solution in that case.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 49704, 'author': 'Zack Peterson', 'author_id': 83, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/83', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I use <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Subversion</a> and <a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TortoiseSVN</a> &mdash; both are free.  Your repository can be on the local machine.  You don\'t have to work over a network.</p>\n\n<p>However, for disaster recovery or even simple machine fault, it\'s probably a good idea to store your repository on a different computer and also back it up.</p>\n\n<p>You might want to consider using a third party service to host your repositories off-site over the internet.  I use <a href="http://cvsdude.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CVSDude</a> and am satisfied.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49707, 'author': 'readonly', 'author_id': 4883, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4883', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>You might find <a href="http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mercurial</a> to be pretty nice for that purpose.  You won\'t have to set up a server and creating the repository is as simple as doing "hg init" in the directory where your work is.  </p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49712, 'author': 'y0mbo', 'author_id': 417, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/417', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>I am also a lone developer, and I use Subversion and TortoiseSVN.</p>\n\n<p>Setup of Subversion is quick and painless; it can be done in less than half an hour including setting up the repository.</p>\n\n<p>There is no requirement by Subversion to run on a server, I actually run it on my local machine and keep my repositories on a separate drive. Connecting to the repository uses svn:// instead of http://. I'm not sure why you require that it does not expose itself to the network, but this would be a matter of security via obscurity. I'm sure networking experts could suggest better methods for locking it down, should that be necessary.</p>\n\n<p>Once the repository has been created, commits and updates from the repository are as simple as right-clicking on a folder in Windows Explorer.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 49714, 'author': 'Erik van Brakel', 'author_id': 909, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/909', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>From what I understand, and at the risk of sounding like a fanboy, you might want to consider a DVCS (distributed version control system) like git or mercurial. They essentially take away the central repository part, so it should be ideal to use when you're a solo developer.</p>\n\n<p>Another advantage is that when you decide to add people to your one-man team, you don't have to set up a central repository. All they have to do is clone your repository and they're good to go!</p>\n\n<p>If you're windows based and are used to a shell plugin like TortoiseSVN I'd pick mercurial. Their windows integration is just a bit better than git's, using TortoiseHg. The git counterpart (cheetah) is on hold at the moment, due to the developer getting sick and tired of all the demands people were making ;-)</p>\n\n<p>If DVCS is too exotic for this situation you could always rely on SVN. I've heard good stories about the already mentioned VisualSVN solution. Install, make some repositories and go. Install TortoiseSVN for shell integration, or perhaps Subclipse or ankhSVN for eclipse and visual studio, respectively.</p>\n\n<p>Note: I have not actually tried git or mercurial in a real life project, just some test setups. I now have a simple project WITH version control (using mercurial in my case), without having to have access to a central repository.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 49715, 'author': 'Aardvark', 'author_id': 3655, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3655', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I use the free (2 user?) licence of <a href="http://www.perforce.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Perforce</a>. Powerful, fast, and well documented.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49722, 'author': 'Vinko Vrsalovic', 'author_id': 5190, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/5190', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Any distributed revision control system is best for lone developers, like git or Mercurial. Best thing is you can incorporate more developers to your project seamlessly, as opposed to having to give them access to your main centralized SVN or CVS repository.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49730, 'author': 'David Sykes', 'author_id': 259, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/259', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>All the previous suggestions are pretty simple, and I know cvs is a bit out of vogue these days, but I like to use it\'s local mode for a repository that doesn\'t even need a server to install or set up. The repository can be anywhere on your hard drive. I have mine on a memory stick to have access to it anywhere even without an internet connection.</p>\n\n<p>The key commands are:</p>\n\n<p><strong>cvs -d:local:/full/path/repository init</strong></p>\n\n<p>to create the repository</p>\n\n<p><strong>mkdir /full/path/repository/project</strong></p>\n\n<p>to create the module, and</p>\n\n<p><strong>cvs -d:local:/full/path/repository/cvs co project</strong></p>\n\n<p>to check out a local version.</p>\n\n<p><a href="http://www.tortoisecvs.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TortoiseCVS</a> gives you your Graphical UI</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49742, 'author': 'David Schmitt', 'author_id': 4918, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4918', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I\'m a very satisfied user <a href="http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">msysgit</a> for Windows. It contains a recent copy of git as well as a GUI, a shell and a history browser in a single install package.</p>\n\n<p>No need for a server component and if you <em>do</em> decide to host it somewhere your repository is signed and cannot be modified by the hoster without you seeing it. Finally, moving the repo to a server is a easy "push" operation which keeps all of your history.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49750, 'author': 'Bmore', 'author_id': 5211, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/5211', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Bazaar. See <a href="http://doc.bazaar-vcs.org/latest/en/mini-tutorial/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bazaar in five minutes</a> for a great start.</p>\n\n<p>Whenever you save a file, run the <code>$ bzr commit -m "Added first line of text"</code> command, and it\'s all taken care.</p>\n\n<p>If you edit over FTP, make the FTP folder as a drive or folder, and <code>bzr update</code> after the commit.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49763, 'author': 'Andrew Burns', 'author_id': 3683, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3683', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>+1 for Subversion, for those not familiar with it I would recommend the <a href="http://svnbook.red-bean.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SVN Book</a>.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49808, 'author': 'LaptopHeaven', 'author_id': 1296, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/1296', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p><a href="http://www.visualsvn.com/server/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">VisualSVN Server</a> is a complete installer for Subversion Server on Windows.</p>\n\n<p><a href="http://www.visualsvn.com/visualsvn/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">VisualSVN</a> is a Visual Studio plugin for Subversion integration. </p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49842, 'author': 'b w', 'author_id': 4126, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4126', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>SVN and TortoiseSVN work for me. Definitely ensure you have offsite backup.</p>\n\n<p>You might want to check out the wiki article <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_revision_control_software" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Comparison of revision control software</a>. A (slightly hard-to-read) <a href="http://www.versioncontrolblog.com/comparison/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">comparison tool</a> might help. You might enjoy <a href="http://changelog.complete.org/posts/698-If-Version-Control-Systems-were-Airlines.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">If Version Control Systems Were Airlines</a>.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49860, 'author': 'Jim Harte', 'author_id': 4544, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/4544', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>For what it\'s worth, you can use Subversion &amp; TortoiseSVN without a server using file:/// URLs to connect to you repository.  I\'ve done this to create repositories on USB thumb drives that I can move from machine to machine.</p>\n\n<p>Here\'s a nice write-up: <a href="http://www.fredshack.com/docs/tortoisesvn.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.fredshack.com/docs/tortoisesvn.html</a></p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 49867, 'author': 'Community', 'author_id': -1, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/-1', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>I haven't seen anyone mention Perforce. Perforce allows you to use their software for up-to 2 users for free. You can run the server and clients in the same machine, which will give you the environment that you want.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 138823, 'author': 'Anthony', 'author_id': 5599, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/5599', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>This is much the same question as <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45400/source-control-system-for-single-developer">Source control system for single developer</a></p>\n\n<p>The bottom line is: yes there is. More than one. <br>\nMy opinion is that SVN will do just fine. it does for me in similar cases, as described here: <a href="http://blogs.conchango.com/anthonysteele/archive/2006/11/05/Single-serving-source-control.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Single serving source control</a> </p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 138898, 'author': 'macbirdie', 'author_id': 5049, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/5049', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>You could go with <a href="http://selenic.com/mercurial" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mercurial</a>.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>It\'s very easy to start working with and there\'s TortoiseHg which integrates nicely with Windows shell.</li>\n<li>You don\'t need a server for it as it\'s a distributed version control system - you can hold a whole repository copy on a flash drive and push/pull changes from it. </li>\n<li>If you wish, you can put hg in a web server mode that makes the repository easily accessible over http.</li>\n<li>As opposed to SVN and CVS, it doesn\'t spread its metadata directories all over the repository. There\'s just one .hg directory in repository root.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I use it daily and love it!</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 14745598, 'author': 'NielW', 'author_id': 570206, 'author_profile': 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/570206', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I came here looking for the same thing, and I saw someone suggest Google Code.  I tried it out, and it was brain dead easy to set up.  Exactly what I was looking for.  Works like a charm with TortoiseSVN (my favorite).</p>\n\n<p>I came here for a solution, Google Code was all set up in about 2 minutes.  You can choose SVN, git, or mercurial for your version control.</p>\n'}]
['https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/49601', 'https://Stackoverflow.com', 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/5198/']