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.TH svnserve 8
.SH NAME
svnserve \- Server for the 'svn' repository access method
.SH SYNOPSIS
.TP
\fBsvnserve\fP [\fIoptions\fP]
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBsvnserve\fP allows access to Subversion repositories using the svn
network protocol.  It can both run as a standalone server process, or
it can run out of inetd.  You must choose a mode of operation when you
start \fBsvnserve\fP.  The following options are recognized:
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-d\fP, \fB\-\-daemon\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to run in daemon mode.  \fBsvnserve\fP
backgrounds itself and accepts and serves TCP/IP connections on the
svn port (3690, by default).
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-\-listen-port\fP=\fIport\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to listen on \fIport\fP when run in daemon mode.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-\-listen-host\fP=\fIhost\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to listen on the interface specified by \fIhost\fP,
which may be either a hostname or an IP address.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-\-foreground\fP
When used together with \fB\-d\fP, this option causes \fBsvnserve\fP
to stay in the foreground.  This option is mainly useful for
debugging.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-i\fP, \fB\-\-inetd\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to use the stdin/stdout file descriptors, as is
appropriate for a daemon running out of inetd.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-h\fP, \fB\-\-help\fP
Displays a usage summary and exits.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-r\fP \fIroot\fP, \fB\-\-root\fP=\fIroot\fP
Sets the virtual root for repositories served by \fBsvnserve\fP.  The
pathname in URLs provided by the client will be interpreted relative
to this root, and will not be allowed to escape this root.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-t\fP, \fB\-\-tunnel\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to run in tunnel mode, which is just like the
inetd mode of operation (serve one connection over stdin/stdout)
except that the connection is considered to be pre-authenticated with
the username of the current uid.  This flag is selected by the client
when running over a tunnel agent.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-\-tunnel-user\fP=\fIusername\fP
When combined with \fB\-\-tunnel\fP, overrides the pre-authenticated
username with the supplied \fIusername\fP.  This is useful in
combination with the ssh authorized_key file's "command" directive to
allow a single system account to be used by multiple committers, each
having a distinct ssh identity.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-T\fP, \fB\-\-threads\fP
When running in daemon mode, causes \fBsvnserve\fP to spawn a thread
instead of a process for each connection.  The \fBsvnserve\fP process
still backgrounds itself at startup time.
.PP
.TP 5
\fB\-X\fP, \fB\-\-listen\-once\fP
Causes \fBsvnserve\fP to accept one connection on the svn port, serve
it, and exit.  This option is mainly useful for debugging.
.PP
Once the client has selected a repository by transmitting its URL,
\fBsvnserve\fP reads a file named \fBconf/svnserve.conf\fP in the
repository directory to determine repository-specific settings such as
what authentication database to use and what authorization policies to
apply.  See the \fBsvnserve.conf\fP(5) man page for details of that
file format.