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CollabNet Subversion Client FAQ

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This FAQ was created by the Subversion open source community and CollabNet.

Having SVN trouble?

Diagnosing SVN errors using CollabNet Enterprise Edition

When diagnosing SVN errors on CEE:

• Make sure that you have used the following URL construct during checkout https://projectname.domainname/svn/projectname/trunk (where "projectname" is the name of your project)

• Make sure that you have proper permissions by going to the Membership link on the project that you are working on. If you have the role of Content Viewer, Observer, Power User, Project Analyst, Executive, or Project Content Developer then you may be able to view code, but not edit it. To do most SVN commands you will need to have Developer-Committer, Project Owner, or some other project specific role that includes the VersionControl - Modify, VersionControl - Add, and VersionControl - Delete permissions.

• If you have recently changed your password, but Subversion has not prompted for re-authentication delete the svn.simple file. (On Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Application Data\Subversion\auth\svn.simple) Delete the file that relates to the project you need to authenticate against. You can verify this by opening the files and looking for the URL to your project. Deletion of the file will force Subversion to authenticate you again.
• Make sure that your proxy is set up properly.
• If you notice that working copy is out of sync with the web based repository or the icons in your IDE are not properly representing the state of your repository try to run an svn cleanup. If the cleanup doesn't fix things then save any files in question and create a new working copy. Keep in mind that you don't have to delete your existing working copy first. Just create a new working copy, verify that it has everything you are expecting, and then remove the old working copy.

Troubleshooting Subversion errors

RA layer request failed svn: Commit failed (details follow):

• This is usually caused by an access issue
• Make sure that your proxy and SSL are set up properly.

RA layer request failed: The requested name is valid and was found in the database, but it does not have the correct associated data being resolved for

• Whenever we've seen this error it seems to be a result of an OS caching issue. It is usually only related to older WSAD SVN Plugins. The best solution we recommend is to uninstall the SVN client and reinstall.

svn: MKCOL of '/svn/projectname/!svn/pathname': 405 Method Not Allowed

• There are a few possibilities why you might be receiving this error:
• That you performed an "svn move" twice before attempting to commit. Either "svn move" once and commit, or if you decide after the "svn move" that you really meant to move it somewhere else instead, "svn revert" the first move, then "svn move" it to where it should be. Then commit.
• That something in your working copy got "confused" and possibly an svn cleanup may help get things back to normal.
• That the length of your pathname is causing issues. The problem is that Windows doesn't support relative paths with more than approx. 255 characters. To solve this, we need to use absolute paths everywhere. One solution might be to check out the WC into a shorter path. I think it is the total path length that's limited when the path isn't absolute. This is usually more of a Windows limitation, but it might be worth investigating. Can you let me know the exact svn path of the file that you are trying to commit?
• That the size of your file is causing timeout issues. This is more of an Apache issue, but it can certainly cause svn errors.

The filename or extension is too long

• The problem is that Windows doesn't support relative paths with more than approximately 255 characters. To solve this, use absolute paths everywhere. One solution might be to check out the Working Copy into a shorter path. It is the total path length that's limited when the path isn't absolute.

svn: warning: 'some file' is already under version control

• This error is generally a result of a successful svn add, but your working copy does not recognize the update. Steps to follow:
• Run an svn update command. This should update your working copy to indicate that a file is now committed to the svn repository
• If you still see the error run an svn cleanup command since it sounds like your working copy is now "confused"
• If neither the update or the cleanup don't fix things then save any files in question and create a new working copy. Keep in mind that you don't have to delete your existing working copy first. Just create a new working copy, verify that it has everything you are expecting, and then remove the old working copy.

svn: Failed to add directory 'some directory': object of the same name already exists

• The file or directory has been successfully added to svn, but that your working copy may have gotten "confused" somewhere along the way. Steps to follow:
• Run an svn cleanup command.
• If the cleanup doesn't fix things then save any files in question and create a new working copy. Keep in mind that you don't have to delete your existing working copy first. Just create a new working copy, verify that it has everything you are expecting, and then remove the old working copy.

413 Request Entity Too Large

• This is generally the error generated when trying to add a file size larger than 2GB to Subversion. Currently, the AEDC Subversion environment cannot allow for adding files larger than 2GB because CollabNet is running apr-0.9.x (Apache Portable Runtime). It is expected that CollabNet will upgrade to apr-1.x when Subversion 1.5 is installed. This will support file sizes larger than 2 GB.

Using CEE, Subversion asks me to re-enter my username and password

• Check to be sure that you have proper membership in the project that grants you Subversion permissions. Generally you will want Developer-Committer or a similar role. If this is a private project you would not be able to access the project to find the Project Owner. If it is a public project you can request access or contact a Project Owner listed in the project Membership area.

SVN Gotchas

This section is intended to give you some lesser known gotchas and provide you with proactive information.

Common Errors

• Don’t put a $ in your filename – this sometimes happens to files that are generated within an IDE or some such – it can cause errors
• Don’t have 2 files with the same name, but one with a capital letter and one not [in the same folder] – this causes errors and also typically happens when working within IDEs
• You can install different versions of SVN clients as long as they don’t use different versions of SVN – using clients with different SVN versions on the same working copy can mess it up!
• It is important that you perform any file management actions with subversion commands and NOT file system commands. When you try to manipulate code in Subversion with file system commands you usually end up corrupting your working copy. If you do not find the commands that you are looking for when you right click or go into the Team menu then open a repository browser and you may find more options available.

Common Questions/Issues

• You cannot roll back the revision number once you begin working in your repository -- and if you delete files they are still in history – questions about this come up a lot!
• You must switch to your branch or do a checkout after you do a copy command – people coming from other VC tools don’t inherently know to do this and we get questions about it