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Introduction

I decided to write this article in order to save time to those people who must install and set up Subversion on Windows machines, having no idea of how to do that and no time to search for any piece of information on the internet.

It took two days for me and enormous efforts to understand what is going on with Subversion and how to make it work. I asked my friend who is working on a parallel project in the Computer Science department of my university how much time he spent setting up SVN with Apache on their Linux server. He told it took him one month!!! :) Well, no comments.

Let's get down to business, we don't have much time.

Prerequisites

First of all, we need to download SVN and Apache.

• Subversion v.1.4
• Apache v.2.059

Subversion

Install Subversion to any directory, then add the bin sub-directory to the environment path. For example: if we installed svn into C:\programs\programming\svn-win32-1.4.0, then go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System.

Click on the Advanced tab and choose Environment Variables.

The next step is to create a directory which will be a root for all the repositories of our source control.

• Open the command prompt.
• Let's say that we want our root directory be named as c:\svnroot. Then, create this directory either in command prompt or using Explorer.
• Create repositories in the svn root directories using the following commands:
  • svnadmin create c:\svnroot\test1
  • svnadmin create c:\svnroot\test2

  

Apache server

Now, we can install the Apache server.

When the installation is finished, go to the bin directory within the Subversion installation, find two files with extension *.so, and put them into the (Apache)/modules directory. The files are mod_authz_svn.so and mod_dav_svn.so.

Go to the conf sub-directory within the Apache installation directory and open the httpd.conf file in any text editor.

Add the following lines:

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

After that, add the following block:

<Location /svn/>
    DAV svn
    SVNParentPath c:/svnroot/ #specify the root for repositories
    #http://www.archivesat.com/CVS_developers_help/thread45479.htm 
        post which discuss why you need to specify /svn/ and not /svn
    
    #list repositories
    SVNListParentPath on 
    # our access control policy
    AuthzSVNAccessFile bin/apachesvnauth #authentication file 
                   #path where policy is written for each user   

    AuthType Basic #type of authentication
    AuthName "Subversion repository" #the name of the authentication 
                                      #and the name of repository realm
    AuthUserFile bin/apachesvnpasswd #the name of the 
                                      #file with user passwords values
    Require valid-user #permit to log-in only for authorized users
</Location>

• <Location /svn/> - if you type in your browser something like this: http://localhost:8080/svn/, then Apache will know how to find your root repository using SVNParentPath.
• SVNParentPath c:/svnroot/ - specify the root for the repositories.
• SVNListParentPath on - permit to see the list of repositories using http://localhost:8080/svn/.
• AuthzSVNAccessFile bin/apachesvnauth - authentication file path where the policy is provided for each user. The file is stored in the bin sub-directory of Apache.
• AuthType Basic - the type of authentication.
• AuthName "Subversion repository" - the name of the authentication and the name of the repository realm.
• AuthUserFile bin/apachesvnpasswd - the name of the file with user password values, stored in the bin subdirectory of the Apache installation.
• Require valid-user - permit to log-in only for authorized users.

Building the password file

We use the AuthUserFile bin/apachesvnpasswd entry, which tells Apache to find the file with passwords in the bin sub-directory within the Apache installation directory. We need to build this file. Go to that directory using the command prompt and type the following command:

htpasswd.exe -c apachesvnpasswd user1

You will be prompted to enter the password for user user1, and the file apachesvnpasswd will be created in the bin sub-directory. In order to add another user, just type the same command without -c and provide the name of another user.

htpasswd.exe -c apachesvnpasswd user2

Note: only the users we created will be able to log into our repositories because we used the Require valid-user parameter.

Building the authentication file

The following block is an example of the authentication file:

[/] * = r [test1:/] user1 = rw user2 = [test2:/] user1 = r user2 = rw

Explanations

• [/] * = r - gives access to everyone to read all the repositories
• [test1:/] - gives read and write permissions to user1 for repository test1, and user2 can not read or write
• [test2:/] - user1 can read from repository test2, and user2 has full access rights

Run Apache

Theoretically, we are at the stage when we can run Apache and test our Subversion. So start Apache, open the web browser and write something like this: http://localhost:8080/svn/.

If you don't get any errors, you will be prompted to type the username and password.

Provide the username you created and the password, and press OK. You will see the following page:

References

• Version control with Subversion (ebook)

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cannot list repositories or files! w00078782k 9:14 3 Jul '09   When I type "http://localhost/svn/" in address bar I get a not found page When I type "http://localhost/svn/project1" in address bar I get "project1 - Revision 0: /" but cannot list the files in project1! Any reason why that happens? thanks, joao Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Regarding the block mpacaon 21:23 29 Oct '08   Hi Mr. Slava, I just want to ask if I entered a correct configuration for the SVNParentPath: DAV svn SVNParentPath "C:/Project Files" #list repositories SVNListParentPath on # our access control policy AuthzSVNAccessFile bin/apachesvnauth AuthType Basic AuthName "AG SVN Repository" AuthUserFile bin/apachesvnpasswd Require valid-user My "C:/Project Files" contains all my created repositories. I am confused if I should put that or "C:/SvnRepository" (the directory where conf, db, hooks, locks are in). Also, everytime I visit a repository via http://localhost/svn/[^], I get this error: http://www.plurkpix.com/pix/82J.png[^] Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Regarding the block Kisilevich Slava 23:51 29 Oct '08   if you typed something like this "svnadmin create c:\project files\test1" than it means, that your svn root directory is "c:\project files" and the repository name is "test1" The error you get is caused by invalid svn root directory entry in your configuration file. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Regarding the block mpacaon 16:02 2 Nov '08   Thanks! I got it already. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Confused in doing the "Building the authentication file" step mpacaon 19:36 28 Oct '08   Hi Mr. Slava, I didn't understand the instructions in the "Building the authentication file" step. Does that mean that I need to create a file (without extension) that looks something like this?: [/] * = r [C:/SvnRepository] em.dangla = rw aaron.pacaon = rw Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Confused in doing the "Building the authentication file" step Kisilevich Slava 3:05 29 Oct '08   You can give your authentication policy file any name. In the httpd.conf you "link" this file using AuthzSVNAccessFile. if your repository root is c:\svnrepository and you created repository named "myrepository" than the authentication file may look like this: [/] *=r [myrepository:/] em.gangla=rw aaron.pacaon=rw Slava. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Confused in doing the "Building the authentication file" step mpacaon 21:18 29 Oct '08   Thanks! Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 Weird authentication issue, but only using Tortoise Regalarius 20:47 9 Jul '08   I've had Subversion set up on my home PC (running Vista) for about a week, using svnserve. I recently decided that I also wanted to run Apache to host a webserver, so I moved Subversion to Apache as well. After a couple hours of headaches, I've got things *mostly* working again, but there's one notable kink. When I try to access the repository via Tortoise, it refuses to authenticate me. Checking Apache's logs, I see that my credentials are refused. I try about 20 more times, each with the same result. I try using a web browser, and it accepts my credentials right away. I try Tortoise again. No luck. I try SVN LS. Success! I try Tortoise again. Success! Confounded, I try to reproduce this behavior from another machine. The same thing happened: my password was accepted when entered into a Web browser, rejected when entered into Tortoise...and after using the SVN command line -- which accepts my credentials -- Tortoise suddenly starts to work. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this weird behavior? Thanks! Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Weird authentication issue, but only using Tortoise Kisilevich Slava 21:16 9 Jul '08   I would start from erasing cached authentication files where your password is stored. And trying again. TortoiseSVN->Settings->Saved Data-> Authentication Data (clear) Slava. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Comments on same lines as config causes Apache to fail to start Troy Simpson 20:33 1 May '08   As a complete newbie I was caught by copying the block from the article, and apache would not start whilst the comments were on the same line as the config statements (at the end of the line). Shifted the comments onto their own lines and it worked. ~Troy Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Comments on same lines as config causes Apache to fail to start Kisilevich Slava 20:40 1 May '08   i know. originally comments were on different line. it just shifted somehow when i submitted the article. glad that it worked for you Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Subversion is showing too much ibgvfdfyoroqrf 17:46 1 Jun '07   when I followed the steps it works, but I get this: * conf/ * dav/ * db/ * hooks/ * locks/ * test1/ * test2/ I do not think it is supposed to show anything but test1 & test2 How could I correct this problem? Thanks! wolfie Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Subversion is showing too much Kisilevich Slava 22:11 1 Jun '07   i never encountered such a problem. only test1 and test2 must be showed. which version of apache and svn are you using? it looks like svn is not running or apache ignores svn and shows svn related folders as regular ones. Does it write "Powered by Subversion version ... " at the bottom of the page? Slava. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Subversion is showing too much ibgvfdfyoroqrf 8:32 4 Jun '07   Apache Version: apache_2.2.4-win32-x86-openssl-0.9.8d Subversion Version: Powered by Subversion version 1.4.3 (r23084) They are both running. wolfie Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Subversion is showing too much Kisilevich Slava 10:39 4 Jun '07   i really don't know. i just remember that there was some problem running apache 2.2 with svn 1.4 sorry Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Subversion is showing too much stanhughes 10:55 13 Jun '07   The windows version is compiled against Apache HTTP Server 2.0 and will not work with the Apache HTTP Server 2.2. See http://subversion.tigris.org/project_packages.html. Look under the Windows NT, 2000, XP and 2003 section. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Subversion is showing too much VanbrabantP 3:42 31 Oct '07   This is what happens when you have actually created the parent directory also as a repository. My guess is that you have issued the svnadmin create c:\svnroot command. KR Patrick Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink mod_authz_svn error Dmitry.S.Golub 22:31 26 Sep '06   My equipments apache 2.0.59 subversion 1.4.0 win2003 SP1. When I use it without authorization it works very well, but if I add the following lines: LoadModule authz_svn_module modules/mod_authz_svn.so I have got error message Syntax error on line 174 of C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/conf/httpd.conf: Can't locate API module structure `mod_authz_svn' in file C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/modules/mod_authz_svn.so: No error Can you advise me somthing? Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: mod_authz_svn error Kisilevich Slava 0:22 27 Sep '06   I run WinXP I got the same errors in two cases 1. When i installed Apache 2.2 instead of Apache 2.0 2. When i misspelled the "authz_svn_module" Check that mod_authz_svn.so is indeed in modules/ directory and the order of LoadModule is LoadModule dav_module modules/mod_dav.so LoadModule dav_svn_module modules/mod_dav_svn.so LoadModule authz_svn_module modules/mod_authz_svn.so Please post a message if you manage to solve the issue and what was the cause. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: mod_authz_svn error Dmitry.S.Golub 21:21 27 Sep '06   Thank you very much. You have really helped me. Problem was in misspelling the "authz_svn_module" . Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: mod_authz_svn error tlv77 8:29 9 Oct '06   Dear Mr! I have setup Apache, SubVersion, Tortoise on my computer(win2k, winxp) This is the configuration session: --------------------------------- DAV svn SVNParentPath c:/project/ SVNListParentPath on # our access control policy AuthzSVNAccessFile C:/authz.conf # try anonymous access first, resort to real # authentication if necessary. # how to authenticate a user AuthType Basic AuthName "Subversion repository" AuthUserFile c:/truong.conf #AuthGroupFile c:/group.conf Satisfy Any Require valid-user --------------------------- the authz.conf [groups] test=truong [c:\project] truong=rw [test1:/rep1/test1] truong=rw * = r ----------------------------- username=truong when I comment AuthzSVNAccessFile C:/authz.conf, it works ok. But I don't comment, the error appear "Forbidden You don't have permission to access /svn/rep1/ on this server." Can you help me? Thanks Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: mod_authz_svn error Kisilevich Slava 8:56 9 Oct '06   you don't have to specify autorization for root of your repositories [c:\project] it is enabled by "SVNListParentPath on" next, instead of [test1:/rep1/test1] just write [test1:/] in order to assign permissions for the root of the repository test1. it test1 has inner folders for example /folder1/trunc and you want to assign another persmissions, then add the following lines. [test1:/folder1] truong = r [test1:/folder1/trunc] truong = rw [test1:/rep1/test1] means that you give permission to some rep1/test1 folder in the test1 repository. you don't have permissions to access /svn/rep1 because you didn't assign permissions to rep1 repository or it doesn't exist. hope it helped. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink step by step SteveKing 20:56 24 Sep '06   available here too: Setting Up A Server[^] Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 5.00/5 Re: step by step Kisilevich Slava 22:39 24 Sep '06   where have you been when i need it? Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: step by step emanuele.vicari 6:25 9 Oct '06   Kisilevich Slava wrote: where have you been when i need it? yes, you can say it.... now, next step is the use of ssl instead of simple http.....I've tryed, I've failed but I need it! heeeeelp!!!! Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink

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