How To Install SVN With Apache dav

How To Install SVN With Apache dav_svn On CentOS 7

Version: 1.0
Last Edited: July 22, 2014
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1.1 SVN-An Overview

Apache Subversion, which is commonly referred to in its abbreviated form as SVN, (named after the command name SVN) is a popular software versioning and revision control system which is distributed as a free software under the Apache License. Mainly used by developers to maintain present and historic file versions like documentation, source code, and web pages, it primarily aims to be a compatible successor to the extensively used CVS (Concurrent Versions System). As a matter of fact, the Subversion has been widely used by the free software community. This tutorial explains how to install and use SVN on CentOS 7.

1.2 Step-by-Step Guide on the Installation and Use of SVN on CentOS 7

Outlined below are the steps in the process of installing and using of SVN and mod_dav_svn on CentOS 7:

1.2.1 Installing the Package

To being the installation process, you need to install subversion and mod_dav_svn (this stands for the Apache httpd module for subversion server) using the following command:

yum install httpd subversion mod_dav_svn

These are generally provided by default CentOS Updates repository. Once this is done, you are now ready to move on to the next step.

1.2.2 Configuring Subversion

After installing the package, you must open the subversion httpd config file /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/10-subversion.conf, and further edit it (as given below):

vi /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/10-subversion.conf

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

##Add the following lines ##

Alias /svn /var/www/svn
<Location /svn>
   DAV svn
   SVNParentPath /var/www/svn/
   AuthType Basic
   AuthName "Subversion repositories"
   AuthUserFile /etc/svn-auth-users
   Require valid-user
</Location>

Whilst in the above configuration, you have set up Apache to load dav_svn_module, in addition to setting up a basic web authentication using htpasswd, the next step requires you to create a new user.

1.2.3 Setting up a New User

Here, you need to key in the following htpasswd command to create a new user:

htpasswd -cm /etc/svn-auth-users john

Please note that you must use the -c option for the first time to create the password file, as if you end up using it again, it will result in overwriting of the present file. Therefore, if you wish to add another user, you may give a miss to the -c option, and change the username using the m option, as explained below:

htpasswd -m /etc/svn-auth-users jane

The -m option makes use of MD5 encryption for passwords.

1.2.4 Creating and Configuring Subversion Repository

As the next step, you need to create a directory and use svnadmin to create the repository structure (as shown below). This is actually where your subversion repositories will be parked, hence this remains an important step.

mkdir /var/www/svn
cd /var/www/svn/
svnadmin create repo
chown -R apache.apache repo/

If SELinux is enabled on your server, then allow access to our repository "repo" with these commands.

chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/svn/repo
chcon -R -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/www/svn/repo

And open the http and https ports in the firewall

firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

Then enable apache to start at boot time restart it:

systemctl enable httpd.service
systemctl restart httpd.service

1.2.5 Checking from the Browser

Upon completion of the above step, you must check the following path using the browser: http://localhost/svn/repo This should throw up an authentication dialog where you need to key in the login credentials you created using the htpasswd command earlier. Upon filling in all the details in a correct manner, you shall be led to an empty repository. Once the empty repository has been created, you may to move on to the next step which requires managing the repositories..

1.2.6 Managing Repositories

The steps below explain the process of managing repositories.

1.2.6 (a) Creating a Repository

In order to learn the end-to-end process of managing repositories, you must begin with creating a sample repository. Firstly, you must set up a directory and place all your contents in there (as explained below), and you may subsequently import those to svn:

cd /tmp
mkdir firstproject
cd firstproject

As a test, we create some file shere

touch testfile1 testfile2

The above step gets you started by creating a sample repository of files. You must now gear up for the next step.

1.2.6 (b) Importing Directory Contents to SVN

The following SVN import command shall enable you to import the contents of the repository created in the previous step:

svn import -m "Initial repository" /tmp/firstproject file:///var/www/svn/repo/firstproject

Adding         /tmp/firstproject/file1
Adding         /tmp/firstproject/file2

This will lead to importing of directory contents to SVN.

1.2.6 (c) Committed Revision 1

At this point, if you browse to the following link, it will lead you to the revised repository, as required.

1.2.6 (d) Checking SVN Information

You may access the SVN information of your project using the following command:

svn info http://localhost/svn/repo/firstproject --username john

The above command shall give you access to the complete SVN information of your project, as desired.

1.2.6 (e) Checking out Sources

For checking out sources, you need to use the following command:

mkdir /tmp/myfirstproject
svn co http://localhost/svn/repo/firstproject /tmp/myfirstproject --username jane

This shall enable you to check the sources.

1.2.6 (f) Committing Sources

If, as part of the previous step, you have made a few modifications to the checked out sources, you have the option to commit it back to subversion by using the following command:

cd /tmp/myfirstproject
touch file3
svn add file3 --username bob
svn commit -m "Added a new file" --username john

The above command shall help you put the copy back to the subversion post changes in the checked sources.