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

# [NAME](#NAME)

svnserve - Server for the 'svn' repository access method

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

[**svnserve** \[*options*\]](#svnserve)

# [DESCRIPTION](#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**](#d)

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

[**--listen-port**=*port*](#listen)

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

[**--listen-host**=*host*](#listen~2)

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

[**--foreground**](#foreground)

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

[**-i**, **--inetd**](#i)

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

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

Displays a usage summary and exits.

[**--version**](#version)

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

[**-r** *root*, **--root**=*root*](#r)

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.

[**-R** **--read-only**](#R)

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 restricted SSH key which is only capable of read access.

[**-t**, **--tunnel**](#t)

Causes **svnserve** to run in tunnel mode, which is just like the inetd mode of operation (serve one connection over stdin/stdout) except 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*](#tunnel)

When combined with **--tunnel**, overrides the pre-authenticated username 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 having a distinct ssh identity.

[**-T**, **--threads**](#T)

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

[**--config-file**=*filename*](#config)

When specified, **svnserve** reads *filename* once at program startup and caches the **svnserve** configuration. The password and authorization 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/os/subversion/svnserve.conf.5) man page for details of the file format for this option.

[**--pid-file**=*filename*](#pid)

When specified, **svnserve** will write its process ID to *filename*.

[**-X**, **--listen-once**](#X)

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/os/subversion/svnserve.conf.5) man page for details of that file format.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**svnserve.conf**(5)](/man/os/subversion/svnserve.conf.5)

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Document: svnserve(8) from subversion 1.15.0-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/apache/subversion