Apache Subversion (SVN) Commands & Status Codes Master Cheat Sheet

Scope & Applicability. Applicable to Apache Subversion (SVN) versions 1.8 through 1.14+ (LTS). In command examples, <path> or <url> denote placeholders; ^/ represents the repository root URL.

Apache Subversion is a centralized version control system (CVCS) built upon monotonic integer revisions and directory-tree snapshots. This cheat sheet consolidates daily commands, branching/merging conventions, status code definitions, and repository administration.

🔗 Related Version Control & CLI Cheat Sheets: Git Cheat Sheet · Linux Commands · Bash Cheat Sheet

1. Tool Components & URL Schemes

Core Command-Line Utilities

Utility	Description & Primary Function	Typical Use Case
`svn`	Core client command-line binary	Daily checkouts, file modifications, commits, branching, diffs, and status inspection
`svnversion`	Extracts the composite revision summary of the working copy	Injects build version strings into automated build and CI/CD pipelines
`svnadmin`	Server-side repository administration tool	Repository creation, hot backups, dump streams, restoration, and database verification
`svnlook`	Read-only inspection utility for server-side repositories	Pre-commit inspection inside server-side hook scripts
`svnsync`	Unidirectional incremental repository mirroring tool	Offsite disaster recovery backups, read-only slave mirrors
`svnrdump`	Remote repository dump and load utility	Network-level dump operations without direct server filesystem permissions
`svndumpfilter`	Stream filter for repository dumpfiles	Pruning paths or splitting multi-project repositories during migrations
`svnserve`	Standalone custom SVN protocol daemon	Lightweight local network or private on-premise hosting
`mod_dav_svn`	WebDAV module for Apache HTTP Server	Enterprise HTTPS hosting with LDAP/SSO authentication

Repository Access URL Schemes

URL Scheme	Description & Transport	Default Port / Example Path
`file://`	Direct local filesystem or mounted NFS share	`file:///var/svn/repos/project`
`http://`	WebDAV over plaintext HTTP	Port 80 (Unencrypted)
`https://`	WebDAV over TLS/SSL encryption	Port 443 (Production standard)
`svn://`	Native binary protocol via `svnserve`	Port 3690 (High-performance TCP)
`svn+ssh://`	Custom `svnserve` tunneled through an encrypted SSH channel	Port 22 (Secure, no extra ports required)

2. Working Copy Checkout, Update & File Management

Checkout & Update

# Check out a remote repository into the current or specified directory
svn checkout <url> [target_dir]
svn co <url> [target_dir]

# Update the working copy to the latest HEAD revision
svn update
svn up

# Update working copy to a specific revision (e.g. revision 42)
svn update -r 42

# Update only a specific file or subdirectory
svn update path/to/file_or_dir

# Control checkout depth (--depth: empty | files | immediates | infinity)
svn update --set-depth immediates

Adding & Reverting Changes

# Schedule a new file or directory for addition
svn add <path>

# Recursively add all unversioned files under the current directory (respects svn:ignore)
svn add *

# Force recursive addition of untracked files inside existing versioned trees
svn add * --force

# Revert local uncommitted modifications on a specific file (restores BASE revision)
svn revert <path>

# Revert all local uncommitted changes recursively across the entire project
svn revert -R .
svn revert --depth infinity .

3. Committing Changes & Importing

Committing (Commit)

# Commit modifications with an inline log message
svn commit -m "feat: implement user authentication" <path>
svn ci -m "fix: resolve null pointer exception"

# Read commit log message from a text file
svn commit -F log_message.txt

# Non-recursive commit (submits only top-level directory property changes)
svn commit --depth files -m "chore: update root configuration"

Importing Unversioned Trees (Import)

# Import an unversioned local directory directly into the repository (does not create a working copy)
svn import /local/path/to/project <url>/trunk -m "Initial import of legacy codebase"

4. Status Inspection & Complete Status Code Matrix

Inspecting Status

# Inspect local working copy status
svn status
svn st

# Display status including unversioned ignored files
svn status --no-ignore

# Check against the remote repository for outdated files requiring an update
svn status -u
svn st -u -q

`svn status` Column Code Meanings

The output of svn status comprises 7 character columns followed by the item path.

Column 1: File Content Status

Code	Status Meaning	Explanation
	Normal	The file is identical to the repository BASE revision
`A`	Added	The item is scheduled for addition on the next commit
`D`	Deleted	The item is scheduled for deletion on the next commit
`M`	Modified	The text contents of the file have been modified locally
`R`	Replaced	The item was deleted and replaced by an item with the same name
`C`	Conflicted	The file contains an unresolved merge conflict
`X`	External	The item is an unversioned directory managed by `svn:externals`
`I`	Ignored	The file matches an `svn:ignore` or global ignore pattern
`?`	Unversioned	The file is not under version control
`!`	Missing	The file is under version control but missing on disk
`~`	Obstructed	An object of a different type occupies the path of a versioned item

Columns 2–7: Properties, Locks & History

Column Position	Code	Meaning
Col 2: Properties		Normal properties
	`M`	Properties have been modified locally
	`C`	Property conflict exists
Col 3: Working Lock		Normal directory
	`L`	Working copy directory is locked by a background process (run `svn cleanup`)
Col 4: History		Normal item
	`+`	Scheduled for addition with history (copied or moved)
Col 5: Switch		Normal item
	`S`	Item is switched to a different branch relative to its parent
Col 6: Lock Token		Normal item
	`K`	File has a local lock token
	`O`	File is locked by another user in the remote repository
Col 7: Tree Conflict		Normal item
	`C`	Tree conflict exists on this path

5. History, Diffs & Blame

# View recent commit logs
svn log -l 10

# View detailed logs including changed file paths
svn log -v -r 100:105

# Compare working copy against the repository BASE revision
svn diff

# Compare differences between two specific revisions
svn diff -r 40:42

# View line-by-line author attribution (Blame / Annotate)
svn blame path/to/file
svn annotate path/to/file

6. Branching, Tagging & Merging

Subversion standard directory layout:

^/trunk: Active mainline development
^/branches: Isolated feature and release branches
^/tags: Immutable snapshot releases

# Create a feature branch (cheap server-side copy)
svn copy ^/trunk ^/branches/feature-auth -m "Create feature branch for auth overhaul"

# Switch working copy to the feature branch
svn switch ^/branches/feature-auth

# Merge trunk changes into your feature branch (sync merge)
svn merge ^/trunk

# Reintegrate feature branch back into trunk (executed from trunk working copy)
svn merge --reintegrate ^/branches/feature-auth

7. Conflict Resolution & File Locking

# Resolve conflicts interactively
svn resolve path/to/conflicted_file

# Resolve non-interactively using predefined strategies:
# Accept local modifications:
svn resolve --accept mine-full path/to/file

# Discard local modifications and accept incoming repository version:
svn resolve --accept theirs-full path/to/file

# Accept locally edited working file:
svn resolve --accept working path/to/file

# Clean up stale locks after an interrupted command
svn cleanup

# Lock an unmergeable binary file exclusively (PSD, 3D model, Excel)
svn lock design/banner.psd -m "Editing banner assets"

# Release lock
svn unlock design/banner.psd

8. Property Management (Properties)

# List all properties defined on a path
svn proplist [path]

# Read a specific property value
svn propget svn:ignore .

# Set a property value
svn propset svn:executable ON script.sh

# Edit multiline property in default editor
svn propedit svn:ignore .

# Remove a property
svn propdel svn:ignore .

Common Standard Properties

Property	Purpose	Example
`svn:ignore`	Directory-level newline-delimited ignore patterns	`node_modules`, `*.log`, `target/`
`svn:global-ignores`	Inheritable global ignore patterns (1.8+)	Set at root to apply across entire subtree
`svn:executable`	Sets executable permissions on checkout	`svn ps svn:executable ON run.sh`
`svn:eol-style`	Cross-platform line-ending translation	`native`, `LF`, `CRLF`
`svn:keywords`	Expands revision keywords inside files	`Id Date Revision Author` ( $Id$ )
`svn:externals`	Mounts external repositories or directories	`vendor/lib ^/subprojects/lib@200`

9. Server Administration (svnadmin)

svnadmin runs locally on the host filesystem where repositories reside:

Command	Description	Typical Execution
`svnadmin create`	Initializes a new SVN repository	`svnadmin create /var/svn/repo`
`svnadmin dump`	Exports full or incremental repository dump stream	`svnadmin dump /var/svn/repo > backup.dump` `svnadmin dump /var/svn/repo -r 100:200 --incremental > delta.dump`
`svnadmin load`	Restores a dump stream into a target repository	`svnadmin load /var/svn/new_repo < backup.dump`
`svnadmin hotcopy`	Creates an active hot backup without service interruption	`svnadmin hotcopy /var/svn/repo /backup/repo_hot`
`svnadmin verify`	Validates data block integrity and checksums	`svnadmin verify /var/svn/repo`
`svnadmin recover`	Repairs inconsistent repository transactions after crashes	`svnadmin recover /var/svn/repo`