Install SVN (Subversion) Server on Fedora 20/19, CentOS/Red Hat (RHEL) 6.5/5.10

Updated by JR on Mar 7, 2014 in CentOS, Featured, Fedora, Linux, Most Popular, Programming, Programs, Red Hat (RHEL), Servers,Version Control | 280 comments

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This is guide, howto install SVN (Subversion) server on Fedora 20/19/18/17/16/15/14, CentOS 6.5/6.4/6.3/6.2/6.1/6/5.10, Red Hat (RHEL) 6.5/6.4/6.3/6.2/6.1/6/5.10.

What is SVN (Subversion)?

Subversion is a free/open-source version control system. Subversion manages files and directories, and the changes made to them, over time. This allows you to recover older versions of your data, or examine the history of how your data changed. In this regard, many people think of a version control system as a sort of “time machine”.

Install SVN (Subversion) Server on Fedora 20/19/18, CentOS 6.5/5.10, Red Hat (RHEL) 6.5/5.10

1. Change root user

su -
## OR ##
sudo -i

2. Install needed packages (mod_dav_svn and subversion)

yum install mod_dav_svn subversion

Note: If you don’t have Apache installed already, this command installs it also. Read more about installing Apache and PHP >>

3. Modify Subversion config file /etc/httpd/conf.d/subversion.conf

Add following config to /etc/httpd/conf.d/subversion.conf file:

LoadModule dav_svn_module     modules/mod_dav_svn.so
LoadModule authz_svn_module   modules/mod_authz_svn.so
 
<Location /svn>
   DAV svn
   SVNParentPath /var/www/svn
   AuthType Basic
   AuthName "Subversion repositories"
   AuthUserFile /etc/svn-auth-users
   Require valid-user
</Location>

4. Add SVN (Subversion) users

Use following command:

## Create testuser ##
htpasswd -cm /etc/svn-auth-users testuser
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user testuser
 
## Create testuser2 ##
htpasswd -m /etc/svn-auth-users testuser2
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user testuser2

Note: Use exactly same file and path name as used on subversion.conf file. This example use /etc/svn-auth-users file.

5. Create and configure SVN repository

mkdir /var/www/svn
cd /var/www/svn
 
svnadmin create testrepo
chown -R apache.apache testrepo
 
 
## If you have SELinux enabled (you can check it with "sestatus" command) ##
## then change SELinux security context with chcon command ##
 
chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/svn/testrepo
 
## Following enables commits over http ##
chcon -R -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/testrepo

Restart Apache:

## Fedora ##
systemctl restart httpd.service
## OR ##
service httpd restart
 
## CentOS / RHEL ##
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
## OR ##
service httpd restart

Goto http://localhost/svn/testrepo address and you should see something like following, write username and password:

SVN testrepo revision 0:

6. Configure repository

To disable anonymous access and enable access control add following rows to testrepo/conf/svnserve.conf file:

## Disable anonymous access ##
anon-access = none
 
## Enable access control ##
authz-db = authz

7. Create trunk, branches and tags structure under testrepo

Create “template” directories with following command:

mkdir -p /tmp/svn-structure-template/{trunk,branches,tags}

Then import template to project repository using “svn import” command:

svn import -m 'Initial import' /tmp/svn-structure-template/ http://localhost/svn/testrepo/
Adding         /tmp/svn-structure-template/trunk
Adding         /tmp/svn-structure-template/branches
Adding         /tmp/svn-structure-template/tags
 
Committed revision 1.

Check results on browser and see testrepo revision 1:

Remember also take regular backups. Here is guide howto backup and restore SVN (Subversion) Repositories.

Our forums user Will have also written guide, howto to install and configure SVN (Subversion). This is little bit different method.

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280 COMMENTS

« Previous 1 2 3

Akhil / August 25, 2013

Hi JR

I am getting httpd unpacking error while trying to installmod_dav_svn.on centOS 6.4
Running Transaction Installing : subversion-1.6.11-9.el6_4.x86_64 1/3 Installing : httpd-2.2.15-29.el6.centos.x86_64 2/3 Error unpacking rpm package httpd-2.2.15-29.el6.centos.x86_64 warning: /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf created as /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf.rpmnew warning: /etc/httpd/conf/magic created as /etc/httpd/conf/magic.rpmnew error: unpacking of archive failed on file /etc/httpd/logs: cpio: rename Installing : mod_dav_svn-1.6.11-9.el6_4.x86_64 3/3 Verifying : mod_dav_svn-1.6.11-9.el6_4.x86_64 1/3 Verifying : subversion-1.6.11-9.el6_4.x86_64 2/3 Verifying : httpd-2.2.15-29.el6.centos.x86_64 3/3

Installed:
mod_dav_svn.x86_64 0:1.6.11-9.el6_4 subversion.x86_64 0:1.6.11-9.el6_4

Failed: httpd.x86_64 0:2.2.15-29.el6.centos

Reply
- JR / September 8, 2013
  
  Hi Akhil,
  
  Could you post output of following commands:
  
  ls -la /etc/httpd
  
  ls -la /etc/httpd/logs
  
  Reply
Jirong Hu / September 19, 2013

I followed your articles to install my SVN server with Apache2 successfully. Now I want to enable https. Do you have some instructions like this?

Reply
- JR / September 20, 2013
  
  Hi Jirong Hu,
  
  Do you want use self-signed SSL certificate or commercial SSL certificate?
  
  Reply
sinhatpro / October 12, 2013

Hi JR

I’m post some step then I to do. Please help me a sulotion for error :

DAV svn
SVNParentPath /var/www/svn
AuthType Basic
AuthName “Subversion repositories”
AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd
AuthzSVNAccessFile /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/dav_svn.authz
Require valid-user

5. Create Repository for test:
mkdir /var/www/svn

6. Authencation for user access forder
svnadmin create myproject
chown -R www-data myproject

7. Create username
htpasswd -cm /etc/sapache2/dav_svn.passwd testuser1
htpasswd -m /etc/apache2/dav_svn.passwd testuser2

9. Configure file dav_svn.authz control access for every user.
[groups]
testuser1
testuser2

[myproject:/]
testgroup1 = rw
testuser2 = r

Reply
- JR / October 15, 2013
  
  Hi sinhatpro,
  
  I read your both comments and looks like you don’t have myproject2 just only myproject?
  
  Then also your dav_svn.authz file groups is missing group names, you only list testuser1 and testuser2, then you set rw permission to testgroup1.
  
  But yes you are right, it’s not SELinux problem, because you are using Ubuntu…
  
  Reply
zinger / October 16, 2013

If step 5 fails with message
chcon: can't apply partial context to unlabeled file
do these commands instead

chcon -h system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/svn/testrepo chcon -R -h apache:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/svn/testrepo/*

Reply
edivaldo / October 16, 2013

I’m not getting add.

for example:

[cit@Ltv10 repos]$ svn add test.txt
svn: ‘.’ is not a working copy

[cit@Ltv10 repos]$ svn status
svn: warning: ‘.’ is not a working copy

[cit@Ltv10 repos]$ svn commit
svn: ‘/var/www/svn/repos’ is not a working copy

But,

[cit@Ltv10 repos]$ sudo svn co http://localhost/svn/repos/
[sudo] password for cit:
A repos/trunk
A repos/branches
A repos/tags
Checked out revision 1.

follown my file subversion.config:

LoadModule dav_svn_module modules/mod_dav_svn.so
LoadModule authz_svn_module modules/mod_authz_svn.so

DAV svn
SVNParentPath /var/www/svn
SVNPathAuthz off

Do you can help me?

TKS,

Reply
- JR / October 22, 2013
  
  Hi edivaldo,
  
  You can’t add files or do anything if you have not working copy.
  
  What happens after checkout, if you run:
  
  svn status
  
  Reply
Shaikh Zahid Hossain / October 30, 2013

I am following this step but Last IMPORT command Not relocalted

root@atomix# svn import -m ‘Initial import’ /tmp/svn-structure-template/ http://114.134.91.91/svn/testrepo/
Authentication realm: Subversion repositories
Password for ‘root’:
Authentication realm: Subversion repositories
Username: sk
Password for ‘sk’:
svn: Repository moved permanently to ‘http://114.134.91.91/svn/testrepo/’; please relocate
[root@atomix ~]#

Can’t import “trunk,branches,tags”
pls help any one

Reply
- JR / November 1, 2013
  
  Hi Shaikh Zahid Hossain,
  
  Could you post your config files example to http://pastebin.com
  
  And output of following commands here:
  
  ls -ladZ /var/www/svn
  
  ls -laZ /var/www/svn
  
  I assume here, that you have used /var/www/svn location for repos.
  
  Reply
Adi / December 11, 2013

Hi JR,

First of all I wann thank you for your useful blog.

I have same issue as Max.

I have tried below two commnads

1. chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/svn/repository

Above commnad went through fine

2. chcon -R -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repository

This Command Gave me Error:

chcon: failed to change context of /var/www/svn/repository to system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t: Invalid argument
chcon: failed to change context of /var/www/svn/repository/format to system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t: Invalid argument

Then I tried the commands as suggested to MAX

1. chcon -h system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repository

Error: chcon -h system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repository
chcon: failed to change context of /var/www/svn/repository to system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t: Invalid argument

2. chcon -R -h apache:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repository/*

Error: chcon -R -h apache:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repository/*
chcon: failed to change context of /var/www/svn/repository/conf to apache:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t: Invalid argument
chcon: failed to change context of /var/www/svn/repository/conf/authz to apache:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t: Invalid argument

My Machine details:

uname -a
Linux adc6140502 2.6.18-164.0.0.0.1.el5xen #1 SMP Wed Sep 2 22:48:20 EDT 2009 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

lsb_release -a
LSB Version: :core-3.1-ia32:core-3.1-noarch:graphics-3.1-ia32:graphics-3.1-noarch
Distributor ID: EnterpriseEnterpriseServer
Description: Enterprise Linux Enterprise Linux Server release 5.4 (Carthage)
Release: 5.4
Codename: Carthage

rpm -qa coreutils\* selinux\* |sort
coreutils-5.97-23.el5
selinux-policy-2.4.6-255.el5
selinux-policy-devel-2.4.6-255.el5
selinux-policy-minimum-2.4.6-255.el5
selinux-policy-mls-2.4.6-255.el5
selinux-policy-strict-2.4.6-255.el5
selinux-policy-targeted-2.4.6-255.el5

Please help

Reply
Achintya Mondal / January 21, 2014

how to log out in my account

Reply
Steve / January 30, 2014

First off thanks for the directions. I’m up and running but having an issue on commit:
In my checked out dir, I first did an ADD for a bunch of new files and directories. svn status reports ok that files are ready to add. Upon attempting my first commit I get:

svn: Commit failed (details follow):
svn: Server sent unexpected return value (503 Service Temporarily Unavailable) in response to PROPFIND request…

when I did all of your steps I did as my own user but sudo’ed to root.
I did checkout, add, and attempting commit as my own user ‘steve’. All files and directories in my checked out dir are permissioned for me.

Been googling around on this error and can’t find a solutions for my case. Please help.

Reply
- JR / March 7, 2014
  
  Hi Steve,
  
  When you checkout repo example over http, then you can use repo as any user. Did you added your user and password AuthUserFile? If you use exactly this guide then you have to do commits as testuser and use testuser password.
  
  Could you also check what errors you see on httpd access and erros logs?
  
  Reply
Yusof / March 4, 2014

I think this one is important too, to start your SVN services

svnserve -d -r /var/www/svn

Reply
Vasu / March 6, 2014

Thanks People for this useful blog. I could install SVN in my Linux server successfully but when I try to launch it through console (http://localhost/svn/testrepo) I get login screen but the credentials fail. I gave testuser as the login, similar to the example given above. Sucessful Users, Please advice.

Reply
- JR / March 7, 2014
  
  Hi Vasu,
  
  Did you used exactly same password that you used on step 4.?
  
  You could of course create some other user, set password and try again.
  
  Reply
Vasu / March 7, 2014

Thanks for replies.. Yes, I used the same password, even i tried by creating another and using it. It didnt work..

I came across a file in net /etc/svn-access-control . Should we do any changes into svn-access-control file for making the credentials work..?

Reply
- JR / March 7, 2014
  
  Excellent, just want to first make sure that there wasn’t any mistake on users or passwords…
  
  So do you have enabled SVN Access Control?
  
  If yes, could you then post content of /etc/httpd/conf.d/subversion.conf and /etc/svn-access-control files?
  
  Reply
Vasu / March 10, 2014

How can we enable SVN Access Control..? Please find below /etc/svn-access-control File for your reference.

[groups]
testgroup = testuser1, testuser2
testgroup2 = testuser3, testuser4, testuser5
testgroup3 = testuser6, testuser7

[/]
* = r
@testgroup = rw
testuser4 = rw

[testrepo:/]
@testgroup2 = rw
testuser6 = rw

[testrepo2:/trunk]
@testgroup3 = rw
testuser5 = rw

[testrepo2:/tags]
@testgroup3 = r
testuser5 = rw

Reply
Vasu / March 10, 2014

Also please let me know the purpose of authz and passwd files under /var/www/svn/testrepo/conf

It contains Username and passwords.. Do we need to enter into it.?

Reply
- JR / March 11, 2014
  
  Hi Vasu,
  
  Could you post content of following files /etc/httpd/conf.d/subversion.conf and testrepo/conf/svnserve.conf, example to http://pastebin.com
  
  Normally it’s better test installation without access control to make sure, where the problem is. If basic setup is not working, then it’s wise to try fix it first without any additional configurations.
  
  Reply
Vasu / March 11, 2014

Good Morning..:)
Please find content of /etc/httpd/conf.d/subversion.conf below

LoadModule dav_svn_module modules/mod_dav_svn.so
LoadModule authz_svn_module modules/mod_authz_svn.so

DAV svn
SVNParentPath /var/www/svn
AuthType Basic
AuthName “Subversion repositories”
AuthUserFile /etc/svn-auth-users
Require valid-user

testrepo/conf/svnserve.conf Content is
anon-access = none
autzh-db = authz
[general]
anon-access = read
auth-access = write
password-db = passwd
authz-db = authz

I also want to know from which file the credentials are loaded while we login…..

Reply
Vasu / March 12, 2014

People, the issue is resolved by changed two files like below:

/etc/svn-access-control data:

[groups]
testgroup = testuser,testuser1,testuser2,testuser3,testuser4

[/]
* = rw
@testgroup = rw

[testrepo:/]
@testgroup = rw

[testrepo:/trunk]
@testgroup = rw

[testrepo:/branches]
@testgroup = rw

[testrepo:/tags]
@testgroup = rw

Type the below commands to add Users:

htpasswd -cm /etc/svn-auth-users testuser2
New Password:
Retype Password:

This encrypts and stores password and username at /etc/svn-auth-users file

Reply

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