How to find my Subversion server version number?

Question

I want to know if my server is running Subversion 1.5.

How can I find that out?

Also would be nice to know my SVN client version number. svn help hasn't been helpful.

Note: I don't want my project's revision number, etc. This question is about the Subversion software itself.

A repository is not automatically updated unless the administrator runs 'svnadmin upgrade'. To be sure of the version number of the repository, check the 'format' file. See [@bdumitriu's answer on another question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/282460/how-to-find-out-subversion-repository-version/282484#282484). — icasimpan, Mar 30 '11 at 03:22

score 213 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 24 '11 at 16:16

213

To find the version of the subversion REPOSITORY you can:

Look to the repository on the web and on the bottom of the page it will say something like:
"Powered by Subversion version 1.5.2 (r32768)."
From the command line: <insert curl, grep oneliner here>

If not displayed, view source of the page

<svn version="1.6.13 (r1002816)" href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">

Now for the subversion CLIENT:

svn --version

will suffice

edited Aug 24 '11 at 16:16

Community

1
1

answered Oct 16 '08 at 15:58

31

This works only if the server will display this information, some server like google code hosting does not. – Andrea Francia Apr 05 '09 at 10:28
I doesn't look like source forge displays that data either. – deft_code Jun 16 '09 at 14:29
3

Is that the server version, or the repository version? (they can be different AFAIK) – GraemeF Jul 06 '10 at 15:58
7

You can also look at the response headers (using firebug/net view for eg.) and find the SVN version in there – haknick Mar 19 '13 at 22:29
6

CollabNet also does not display a version number - either visibly or in the source of the page. – TenLeftFingers Sep 01 '14 at 13:39
1

Does not work (either on the page or the page source) on our installation. – Paulo Merson Feb 12 '15 at 16:45
5

-1: Waiting for this answer to be finished (the “” placeholder.) Answer wasn't useful otherwise to me, since the server I'm using is `svn://`-only. – Slipp D. Thompson Nov 11 '15 at 04:33

score 136 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

Let's merge these responses:

For REPOSITORY / SERVER (the original question):

If able to access the Subversion server:

From an earlier answer by Manuel, run the following on the SVN server:
```
svnadmin --version
```

If HTTP/HTTPS access:

See the "powered by Subversion" line when accessing the server via a browser.
Access the repository via browser and then look for the version string embedded in the HTML source. From earlier answers by elviejo and jaredjacobs. Similarly, from ??, use your browser's developer tools (usually Ctrl + Shift + I) to read the full response. This is also the easiest (non-automated) way to deal with certificates and authorization - your browser does it for you.

Check the response tags (these are not shown in the HTML source), from an earlier answer by Christopher

wget -S --spider 'http://svn.server.net/svn/repository' 2>&1 |
sed -n '/SVN/s/.*\(SVN[0-9\/\.]*\).*/\1/p'

If svn:// or ssh+svn access

From an earlier answer by Milen

svnserve --version   (run on svn server)

From an earlier answer by Glenn
```
ssh user@host svnserve --version
```

If GoogleCode SVN servers

    Check out the current version in a FAQ: 
    http://code.google.com/p/support/wiki/SubversionFAQ#What_version_of_Subversion_do_you_use?

If another custom SVN servers

TBD

Please edit to finish this answer

For CLIENT (not the original question):

svn --version

This answer is not clear that `svnserve --version` must be used on the server. If it's run on the client, it gives the version number of the client, not the server. — Craig McQueen, Aug 18 '14 at 23:35
This is a good collection. I made it by the way of "read the full response from http/https access". In my case I can see one line in response header: — Tatera, Nov 20 '14 at 02:41
In case somebody is using Visual SVN Server, the first few lines of HTML source ( right click, view Page Source ) will indicate the SVN version. — Raptor, Mar 04 '16 at 07:35
This answer is [being discussed on Meta](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/335468/4751173). — Glorfindel, Sep 29 '16 at 05:52

Milen A. Radev · Answer 3 · 2013-05-13T19:25:00.637

70

On the server: svnserve --version

in case of svnserve-based configuration (svn:// and svn+xxx://).

(For completeness).

edited May 13 '13 at 19:25

answered Sep 26 '08 at 21:20

Milen A. Radev

54,001
19
99
105

As Joe J mentions below, I believe this will just give you the version of the svnserve client program which will most likely match the svn client program – Kirby Oct 28 '11 at 23:45
12

`svnserve` is not a client programme, it's the server. And you have to type the command above when you're on the server. – Milen A. Radev Oct 29 '11 at 13:11

score 48 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:26

48

Here's the simplest way to get the SVN server version. HTTP works even if your SVN repository requires HTTPS.

$ curl -X OPTIONS http://my-svn-domain/
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
<html><head>...</head>
<body>...
<address>Apache/2.2.11 (Debian) DAV/2 SVN/1.5.6 PHP/5.2.9-4 ...</address>
</body>
</html>

edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:26

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Jul 18 '09 at 18:43

jaredjacobs

3,695
1
24
21

1

This is what I needed. Vote up please! – bentford Nov 13 '09 at 13:48
8

Works only when "ServerTokens Full" (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/core.html#servertokens). – Milen A. Radev Dec 10 '09 at 17:11

score 24 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:25

24

For an HTTP-based server there is a Python script to find the server version at: http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/tools/client-side/server-version.py

You can get the client version with

`svn --version`

edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:25

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Sep 26 '08 at 19:38

PiedPiper

5,377
1
27
38

5

Unless I am mistaken, it looks like that script only works with http or https based servers, and not svn or ssh+svn servers – crashmstr Sep 26 '08 at 19:42
If it's ssh based just ssh into the box and run "svn --version". – John Meagher Sep 26 '08 at 21:20
5

'svn --version' on the server only gives you the client version running on the server, it might not necessarily be the same as the server version – PiedPiper Sep 26 '08 at 22:54
1

That script also requires ServerTokens Full to be set on the Apache server. It will fail for the same servers that the curl solution will fail on. – yam655 Sep 08 '11 at 17:01

Christopher · Answer 6 · 2016-09-29T02:21:55.697

24

If the Subversion server version is not printed in the HTML listing, it is available in the HTTP RESPONSE header returned by the server. You can get it using this shell command

wget -S --no-check-certificate \
  --spider 'http://svn.server.net/svn/repository' 2>&1 \
  | sed -n '/SVN/s/.*\(SVN[0-9\/\.]*\).*/\1/p';

If the SVN server requires you provide a user name and password, then add the wget parameters --user and --password to the command like this

wget -S --no-check-certificate \
  --user='username' --password='password' \
  --spider 'http://svn.server.net/svn/repository' 2>&1 \
  | sed -n '/SVN/s/.*\(SVN[0-9\/\.]*\).*/\1/p';

edited Sep 29 '16 at 02:21

answered Apr 30 '10 at 05:39

Christopher

1,776
15
15

4

I tried all other options on this page, with curl and from the URL and this is so far the only one that worked for me - server is freebsd, server 1.6.16. – ideasman42 Jul 14 '11 at 10:16
Likewise this is the only answer that worked for me amongst all the answers here. I used Firefox Live HTTP Headers and to read the response of the server because I was also having ssl certificate problems that I didn't feel like going to the trouble to figure out. Thank you, Christopher – Kirby Oct 28 '11 at 23:46
1

@Kirby I've added a `--no-check--certificate` parameter, a `--user` and `--password` to handle servers that require credentials but don't have a valid ssh certificate. This is pretty common as you noted. – Christopher Mar 15 '13 at 00:21
1

@Christopher it should read ''wget --password='password' .. | .. ;' above. – wh81752 Jan 04 '16 at 13:47
@whaefelinger thanks for the correction. I've updated the answer. – Christopher Sep 29 '16 at 02:23
Works for CollabNet/SVN 1.9.1 – Michael P Dec 11 '18 at 17:22

score 8 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 20 '12 at 13:48

8

One more option: If you have Firefox (I am using 14.0.1) and a SVN web interface:

Open Tools->Web Developer->Web Console on a repo page
Refresh page
Click on the GET line
Look in the Response Headers section at the Server: line

There should be an "SVN/1.7.4" string or similar there. Again, this will probably only work if you have "ServerTokens Full" as mentioned above.

answered Aug 20 '12 at 13:48

Conrad

1,982
24
44

Thanks. I just did a similar thing in Chrome for a VisualSVN server by opening up the Network tab in the Developer Tools window (press F12 to access this), and then inspecting the response. – XåpplI'-I0llwlg'I - Feb 04 '13 at 12:01
Update: click on the Network tab in the Tools pane before refreshing page (currently Firefox 30) – Conrad Jul 08 '14 at 13:36

score 7 · Answer 8 · answered May 13 '13 at 17:32

There really isn't an easy way to find out what version of Subversion your server is running -- except to get onto the server and see for yourself.

However, this may not be as big a problem as you may think. Subversion clients is were much of the grunt work is handled, and most versions of the Subversion clients can work with almost any version of the server.

The last release where the server version really made a difference to the client was the change from release 1.4 to release 1.5 when merge tracking was added. Merge tracking had been greatly improved in version 1.6, but that doesn't really affect the interactions between the client and server.

Let's take the latest changes in Subversion 1.8:

svn move is now a first class operation: Subversion finally understands the svn move is not a svn copy and svn delete. However, this is something that the client handles and doesn't really affect the server version.
svn merge --reintegrate deprecated: Again, as long as the server is at version 1.5 or greater this isn't an issue.
Property Inheritance: This is another 1.8 release update, but this will work with any Subversion server -- although Subversion servers running 1.8 will deliver better performance on inheritable properties.
Two new inheritable properties - svn:global-ignores and svn:auto-props: Alas! What we really wanted. A way to setup these two properties without depending upon the Subversion configuration file itself. However, this is a client-only issue, so it again doesn't matter what version of the server you're using.
gnu-agent memory caching: Another client-only feature.
fsfs performance enhancements and authz in-repository authentication. Nice features, but these work no matter what version of the client you're using.

Of all the features, only one depends upon the version of the server being 1.5 or greater (and 1.4 has been obsolete for quite a while. The newer features of 1.8 will improve performance of your working copy, but the server being at revision 1.8 isn't necessary. You're much more affected by your client version than your server version.

I know this isn't the answer you wanted (no official way to see the server version), but fortunately the server version doesn't really affect you that much.

score 7 · Answer 9 · edited Apr 16 '15 at 09:05

7

Try this:

ssh your_user@your_server svnserve --version

svnserve, version 1.3.1 (r19032)
   compiled May  8 2006, 07:38:44

I hope it helps.

edited Apr 16 '15 at 09:05

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Jan 24 '14 at 14:36

ejaenv

1,567
18
24

score 4 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 31 '09 at 06:43

4

For a svn+ssh configuration, use ssh to run svnserve --version on the host machine:

$ ssh user@host svnserve --version

It is necessary to run the svnserve command on the machine that is actually serving as the server.

answered Aug 31 '09 at 06:43

Glenn

49
1

1

this assumes you can ssh to the server. It is common to configure an svn+ssh server with a public key in authorized_keys file and command=svnserve which automatically starts svnserver without the --version option. – jrwren Mar 16 '12 at 13:38

score 2 · Answer 11 · edited Apr 16 '15 at 09:04

2

Browse the repository with Firefox and inspect the element with Firebug. Under the NET tab, you can check the Header of the page. It will have something like:

Server: Apache/2.2.14 (Win32) DAV/2 SVN/1.X.X

edited Apr 16 '15 at 09:04

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Jul 05 '12 at 13:47

Jason H

21
1

1

Tried this with my subversion server and don't see the version. Looking at other posts that are similar it sounds like not all subversion servers support this particular way of determining the server version number. – Joshua Oct 12 '12 at 01:32

score 2 · Answer 12 · edited Apr 16 '15 at 08:58

2

Just use a web browser to go to the SVN address. Check the source code (Ctrl + U). Then you will find something like in the HTML code:

<svn version="1.6. ..." ...

edited Apr 16 '15 at 08:58

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Aug 16 '11 at 14:36

N0thing

5,249
3
17
15

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 09 '13 at 03:09

For Subversion 1.7 and above, the server doesn't provide a footer that indicates the server version. But you can run the following command to gain the version from the response headers

$ curl -s -D - http://svn.server.net/svn/repository
HTTP/1.1 401 Authorization Required
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:01:43 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.9 (Unix) DAV/2 SVN/1.7.4

Note that this also works on Subversion servers where you don't have authorization to access.

score 1 · Answer 14 · edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:26

1

You can connect to your Subversion server using HTTP and find the version number in the HTTP header.

edited Apr 15 '15 at 16:26

Peter Mortensen

28,342
21
95
123

answered Sep 15 '09 at 14:06

eaubin

644
9
14

score -1 · Answer 15 · answered Mar 27 '20 at 13:41

If you use VisualSVN Server, you can find out the version number by several different means.

Use VisualSVN Server Manager

Follow these steps to find out the version via the management console:

Start the VisualSVN Server Manager console.
See the Version at the bottom-right corner of the dashboard.

If you click Version you will also see the versions of the components.

Check the README.txt file

Follow these steps to find out the version from the readme.txt file:

Start notepad.exe.
Open the %VISUALSVN_SERVER%README.txt file. The first line shows the version number.

How to find my Subversion server version number?

15 Answers15

For REPOSITORY / SERVER (the original question):

If able to access the Subversion server:

If HTTP/HTTPS access:

If svn:// or ssh+svn access

If GoogleCode SVN servers

If another custom SVN servers

For CLIENT (not the original question):

Use VisualSVN Server Manager

Check the README.txt file

Linked

Related