Setting Up an SVN Repository and Installing TortoiseSVN – A Complete Walkthrough

Version control with Apache Subversion (SVN) is an essential productivity tool for developers and testers. This in-depth guide will teach you how to create your own hosted SVN repository along with installing and configuring TortoiseSVN – a popular Windows SVN client.

Whether you‘re setting up SVN for the first time or looking to brush up on the basics, you‘ll learn:

• The benefits of version control and SVN
• Step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring key tools
• Best practices for organizing projects in SVN
• Core SVN concepts like committing and branching
• Troubleshooting help for common SVN errors

So let‘s dive in and get you version controlling like a pro!

Why SVN? Key Benefits of Version Control

First, what exactly is version control and why is it so important?

Version control systems track changes to source code and other collections of files over time. This allows you to review project history, revert back to previous versions, and preserve file states before major milestones like new release.

Top version control systems like Git and SVN help developers:

• Collaborate seamlessly – Merge concurrent changes from multiple contributors without overwrite conflicts
• Experiment safely – Branch code to test out new features without impacting the main code
• Restore older versions – Rollback or debug based on exact previous file states
• Understand history – Review detailed project timeline and contributions

According to a Forrester report, nearly 80% of organizations saw improved productivity after implementing version control. And 75% experienced better collaboration between team members.

Key SVN Benefits

Compared to tools like Git, SVN excels in:

• Simple centralized workflow
• Powerful branch and merge tracking
  -Broad ecosystem of GUI clients and IDE integrations

With over 20 years of development, SVN is a mature open source solution used by organizations like Apple, Adobe, Google, and Microsoft.

Setting Up Your Hosted SVN Repository

The first step in working with SVN is creating a central repository to store all files and revision history.

While self-hosting SVN is an option, third-party repository hosting services make configuration easy by handling all server maintenance for you.

Creating a Free SVN Repo on RiouxSVN

RiouxSVN offers free unlimited SVN hosting – perfect for kicking the tires. To set up your hosted repo:

1. Navigate to RiouxSVN and click Sign Up:

   

2. Check your email to activate the new account

3. Once logged into RiouxSVN, click Create new repository:

   

4. Enter a Repository title and Repository name. The name becomes part of the repo URL:

   

5. On the next screen, leave settings as default and click Next Step

6. Review your details and click Confirm Creation

   That‘s it! Your hosted Subversion repository is ready to start version controlling projects.

RiouxSVN displays full credentials for accessing the repo via HTTP protocol:

Make note of this Connection URL, Username, and Password which we‘ll use later.

Now that our centralized repository is online, we need an SVN client…

Installing and Configuring TortoiseSVN

TortoiseSVN is one of the most popular SVN clients – especially for Windows users. It neatly integrates into File Explorer allowing you to version control files through right-click menus.

Let‘s get it installed:

1. Download the latest TortoiseSVN Installer
2. Run the MSI and accept license terms
3. Click Next/Install through all screens using default settings
4. Close success messages – TortoiseSVN is ready!

Once installed, File Explorer will now display a new TortoiseSVN menu when right-clicking:

This menu allows us to easily commit file changes, update to the latest from the repo, check revision logs, and much more.

But first, we need to connect our local TortoiseSVN client to the new RiouxSVN repository…

Connecting Repository to TortoiseSVN

1. Right-click folder to house your SVN projects → TortoiseSVN → Repo-browser

2. Enter your RiouxSVN repository URL in top field:

   

3. Enter your RiouxSVN credentials from earlier

4. Click OK

Great – we‘ve associated TortoiseSVN with our hosted SVN repository!

Time to learn some core SVN concepts…

SVN Concepts – Repository Structure and Basic Commands

Before we start version controlling projects, let‘s briefly overview how SVN organizes data and key commands for interaction.

Repository Structure Overview

A Subversion repository maintains 3 key structures:

/trunk – Main body of project code
/branches – Divergent copies to develop experimental features
/tags – Read-only snapshots to mark releases

This trunk / branches / tags model creates a method for organizing project history and isolating impact from experimental code.

Core SVN Commands

You‘ll leverage these basics commands the most day-to-day:

Checkout – Copies files from central repo to local working directory
Commit – Saves changes from local dir back to central repo

Update – Syncs local working copy with latest files from repo

Let‘s see these commands in action…

Importing Sample Project to SVN Repo

Step-by-step, I‘ll demonstrate importing a basic website project into SVN using TortoiseSVN:

Setting Up Folder Structure

1. Create parent development folder named dev
2. Right click dev folder → SVN Checkout…
3. Checkout https://riouxsvn.com/your-repo-name/trunk into subfolder called mainsite
   • This will create local working copy of the repo‘s /trunk
4. Create subfolders here to match desired structure, like /css, /images, etc

Our final parent folder structure looks like:

dev
└───mainsite
    ├───css
    ├───images
    └───js

Importing Website Files

Now let‘s add some website code:

1. Download sample website files from GitHub
2. Copy index.html and assets folders into mainsite folder
3. Open index.html and change line 12 link to css/styles.css

At this point, our mainsite copy is modified but repository still unchanged.

Let‘s commit!

Committing Files to Repository

Right click mainsite root folder and choose TortoiseSVN → Commit:

1. Ensure all files show as added
2. Enter log message summarizing changes
3. Click Commit

The commit saves our website code into the central SVN repository.

Updating Local Working Copy

Any other users connected to this repository can now pull changes by performing an update.

Let‘s switch to a different machine clone and sync to get latest:

1. Create clean dev/mainsite working copy on second computer as before
2. With mainsite selected, choose TortoiseSVN → Update
3. Choose Fully recursive then click OK

And now this second copy contains the website code!

You‘ll use this clone-update process often when collaborating with teammates.

Troubleshooting Common SVN Errors

As with any new tool, using SVN and TortoiseSVN takes some practice. Bookmark these solutions to common mistakes:

Checkout failure – RA layer request failed – Verify URL and credentials are correct

Commit rejected – Out of date – Run update, resolve conflicts, commit again

Missing files after update – Use "Update item to revision"

Still stuck? Reach out in the comments below!

Final Thoughts

Version controlling your projects with Apache Subversion and TortoiseSVN unlocks huge productivity boosts – but does require learning key concepts like repository structure, committing changes, updating local copies, and resolving update conflicts.

I encourage you to start small – perhaps tracking just a single website or documentation project in SVN. Over time the commands will become second nature.

For more SVN help as you progress, check out resources like:

• Version Control with Subversion – The official SVN online docs
• TortoiseSVN Book – Command reference for the TortoiseSVN client

Questions? Just ask! Happy version controlling!