repocafe self-service svn.vu.nl - documentation

contents

• general
• repository name space
• repository properties
• path rights & permissions
• using the repository service
  • creating a repository
  • migration : (up)loading a repository
• guests
• user groups
• rules - usage
• rules - cleanup
• statistics
• contact

general

• svn.vu.nl provides a version control service, using the subversion system, documented in the subversion book.
• This service is provided by VU University ; 325 repositories now exist.
• Svn-admins can and will do periodic cleanups ; see cleanup.

repository name space

• This repocafe has 2 user classes :

  class	description
  guests	guests
  users	vu users

• the repository name space is flat :

  part	full repo name	repo's can be created by
  	name	guests vu users

repository properties

• A repository is either public or private ; public repositories can be browsed, checked out, etc without authentication (login).
• Repositories can be created by guests and vu users.
• The owner of a repository, is (the login-name of) the creator of the repository.
• When a repository is created, the owner is a manager, has commit rights, and is a watcher.
• A manager of a repository can change the properties of the repository ; a manager can also delete the repository.
• A manager can set read or commit access rights for (groups of) users.
• A manager can grant manager rights to other users.
• A watcher is a user who receives email notification of commits ; the watchers of a repository are appointed by a manager of the repository.

path rights & permissions

• In addition to repository root, rights & permissions can be be set for paths within a repository.
• A permission path can be added or deleted by any manager of repository root.
• Adding (or deleting) a permission path doesn't affect the contents of the repository.
• A path must a be list of alpha-numeric names, separated by slashes.
• To evaluate the permissions of user U on any path P, repocafe inspects (only) the permissions defined for U ;
  of those, the most specific set is used ; that is, the permissions of the longest permission path which is a prefix of P.
• After a commit, repocafe attempts to notify (by mail) the repository's watchers. It inspects the diff, which contains various parts.
  A user is notified if he/she is a watcher of any part. The notification mail contains only the relevant parts of the diff.

using the repository service

creating a repository

• using the web forms, create a repository, say staff.henkp.jinx
• in the repository's info page, you see a browse, checkout url :

    https://svn.vu.nl/repos/staff.henkp.jinx
  

• you can checkout the new, empty repository on your own computer :

    svn checkout https://svn.vu.nl/repos/staff.henkp.jinx
  

  this creates your local copy of the repository staff.henkp.jinx
  
  
• now create some stuff in the local copy and svn-add it

    cd staff.henkp.jinx
    svn mkdir aap
    vi aap/noot
    svn add aap/noot
  

• ... and commit the stuff to the svn.vu.nl repository :

    svn commit -m 'added some aap noot mies'
  

  You should receive some mail about the changes that you made.
  
  
• if you now visit the browse url

    https://svn.vu.nl/repos/staff.henkp.jinx
  

  you should see your stuff in the svn.vu.nl repository.

migration : (up)loading a repository

• In a new (revision 0) repository, you can upload the svn dump of some existing repository.
• Loading only works for dumps that aren't too big ; currently the limit is set at 22MB (gzip compressed).
• To migrate a bigger repository :
  • make a dump of the old repository (source)
  • create a new, empty (destination) repository on svn.vu.nl
  • contact svn-admins ; please specify the location of the source and the name of the destination repository

guests

• In this repocafe, guest accounts can be created.
• Guests can have read and commit rights ; they can be watchers, but not managers.
• Guest users can change their password and send themselves the password, if/when they have forgotten it.
• Guest accounts can be created on request by svn-admins ; please supply the guest's full name and email address.

user groups

• To facilitate easier access management, simple groups of users can be defined.
• A group manager can modify the group : update membership and appoint other managers.
• Only repository read and commit rights can be assigned to groups.

rules - usage

• Please remove obsolete repositories.
• The repository service is intended for data stores that require version control and/or maintenance by groups of people.
• The service can support a large number of repositories, but total size is limited ;
  so, create as many repositories as you need, but try to keep the total size down.
• Remember that the only way to 'clean up' a repository, is to remove it ; so, do be careful when you put stuff in.

rules - cleanup

• Svn-admins will remove repositories, if/when the owner's account is removed.
• It is the user's responsibility to transfer a repository's contents before removal.
• Svn-admins may remove old, empty (revision 0) repositories.

statistics

• There are now 325 repositories.
• Statistics (size and revision) are gathered every day, but per repo statistics are kept only once a week.
• Per repo statistics plots are shown when there are statistics for at least two days.

contact

• send questions, comments and requests to svn-admin@vu.nl.

	version repocafe-0.13.7