Short Notes on SVN

Simple Guide to SVN Client

Bullets on how to use SVN client.

Creating a SVN Repository

How to create a new SVN repository to serve using svnserve, via svn+ssh or via Apache.

Moving a SVN Repository

Moving complete SVN repository from one host to another.

Change Repository URL (Subversion 1.7+)

Few days ago I've migrated among servers, and along the way had to rename the user used via ssh to serve SVN.

The problem - URL of all repositories has changed. It's either endless diff, checkout, patch, or ... dig into the SVN checkout and edit the repo URL!

Pre-1.7 this was pure horror, as the URL was in every .svn/entries file in every folder. Twice. So, you had to pretty much do your awk magic on find results.

Subversion 1.7 introduced something magical - centralized metadata in SQLite DB.

Now, to change old_url to new_url simply go to the root of your checkout, and

--- open the metadata DB
$ sqlite3 .svn/wc.db
--- check the repository table; with no externals, this contains just one row
sqlite> select * from REPOSITORY ;
--- change the URL
sqlite> update REPOSITORY set root = 'new_url' where root = 'old_url' ;

Of course, if there is just a single row in the repository table, you can leave out the where clause.

Setup a SVN Server on a Shared Hosting

How to setup SVN hosting (via svn+ssh) if you're on a shared hosting client - no root access.