Can I import my existing SVN repository into my new account?

Using svnsync to copy an existing repository

The preferred method to synchronize your old repository to your SlikSVN repository is the svnsync tool. Using this tool, you can copy existing your repository to a repository at SlikSVN.

The steps are as follows:

• Find the URL for your new repository. Here, we’ll assume it’s https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo.
• Find the URL for your old repository. Here, we’ll assume it’s https://example.com/your_old_repo.
• Get the Subversion command-line client. On the command prompt, try typing svnsync If this command is not successful, install a Subversion client, such as SlikSVN for Windows.
• Run the command:

  svnsync init https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo https://example.com/your_old_repo

• Run the command:

  svnsync sync https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo

Using svnsync to import a dump file

If you have only a Subversion dump file, you can load it into a SlikSVN repository as follows:

• Find the URL for your new repository. Here, we’ll assume it’s https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo
• Get the Subversion command-line client. Try typing svnsync on the command line to see if you have it. If not, install a Subversion client, such as SlikSVN for Windows.
• Turn the dump file into a local repository. We’ll assume your dump file is called old_repo.svn. (The extension doesn’t matter.)
• Run the command:

  svnadmin create old_repo

• Run the command:

  svnadmin load old_repo < old_repo.svn

• You now have an old_repo directory on your system, containing a file-based Subversion repository. We’ll assume it is in directory /Users/yourname/old_repo, but this will depend on your operating system.
• Run the command:

  svnsync init https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo file:///Users/yourname/old_repo

• Run the command:

  svnsync sync https://svn.sliksvn.com/your_new_repo

• After you have verified the synchronization is complete, you can delete the old_repo directory from your system.

svnsync notes

Did you know…

• If your old repository has a lot of commits, and you have email notifications on your repo, you might get a lot of notifications during the synchronization process. We can disable email notifications for you, just contact our helpdesk with your repo URLs.
• It is possible to use svnsync incrementally. Let’s say you have done a test synchronization, but in the meantime developers have made new commits to the old repository. You can re-run the “svnsync sync” command to import any new revisions to the destination repository since the last sync. However, you should make sure that nobody has committed to the destination repository.
• You can also use svnsync to backup a remote repository to your local system.