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I'm trying to resolve this puzzle and I'm starting to think the problem isn't that SVN clients can't resolve the path to the repository, it's that the repository isn't a working copy.

Summary of original problem: I'm migrating from an old Bitnami Trac Stack on an Ubuntu VM to a current native Windows Bitnami Trac Stack on the same server. I used backups made with hotcopy from the Ubuntu SVN repositories so theoretically they're "indistinguishable" from the those.

However, I am unable to view the new SVN repositories in an external client like TortoiseSVN, but I can view the repositories in Trac. Any command that I run at the command line tells me that the repository I'm trying to work with "is not a working copy".

If I point TortoiseSVN at //sbeut01:8001/svn/RnD (which theoretically is a valid repository) it errors gracefully with: //sbeut01:8001/svn/RnD is not a working copy

How can I make the repositories on the Windows Trac/subversion instance working copies? Or does that appear to be the actual problem as opposed to my original question referred to above?

SO Question that didn't resolve the problem

Edit: I thought I'd try to just make a brand new repository using the Windows Trac/subversion instance, and then see if I could see that instance from a remote svn client or even the local copy. However, if I try to do a svn mkdir c:\test, I get the same error, c:\test is not a working copy. I'm not sure what to make of that. I also tried to do the same with svnadmin create c:\test, with the same results.

2nd Edit It turned out that there actually was a working copy, I was just looking in the wrong place for it. The eventual right answer was:

svn://[IP address]:3691/Bitnami/Repos/RnD

8001 was the Apache port that Trac uses to view a web enabled version of the repository, 3691 is the SVN port from when I first set up the Windows Bitnami Trac Stack

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delliottg
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  • Terminology may be getting mixed up here. Are you confusing a working copy (result of running `svn checkout`) with the file location where a repository is stored on disk (result of running `svnadmin create`)? – Patrick Quirk Apr 28 '15 at 17:31
  • I created the repositories by running: `c:\bitnami\trac - 1.0.5-0\subversion\bin\hotcopy [path to un-tarred hotcopy backups from Ubuntu] [path to new repository]`. My understanding of hotcopy is that should create a new working copy in the new directory. Did that answer your question? – delliottg Apr 28 '15 at 17:40
  • [`hotcopy`](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.7/svn.ref.svnadmin.c.hotcopy.html) copies the *repository* (i.e. what is stored on the server); it does not create a *working copy* (i.e. what is stored on all the clients). I don't know much about your problem specifically, I just want to make sure your terminology is correct because it really matters. – Patrick Quirk Apr 28 '15 at 18:00
  • I wonder why you ask this new question although you've asked already here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29907387/how-do-i-point-at-our-new-svn-repository-with-an-svn-client-like-tortoisesvn. Furthermore it's not clear from where your Tortoise should run, on server or client machine, because it does just make sense from a remote client computer, but for enabling that you need to map your repos to network URLs via Apache webserver as already described in my mentioned other SO question. – falkb Apr 29 '15 at 06:02

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I think I see what's going on, and it appears that everything is working fine and there's just a little misunderstanding on your end.

Using Tortoise, open a Repository Browser and enter in your repository location, but keep the http protocol identifier on it, i.e. http://sbeut01:8001/svn/RnD. Assuming everything is set up correctly, which it sounds to me like it is since you say Trac can see it there, you'll see your repository as you'd expect.

The problem you were running into it just a misunderstanding of how Tortoise and SVN in general work, I believe. Tortoise can communicate with both the repository (on the server) and the working copy (on the client). It's not immediately obvious all the time which Tortoise operation is communicating with which, and without experience or the knowledge that "working copy" and "repository" are very precise terms, I can (and do) see where confusion can come from.

Patrick Quirk
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  • Thanks for trying to help, and I'm by no means an SVN expert, I'm just the guy who got chosen to do the migration, so I'm learning as I go. If I try to point TortoiseSVN at `http://sbeut01:8001/trac/RnD//trac/RnD/` I get a listing of the Trac web site directories (and no warnings), but if I click on the down arrow to go to the \browser location (same place Trac views the repository), I get `Unable to connect to a repository at...` error – delliottg Apr 28 '15 at 18:30
  • That's a different URL than what you posted above. The `http://sbeut01:8001/trac/RnD` path sounds like where Trac is served out of and you'd point your web browser to it. The `http://sbeut01:8001/svn/RnD` path sounds like where SVN is served out of and you should point the Tortoise Repository Browser to it. – Patrick Quirk Apr 28 '15 at 18:32
  • If I point to `http://sbeut01:8001/svn/RnD` Tortoise warns: `Unexpected HTTP status 405 "Method Not Allowed" on '/svn/RnD'` and `Additional errors: PROPFIND request on '/svn/RnD' failed: 405 Method Not Allowed` – delliottg Apr 28 '15 at 18:41
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    Then we just don't have the right URL to your repository. Since you say you can view the repository in Trac, what URL did you configure Trac to use to access SVN? You should be able to give Tortoise this same URL. – Patrick Quirk Apr 28 '15 at 18:54
  • I don't recall specifying a repository URL when configuring Trac, and I've searched through both sets of .conf & .ini files looking for something obvious. Where do I look to find that URL? It must be configured somewhere that I just haven't found yet. – delliottg Apr 28 '15 at 20:18
  • I couldn't say, I've never used Trac. – Patrick Quirk Apr 28 '15 at 20:19
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    @delliottg: you need to learn the relationships between Trac, SVN repo, Tortoise client and Apache. SVN repos allow access via subversion server admin tools which Apache and Trac is using for access. Apache maps that to the network via Web DAV protocol so that you can access to a SVN server and its repos (e.g. svn checkout) from a remote client computer via Tortoise. Tortoise creates a working copy from that and it can also access the working copy for local commands (e.g. local diffs). It's possible that client working copy and svn server with its repos can be on the same machine. – falkb Apr 29 '15 at 06:59