"just copy it into the archive by updating CVSROOT/cvswrappers" *.tar -k 'b' -m 'COPY' *.tbz -k 'b' -m 'COPY' *.tgz -k 'b' -m 'COPY' This worked great. Thank you, Stephan. The enormous .tar.gz is now easily swallowed by the CVS snake.