
svnserve(8)                 System Manager's Manual                svnserve(8)

NAME
       svnserve - Server for the 'svn' repository access method

SYNOPSIS
       svnserve [options]

DESCRIPTION
       svnserve allows access to Subversion repositories using the svn network
       protocol.  It can both run as a standalone server process,  or  it  can
       run  out  of inetd.  You must choose a mode of operation when you start
       svnserve.  The following options are recognized:

       -d, --daemon
            Causes svnserve to run in daemon mode.  svnserve  backgrounds  it-
            self  and  accepts  and  serves TCP/IP connections on the svn port
            (3690, by default).

       --listen-port=port
            Causes svnserve to listen on port when run in daemon mode.

       --listen-host=host
            Causes svnserve to listen on  the  interface  specified  by  host,
            which may be either a hostname or an IP address.

       --foreground
            When used together with -d, this option causes svnserve to stay in
            the foreground.  This option is mainly useful for debugging.

       -i, --inetd
            Causes svnserve to use the stdin/stdout file  descriptors,  as  is
            appropriate for a daemon running out of inetd.

       -h, --help
            Displays a usage summary and exits.

       --version
            Print svnserve's version and the repository filesystem back-end(s)
            a particular svnserve supports.

       -r root, --root=root
            Sets the virtual root for repositories served  by  svnserve.   The
            pathname  in URLs provided by the client will be interpreted rela-
            tive to this root, and will not be allowed to escape this root.

       -R --read-only
            Force all write operations through this svnserve  instance  to  be
            forbidden,  overriding  all other access policy configuration.  Do
            not use this option to set general repository access policy - that
            is  what  the  conf/svnserve.conf repository configuration file is
            for.  This option should be used only to  restrict  access  via  a
            certain  method of invoking svnserve - for example, to allow write
            access via SSH, but not via a svnserve daemon, or to create a  re-
            stricted SSH key which is only capable of read access.

       -t, --tunnel
            Causes  svnserve to run in tunnel mode, which is just like the in-
            etd mode of operation (serve one connection over stdin/stdout) ex-
            cept  that  the  connection  is considered to be pre-authenticated
            with the username of the current uid.  This flag  is  selected  by
            the client when running over a tunnel agent.

       --tunnel-user=username
            When combined with --tunnel, overrides the pre-authenticated user-
            name with the supplied username.  This is  useful  in  combination
            with  the ssh authorized_key file's "command" directive to allow a
            single system account to be used by multiple committers, each hav-
            ing a distinct ssh identity.

       -T, --threads
            When running in daemon mode, causes svnserve to spawn a thread in-
            stead of a process for  each  connection.   The  svnserve  process
            still backgrounds itself at startup time.

       --config-file=filename
            When  specified,  svnserve  reads filename once at program startup
            and caches the svnserve configuration.  The  password  and  autho-
            rization configurations referenced from filename will be loaded on
            each  connection.   svnserve  will  not  read  any  per-repository
            conf/svnserve.conf  files  when  this  option  is  used.   See the
            svnserve.conf(5) man page for details of the file format for  this
            option.

       --pid-file=filename
            When specified, svnserve will write its process ID to filename.

       -X, --listen-once
            Causes  svnserve  to  accept one connection on the svn port, serve
            it, and exit.  This option is mainly useful for debugging.

       Unless the --config-file option was specified on the command line, 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
       svnserve.conf(5) man page for details of that file format.

SEE ALSO
       svnserve.conf(5)

                                                                   svnserve(8)