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How To Use The SVN Client and Start Working With Your SubVersion Version Control

By Amit

October 7, 2008

Misc., Technology & Internet, Utilities

24 Comments

In the last article we installed and configured the Subversion server using Visual SVN.

Today I am going to show you how to interact with the server from the client side.

What you will need to download the Tortoise SVN client application.

Download and install and after a restart (bummer) we are ready to start working!

The Tortoise SVN adds its functionality in the Windows Explorer Context Menu.

Tortoise SVN

Verifying the connection to the SVN Server

Before we start working we will have to Verify the connection to the SVN Server. Right click on any folder in the Windows Explorer and select TortoiseSVN -> Repo-browser

you will be asked for a path to the repository enter : file:///C:/<The location of the repositories>/<The repository name you selected> in my case I will enter :

file:///C:/Repositories/Test/

what you should get is this:

Repo Browser

If you got this it means that you can connect to the SVN Server.

If you are trying to connect to a remote server you will have to enter the following when asked for the URL of the repository:

https://<The ip of the Server>/svn/<The Repository Name>

You should get the same results.

 

Getting the files from the repository

To get the files from the repository we created earlier (in the previous article) we will have to create a new folder, which I presume everyone knows how to do :).

After you have created the folder, right click on it and select the "SVN Checkout…" option from the context menu. You will see the following screen:

SVN Checkout

If you followed all the steps the address of the repository should be already written here. All you have to do is click "OK"

Files Checked Out

This means we have checked out the files successfully and we can start working!

The directory should look like this:

Checked out Directory

The Green V marks mean that nothing has changed inside the directory. Lets add a new file to the trunk (main branch) directory. We will then Right Click on the trunk and select "Commit"

SVN Commit

The SVN Server has detected that you have added a new file and you will have to check the Checkbox next to it in order for it to be inserted to the repository.

Lets try and edit the file and add some text in it. Both the file and the Directory will get a red exclamation mark saying they have been changed:

Folder Changed

File Changed

To send the Changes to the Server you can right click any of them and select "SVN Commit…" from the context menu. Doing it on the Folder will make the Commit recursive to all the files inside it.

That’s it! You are ready to work with you very own version control. In my next post I will show some advanced features of the SVN system.

As always if someone needs any help don’t hesitate to comment.

Enjoy.

Amit

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24 Responses to “How To Use The SVN Client and Start Working With Your SubVersion Version Control”


  1. Mike

    Said on October 8, 2008 :

    Thank you so much! By chance you got an article planned that shows a VS2008 integrated client? I hate leaving my IDE!

  2. Espen

    Said on October 9, 2008 :

    @Mike: Try VisualSvn. It can be integrated with VS2008.

  3. SunKwon Kim

    Said on October 14, 2008 :

    Good article. It will be helpful to everybody who wants to use source control. trackback : http://www.wpfstory.com/entry/You-must-use-Source-Control-like-TortoiseSVN

  4. Amit

    Said on October 14, 2008 :

    @ Espen

    I think that plugin costs money

    @ SunKwon

    Thanks !

  5. Sven

    Said on October 25, 2008 :

    Good post,
    On my blog I described how I implemented free source control on the desktop and in Visual Studio. http://mshelp.be/my-implementation-of-free-sourceversion-control-205.htm

  6. subodh

    Said on October 27, 2008 :

    excellent article i really appreciate it, because i had been struggling to install and configure the svn. thank you very much. hope u will bring some more advance features regarding visual svn thank you thank you very much

  7. RAJ

    Said on January 8, 2009 :

    thanks. it help me lot.

  8. chris

    Said on February 18, 2009 :

    i have installed so how do i start working subversion created??? or do i need to click the that new folder dt i created

  9. chris

    Said on February 18, 2009 :

    Hi, i have installed and configure, i have done the svn checkout.
    now where do i start from to access the respository?? when i log on to my computer.

  10. Amit

    Said on February 18, 2009 :

    @chris

    right click on a file and then select tortoise SVN-> repo browser

  11. Raman

    Said on March 7, 2009 :

    Hi Amit hw r u
    This is Raman. I am new to SVN. i install svn server in windows 2003 server and tortoise svn client in windows vista.

    i created respository and user .
    i able to access server from other machine by using

    https://svnserver.avacorp.com:8443/svn/eform.

    but i unble to access server from client machine thro tortoise svn browser.
    Pls help me

    regards
    Raman

  12. blake7

    Said on May 10, 2009 :

    For this I use the Agent SVN plug-in: http://www.zeusedit.com/agent/

    It’s great at integrating Visual Studio and Subversion.

  13. Hiraman Patil

    Said on November 16, 2009 :

    Can any one help me what is the use of svn and how to install svn on Linux.

    thanks,
    Hiraman

  14. kashif

    Said on March 16, 2010 :

    Please Help me!
    I am new in svn. i setup SVN ,Tortoise SVN on local mechine(server).Its run ok.I have an other machine on network, want to connect svn on my server from client(Tortoise SVN) from an other machine.How i can do it.

  15. AKHIL

    Said on November 4, 2010 :

    hey can anyone help me pls,
    i m new subversion user .i installed tortoise v1.6
    and subversion v1.6.13.but in the program files where subversion is installed conf file is not showing.so is it that both are not compatible or wat can be the problem .if u have any suggestions pls reply me ASAP.

  16. mahesh

    Said on November 24, 2010 :

    i am new .i dont know about svn how to setup please help me

  17. Ramakrishna

    Said on December 2, 2010 :

    Please Help me!

    I am new in svn. i setup SVN ,Tortoise SVN on local mechine(server).Its run ok.I have an other machine on network, want to connect svn on my server from client(Tortoise SVN) from an other machine.How i can do it.

  18. Binay

    Said on January 19, 2011 :

    Thanks a lot, I am new to SVN and able to work from this.
    Great support.

  19. Everett Zhou

    Said on April 5, 2011 :

    Thank you for posting the tutorial. I have followed the instuctions and checked out the docs from the server. The destination of checked out stuff is on the virtual mapped drive. The problem is that I can not see the green v mark. Do you think the destination caused that problem?

    Thanks.

  20. Esha

    Said on October 5, 2011 :

    when i m importing an exiting repository from visual svn server and when i checked it out in the client by pasting the ‘copy to clipboard’ url in the url field, i will do commit. but it is not working properly. My commit was failed.

    what could be the reason?
    please provide me the solution.

    Thanks.

  21. Amaan

    Said on October 31, 2011 :

    Good : wait for the nxt blog.
    Happy Diwali…..

  22. Saloka

    Said on February 27, 2012 :

    I have installed tortisesvn on client side and visualsvn on server side. But when i try to connect it with remote server it gives an error
    “Unable to connect to repository. No connection can be made because the target machine actively refused it…

    Please help me out with this error… Thank u.

  23. Amitsinh

    Said on March 13, 2012 :

    gr8 Job

  24. Amit

    Said on March 16, 2012 :

    Its probably something to do with your firewall. Check that all the needed ports are open.

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