How to Set up a Subversion Server under Windows

A) Download Subversion

You’ll need the latest version of..

the Windows binaries
the “run Subversion as a windows service” wrapper
the TortoiseSVN shell integration utility

B) Install Subversion

Unzip the Windows binaries to a folder of your choice. I chose c:\program files\subversion\ as my path.
Now, addÂ the subversion binaries to the path environment variable for the machine. I used %programfiles%\subversion\bin\
You’ll also need another environment variable, SVN_EDITOR, set to the text editor of your choice. I used c:\windows\notepad.exe

C) Create a Repository

Open a command prompt and type

svnadmin create "c:\Documents and Settings\Subversion Repository"

Navigate to the folder we just created. Within that folder, uncomment the following lines in the /conf/svnserve.conf file:
```
[general]
anon-access = read
auth-access = write
password-db = passwd
```
Next, uncomment these lines in the /conf/passwd file:
```
[users]
harry = harryssecret
sally = sallyssecret
```

D) Verify that everything is working

Start the subversion server byÂ issuing this command in the command window:
```
svnserve --daemon --root "C:\Documents and Settings\Subversion Repository"
```
Create a project byÂ opening a second command window and entering this command:
```
svn mkdir svn://localhost/myproject
```
It’s a standard Subversion convention to have three folders at the root of a project:
/trunk
/branches
/tags
At this point, Notepad should launch:
Enter any comment you want at the top of the file, then save and exit.

You’ll now be prompted for credentials. In my case I was prompted for the administrator credentials as well:

Authentication realm:  0f1a8b11-d50b-344d-9dc7-0d9ba12e22df
Password for 'Administrator': *********
Authentication realm:  0f1a8b11-d50b-344d-9dc7-0d9ba12e22df
Username: sally
Password for 'sally': ************

Committed revision 1.

Congratulations! You just checked a change into Subversion!

E) Start the server as a service

Stop the existing command window that’s running svnserve by pressing CTRL+C.
Copy the file SVNService.exe from the zip file of the same name to the subversion\bin folder.

Install the service by issuing the following commands:

svnservice -install --daemon --root "C:\Documents and Settings\Subversion Repository"
sc config svnservice start= auto
net start svnservice

Test the new service by listing all the files in the repository:
```
svn ls svn://localhost/
```
You should see theÂ single project we created earlier, myproject/

F) Set up the shell extension

Run the TortoiseSVN installer. It will tell you to restart, but you don’t need to.
Create a project folder somewhere on your hard drive.Â Right click in that folder and select “SVN Checkout…”
type svn://localhost/myproject/ for the repository URL and click OK.
Create a new file in that directory. Right click the file and select “TortoiseSVN, Add”
The file hasn’t actually been checked in yet. Subversion batches any changes and commits them as one atomic operation. To send all your changes to the server, right click and select “SVN Commit”: