svnserve allows access to Subversion repositories using Subversion's custom network protocol.
You can run svnserve as a standalone
server process (for clients that are using the
svn:// access method); you can have a daemon
such as inetd or xinetd
launch it for you on demand (also for
svn://), or you can have
sshd launch it on demand for the
svn+ssh:// access method.
Regardless of the access method, once the client has
selected a repository by transmitting its URL,
svnserve reads a file named
conf/svnserve.conf in the repository
directory to determine repository-specific settings such as
what authentication database to use and what authorization
policies to apply. See the section called “svnserve, a Custom Server” for details of the
svnserve.conf file.
Unlike the previous commands we've described, svnserve has no subcommands—it is controlled exclusively by options.
--daemon(-d)Causes svnserve to run in daemon mode. svnserve backgrounds itself and accepts and serves TCP/IP connections on the
svnport (3690, by default).--foregroundWhen used together with
-d, causes svnserve to stay in the foreground. This is mainly useful for debugging.--inetd(-i)Causes svnserve to use the
stdinandstdoutfile descriptors, as is appropriate for a daemon running out of inetd.--help(-h)Displays a usage summary and exits.
--listen-host=HOSTCauses svnserve to listen on the interface specified by
HOST, which may be either a hostname or an IP address.--listen-once(-X)Causes svnserve to accept one connection on the
svnport, serve it, and exit. This option is mainly useful for debugging.--listen-port=PORTCauses svnserve to listen on
PORTwhen run in daemon mode. (FreeBSD daemons listen only on tcp6 by default—this option tells them to also listen on tcp4.)--pid-fileFILENAMECauses svnserve to write its process ID to
FILENAME, which must be writable by the user under which svnserve is running.--root=ROOT(-r=ROOT)Sets the virtual root for repositories served by svnserve. The pathname in URLs provided by the client will be interpreted relative to this root and will not be allowed to escape this root.
--threads(-T)When running in daemon mode, causes svnserve to spawn a thread instead of a process for each connection (e.g., for when running on Windows). The svnserve process still backgrounds itself at startup time.
--tunnel(-t)Causes svnserve to run in tunnel mode, which is just like the inetd mode of operation (both modes serve one connection over
stdin/stdout, and then exit), except that the connection is considered to be preauthenticated with the username of the current UID. This flag is automatically passed for you by the client when running over a tunnel agent such as ssh. That means there's rarely any need for you to pass this option to svnserve. So, if you find yourself typingsvnserve --tunnelon the command line and wondering what to do next, see the section called “Tunneling over SSH”.--tunnel-user NAMEUsed in conjunction with the
--tunneloption, tells svnserve to assume thatNAMEis the authenticated user, rather than the UID of the svnserve process. This is useful for users wishing to share a single system account over SSH, but to maintain separate commit identities.--versionDisplays version information and a list of repository backend modules available, and then exits.
