Getting started with Remote Server Administration

The Remote Server Administration feature allows administrators to manage a VisualSVN Server instance from another computer (such as an admin's workstation) using the VisualSVN Server Manager. The VisualSVN Server Manager console is implemented as an MMC (Microsoft Management Console) snap-in and connects to a server over WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation).

Tip

Remote Server Administration provides full administrative access to VisualSVN Server. If your goal is to allow selected non-admin users to manage access to the repositories, consider using the Repository Management Delegation feature instead. The feature allows project managers, team leaders, and other non-admin users to manage access rules using the VisualSVN Repository Configurator.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following prerequisites are met:

VisualSVN Server is installed on the target server computer.
The VisualSVN Server computer and the admin's workstation are joined to an Active Directory domain. Additional configuration may be required if the server and client computers don't belong to a domain.

Step 1: Configuring remote administration on the server

To enable remote administration for VisualSVN Server, an administrator has to configure the required Windows Firewall rules and security settings.

The following configuration steps apply to domain and non-domain environments. Non-domain environments may require additional steps.

The following main steps enable VisualSVN Server Remote Administration:

Configure the Windows Firewall rules to allow network connections to WMI,
Grant appropriate user access permissions.

Step 1.1: Configuring Windows Firewall

Connecting to WMI remotely requires that you first configure the Windows Firewall on the server to allow this. Incorrect Windows Firewall settings are usually identified by receiving the "RPC Server Unavailable" error message when trying to remotely connect to the VisualSVN Server using the management console.

For specific instructions consider the KB21: Configuring Windows Firewall to Enable Remote Administration article.

Step 1.2: Configuring Security settings

The following permissions are required to administer VisualSVN Server remotely:

Permissions to access DCOM and WMI remotely,
Special permissions to manage resources related to VisualSVN Server.

Incorrect user access rights settings are usually identified by receiving the "Access is denied" error message when trying to connect remotely to VisualSVN Server. Note that in a non-domain environment, granted permissions can be filtered-down by User Account Control (UAC).

Users who are local administrators on the computer where VisualSVN Server is installed automatically obtain all required permissions to administer the server remotely.

To grant all the required permissions to a non-administrative user, you should include the user in the following local groups on the computer where VisualSVN Server is installed:

VisualSVN Server Admins,
Distributed COM Users.

More detailed instructions are available in the article KB23: Configuring User Access Rights to Enable Remote Administration.

Step 2. Installing the Administration Tools on the client computer

You need to install the Administration Tools on the admin's workstation to manage a remote instance of VisualSVN Server from that workstation. You can install these Administration Tools by using the standard VisualSVN Server installer, which provides the option of installing just the Administration Tools without the rest of the server components.

Tip

The Administration Tools include:

VisualSVN Server Manager
VisualSVN Repository Configurator
VisualSVN Server PowerShell module
Subversion command-line tools (svnadmin.exe, svnlook.exe, svn.exe, etc.)

Follow these steps to install the administration tools on your workstation:

Download the latest VisualSVN Server installer from the download page to your workstation.
Run the installer and click Next.
Review and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) and click Next.
Select Administration Tools Only and click Next.
Complete the remaining steps in the installer, and click Finish on the final step.

After installation, shortcuts for the administration tools will be available in the Start menu.

Step 3. Connecting to a remote VisualSVN Server instance

Follow these steps to connect the VisualSVN Server Manager console to a remote instance of VisualSVN Server:

Open the VisualSVN Server Manager console.
Right-click VisualSVN Server (Local) and click Connect to another computer.
Select Another computer and enter the hostname or FQDN of the remote VisualSVN Server computer and click OK.
You are now connected to the remote VisualSVN Server instance and can perform most administrative operations as if managing the server locally.

Tip

When connected remotely, note that the server's name (e.g., svn.example.com) appears at the root node in the navigation pane and on the dashboard as: VisualSVN Server (svn.example.com).