The Subversion repository can be created using the following command from a terminal prompt:

svnadmin create /path/to/repos/project

Once you create the repository you can import files into the repository. To import a directory, enter the following from a terminal prompt:

svn import /path/to/import/directory file:///path/to/repos/project

This is the simplest of all access methods. It does not require any Subversion server process to be running. This access method is used to access Subversion from the same machine. The syntax of the command, entered at a terminal prompt, is as follows:

svn co file:///path/to/repos/project

or

svn co file://localhost/path/to/repos/project

The repository permissions depend on filesystem permissions. If the user has read/write permission, he can checkout from and commit to the repository.

To access the Subversion repository via WebDAV protocol, you must configure your Apache 2 web server. Add the following snippet between the <VirtualHost> and </VirtualHost> elements in /etc/apache2/sites-available/default, or another VirtualHost file:

 <Location /svn>
  DAV svn
  SVNPath /home/svn
  AuthType Basic
  AuthName "Your repository name"
  AuthUserFile /etc/subversion/passwd
  Require valid-user
 </Location> 

To import or commit files to your Subversion repository over HTTP, the repository should be owned by the HTTP user. In Ubuntu systems, normally the HTTP user is www-data. To change the ownership of the repository files enter the following command from terminal prompt:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /path/to/repos

Next, you must create the /etc/subversion/passwd file that will contain user authentication details. To create a file issue the following command at a command prompt (which will create the file and add the first user):

sudo htpasswd -c /etc/subversion/passwd user_name

To add additional users omit the "-c" option as this option replaces the old file. Instead use this form:

sudo htpasswd /etc/subversion/password user_name

This command will prompt you to enter the password. Once you enter the password, the user is added. Now, to access the repository you can run the following command:

                    
                      svn co http://servername/svn
                    
                  

Accessing Subversion repository via WebDAV protocol with SSL encryption (https://) is similar to http:// except that you must install and configure the digital certificate in your Apache2 web server. To use SSL with Subversion add the above Apache2 configuration to /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl. For more information on setting up Apache2 with SSL see the section called “HTTPS Configuration”.

You can install a digital certificate issued by a signing authority. Alternatively, you can install your own self-signed certificate.

This step assumes you have installed and configured a digital certificate in your Apache 2 web server. Now, to access the Subversion repository, please refer to the above section! The access methods are exactly the same, except the protocol. You must use https:// to access the Subversion repository.

Once the Subversion repository is created, you can configure the access control. You can edit the /path/to/repos/project/conf/svnserve.conf file to configure the access control. For example, to set up authentication, you can uncomment the following lines in the configuration file:

# [general]
# password-db = passwd

After uncommenting the above lines, you can maintain the user list in the passwd file. So, edit the file passwd in the same directory and add the new user. The syntax is as follows:

username = password

For more details, please refer to the file.

Now, to access Subversion via the svn:// custom protocol, either from the same machine or a different machine, you can run svnserver using svnserve command. The syntax is as follows:

$ svnserve -d --foreground -r /path/to/repos
# -d -- daemon mode
# --foreground -- run in foreground (useful for debugging)
# -r -- root of directory to serve

For more usage details, please refer to:
$ svnserve --help

Once you run this command, Subversion starts listening on default port (3690). To access the project repository, you must run the following command from a terminal prompt:

svn co svn://hostname/project project --username user_name

Based on server configuration, it prompts for password. Once you are authenticated, it checks out the code from Subversion repository. To synchronize the project repository with the local copy, you can run the update sub-command. The syntax of the command, entered at a terminal prompt, is as follows:

cd project_dir ; svn update

For more details about using each Subversion sub-command, you can refer to the manual. For example, to learn more about the co (checkout) command, please run the following command from a terminal prompt:

                    
                      svn co help
                    
                  

The configuration and server process is same as in the svn:// method. For details, please refer to the above section. This step assumes you have followed the above step and started the Subversion server using svnserve command.

It is also assumed that the ssh server is running on that machine and that it is allowing incoming connections. To confirm, please try to login to that machine using ssh. If you can login, everything is perfect. If you cannot login, please address it before continuing further.

The svn+ssh:// protocol is used to access the Subversion repository using SSL encryption. The data transfer is encrypted using this method. To access the project repository (for example with a checkout), you must use the following command syntax:

svn co svn+ssh://hostname/var/svn/repos/project

Based on server configuration, it prompts for password. You must enter the password you use to login via ssh. Once you are authenticated, it checks out the code from the Subversion repository.