Setting up Subversion Version control in Ubuntu

By | August 11, 2008 |

Subversion logoWhen developing a project, you may want to keep a version control of all your files so that you can easily revert to an earlier page (or the previous revision) to fix any bugs or in the event that someone accidentally deleted your files.

In Ubuntu, the easiest way to do version control is to set up a Subversion (SVN) server.

Install SVN and Apache

sudo apt-get install subversion libapache2-svn

Next, we are going to create a directory to hold your repository.

sudo svnadmin create /var/lib/svn

Give apache the access right to the repository

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/lib/svn
sudo chmod 770 -R /var/lib/svn

Configure Apache for SVN access

gksu gedit /etc/apache2/mods-available/dav_svn.conf

Uncomment the codes by removing the ‘#’ in front of the following lines:

<Location /svn>
…
DAV svn
…
AuthType Basic
AuthName “Subversion Repository”
AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd
…
<LimitExcept GET PROPFIND OPTIONS REPORT>
Require valid-user
</LimitExcept>
</Location>

If you have only one repository for your SVN, uncomment the following line

SVNPath /var/lib/svn

Else if you are setting up multiple repositories, uncomment this line

SVNParentPath /var/lib/svn

Remember that at any time, only SVNPath or SVNParentPath is uncommented. Do not uncomment both at the same time.

Create a password for your username

sudo htpasswd -cm /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd yourusername

Restart apache

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Now open your browser and go to http://localhost/svn. If you see the following, the your installation is successful.

Subversion

Importing your project into SVN

You have successfully installed and configured SVN, now we need to import our project files to the SVN.

sudo apt-get install rapidsvn

Go to Applications->Programming->RapidSVN

In the RapidSVN, go to Repository->Import

In the window, enter the following:

rapidsvn-import

Click OK. Enter your username and password. Your project should be in the SVN now.



Print this pageSave as PDF

Damien Oh is the owner and chief editor of Make Tech Easier
  • http://www.redkitsune.org/ Scott McHugh

    Thanks for the article! I noticed one quick change due to renaming of htpasswd2 in apache-utils- when configuring the password, the line should be updated from:

    sudo htpasswd2 -cm /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd yourusername

    to:
    sudo htpasswd -cm /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd yourusername

    Best,
    -Scott

    • http://maketecheasier.com/ Damien

      Thanks for informing. I have make the changes.

  • http://www.redkitsune.org Scott McHugh

    Thanks for the article! I noticed one quick change due to renaming of htpasswd2 in apache-utils- when configuring the password, the line should be updated from:

    sudo htpasswd2 -cm /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd yourusername

    to:
    sudo htpasswd -cm /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd yourusername

    Best,
    -Scott

    • http://maketecheasier.com Damien

      Thanks for informing. I have make the changes.

  • Pavlos

    Hi i just want to setup subversion for the first time.I followed your howto but when i go to http://localhost/svn i get:
    Forbidden
    You don’t have permission to access /svn on this server.
    Apache/2.2.11 (Ubuntu) DAV/2 SVN/1.5.4 Server at localhost Port 80
    Can i do something to fix it?

    • http://maketecheasier.com/ Damien

      Did you set the correct permission for the svn folder:

      sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/lib/svn
      sudo chmod 770 -R /var/lib/svn

    • http://maketecheasier.com/ Damien

      Did you set the correct permission for the svn folder:

      sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/lib/svn
      sudo chmod 770 -R /var/lib/svn

  • Pavlos

    Hi i just want to setup subversion for the first time.I followed your howto but when i go to http://localhost/svn i get:
    Forbidden
    You don’t have permission to access /svn on this server.
    Apache/2.2.11 (Ubuntu) DAV/2 SVN/1.5.4 Server at localhost Port 80
    Can i do something to fix it?

    • http://maketecheasier.com Damien

      Did you set the correct permission for the svn folder:

      sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/lib/svn
      sudo chmod 770 -R /var/lib/svn

  • Pavlos

    Thanks for your reply.I created /home/pavlos/Documents/programming/code/svn as mine svn folder with the permissions below :
    $ sudo ls -lah /home/pavlos/Documents/programming/code/svn
    [sudo] password for pavlos:
    total 32K
    drwxrwx— 6 www-data www-data 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 .
    drwxrwxrwx 11 pavlos pavlos 4.0K 2009-08-23 22:37 ..
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 conf
    drwxr-sr-x 6 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:06 db
    -r–r–r– 1 root root 2 2009-08-17 22:01 format
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 hooks
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 locks
    -rw-r–r– 1 root root 229 2009-08-17 22:01 README.txt

    The strange thing is that with SVNPath is working ok but with SVNParentPath no.

    • Walleye

      Try to add this line in your dav_svn.conf:

      SVNParentPath on

      This worked fine for me

    • Walleye

      Try to add this line in your dav_svn.conf:

      SVNParentPath on

      This worked fine for me

  • Pavlos

    Thanks for your reply.I created /home/pavlos/Documents/programming/code/svn as mine svn folder with the permissions below :
    $ sudo ls -lah /home/pavlos/Documents/programming/code/svn
    [sudo] password for pavlos:
    total 32K
    drwxrwx— 6 www-data www-data 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 .
    drwxrwxrwx 11 pavlos pavlos 4.0K 2009-08-23 22:37 ..
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 conf
    drwxr-sr-x 6 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:06 db
    -r–r–r– 1 root root 2 2009-08-17 22:01 format
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 hooks
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-08-17 22:01 locks
    -rw-r–r– 1 root root 229 2009-08-17 22:01 README.txt

    The strange thing is that with SVNPath is working ok but with SVNParentPath no.

    • Walleye

      Try to add this line in your dav_svn.conf:

      SVNParentPath on

      This worked fine for me

  • Walleye

    Ups.. following is correct:

    SVNListParentPath on

  • Walleye

    Ups.. following is correct:

    SVNListParentPath on

  • Walleye

    sry, it is:

    SVNListParentPath on

  • Walleye

    sry, it is:

    SVNListParentPath on

  • rodt

    Thanks – very useful. I found that, since I'd chosen SVNParentPath rather than SVNPath, I at first received the 'FORBIDDEN' message just like Pavlos. I had to create a repository on the command line:

    sudo svnadmin create /var/lib/svn/plone

    - and then the repository was visible in the browser here:

    http://localhost/svn/plone

    - just in case it helps anyone