SVN+SSH Howto: Subversion Quick and Simple

Here's a quick and simple way to create a Subversion repository while maintaining security by using SSH and the filesystem permissions.

1. Create users and add them to a group. There are a bunch of different ways to do this. I am only showing you how to create a group.

   groupadd svn-users



2. Make a directory to house the repository.

   mkdir /var/lib/project



3. Create the repository.

   svnadmin create /var/lib/project



4. Change permissions to allow the group read/write access.

   cd /var/lib/project
   chgrp svn-users db db/transactions db/write-lock db/revs db/revprops hooks locks
   chmod 2770 db db/transactions db/revs db/revprops
   chmod 660 db/write-lock
   chmod 750 hooks
   chmod 770 locks

You can now have your users access the repository over SSH.

svn+ssh://username@server.example.com/var/lib/project

If your clients are on Windows, I recommend using TortoiseSVN.

Credit goes to the Carnival of Technology.