SVN repository on bluehost

[paperklip]

Thanks, I'll take a look at doing something similar to make subclipse (svn in eclipse) work.

I don't know why Bluehost doesn't just add $HOME/bin to the non-interactive $PATH for now. This would fix the issue for MOST people, and they could go on continuing to "decide" if they want to enable "PermitUserEnvironment" without us waiting.

[SuaveMonkey]

Congrats!

On your local Windows machine, did you have to edit anything?

This is what I had to do, and I`m not 100% sure that step 5 is needed:

1. In Windows, in Putty's PuttyGen tool, create a new public and private key pair. (TODO: identify optimal settings)

2. Ssh into server and vi ~/.ssh/authorized_keys . See VI cheat sheet.

3. Using Shiro's syntax, enter your public key:

command="~/bin/svnserve -t" ssh-rsa [key omitted]

4. Repeat 1-3 to make a new key that you can use for regular ssh syntax.

5. On your Windows computer, edit C:\User\Username\AppData\Roaming\Subversion\config. In the [tunnels] section, add this on a new line:

ssh=C:\\Program\ Files\ \(x86\)\\PuTTY\\plink.exe -ssh -i C:/SomePath/private.ppk

Question: is this step necessary?

3. Start Pageant from Putty and click "Add Key." Pick the same private key as above. It'll ask you for the passphrase for this private key, so enter it. This private key corresponds to the public key on the server

4. TortoiseSVN can now fully interact with the server.


Question: Are you using Pageant from the Putty package to manage your keys? You mentioned using Putty. Is that only for interactive ssh shells or does TortoiseSVN pay attention to settings make in Putty?

Question: A window containing plink.exe jumps up obnoxiously whenever I use TortoiseSVN. Anyone else getting this? How can I get rid of it?

Notes:


* On the server, in ~/.ssh/authenticated_keys, you can specify the absolute path of svnserve ( /home1/username/bin/svnserve ) or relative ( ~/bin/svnserve)


* The order you specify your keys in ~/.ssh/authenticated_keys does not seem to matter.

** I have a sneaking suspicion that putting the one you use most frequently first in the list will make your experience faster.

* In Windows, using Putty's Pageant, you can specify multiple keys.

** The order your specify your keys in Pageant doesn't seem to matter. I have a sneaking suspicion that putting the one you use most frequently first in the list will make your experience faster.

** If they happen to have the same passphrase in multiple keys, Pageant will try to use the same passphrase, so in theory you only have to enter it once for many keys.

*** Years ago, I spoke with the Pageant developers about this being a security hole, but they (correctly) defended that it's not a hole, rather it's a convenience.

*** This came up years ago when I did open source development on multiple projects; perhaps this is not appropriate for more secure work.

[binarysolo]

I opened a ticket about this same problem, and I got a response with a solution that solved it for me. The solution was to create a wrapper function for svnserve. I am only using svn on the putty command line.

Here is the entire ticket response:

Hello,

We don't have an ETA for a permanent solution, but we do have two possible workarounds for using svn+ssh on our service for the time being:

To get your custom path to the svnserve binary to be used, you need to
create a wrapper script on your local machine::

#!/bin/sh
ssh $1 /path/to/svnserve -t

You can find the correct /path/to/svnserve by logging into your Bluehost
account via SSH and typing ``which svnserve``. Name this script anything
you want, such as "svnssh", make it executable, and place it in a convenient
location. Now, in your ``.subversion/config`` file, place the following::

[tunnels]
ssh=/path/to/svnssh

The ``/path/to/svnssh`` should match the location that you put your svnssh
wrapper script.

Another solution for svn is to create a public/private ssh keypair that will be
used only for svn. When you add the public key to your ``.ssh/authorized_keys``
file, put ``command="/path/to/svnserve -t",`` at the beginning of the line, before the
key itself.

Any time you connect using that corresponding private key, you will be forced
to use the snvserve command, so make sure you don't use that key always. One
way to use that key only when you're using svn is to rename the private key
file to something other than default. For example, rename it from
``~/.ssh/id_rsa`` to ``~/.ssh/id_svn_rsa``. To get svn to use this key, put the
following in your ``.subversion/config`` file::

[tunnels]
ssh=ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_svn_rsa

The second solution is trickier, but may be a better alternative if you are
using a gui like tortoise svn.

[i18n]

I am glad to see my posts got people moving towards some effective workarounds.

I sent a link to my posts to whoever was handling my ticket and got a message from some 3rd level support guy pooh-poohing my suggestions and the idea that a workaround would be useful to actual paying customer while they sat around and told us otherwise.

It seems some of you are getting more help now, maybe that has something to do with the no-punches-pulled response I sent to the 3rd level support guy, cc'd to Bluehose CEO.

[vt88rider]

Thanks everyone - after plugging for a couple of days, I finally got it to work. After following lots of posts on this topic, SSH setup, and Tortoise setup at many websites, I came back to this forum with a better understanding of how things work. This posting is the one I'm bookmarking as a good cookbook solution:

Congrats!

On your local Windows machine, did you have to edit anything?

This is what I had to do, and I`m not 100% sure that step 5 is needed:

1. In Windows, in Putty's PuttyGen tool, create a new public and private key pair. (TODO: identify optimal settings)

2. Ssh into server and vi ~/.ssh/authorized_keys . See VI cheat sheet.

3. Using Shiro's syntax, enter your public key:

command="~/bin/svnserve -t" ssh-rsa [key omitted]

4. Repeat 1-3 to make a new key that you can use for regular ssh syntax.

5. On your Windows computer, edit C:\User\Username\AppData\Roaming\Subversion\config. In the [tunnels] section, add this on a new line:

ssh=C:\\Program\ Files\ \(x86\)\\PuTTY\\plink.exe -ssh -i C:/SomePath/private.ppk

Question: is this step necessary?

I didn't use pagent, but I did use step 5. However, I specified the key using the GUI for Tortoise Settings -> Network -> SSH Client. This directly modifies the registry settings as opposed to reading the config file (not sure which takes precedence).

My own summary (without repeating a lot from prior posts):

1) make two keypairs and install the public keys on the bluehost server
2) modify one public key in authorized_keys to give the path to svnserve
3) Use the corresponding private key when using tortoise from WinXP
do this by specifying the -i option in the SSH Client config
I needed quotes around the path to the private key file
4) Use the other private key for putty

[sameer]

has anyone figured out a way to use it with Subclipse ?

[bellagr1]

I downloaded the Tortoise source code and changed TortoisePLink so it would work with Bluehost. One difficulty I have with changing global TortoiseSVN settings is that I don't want to use Bluehost-specific settings for another Subversion repository I use.

You can get the Tortoise source code here: http://tortoisesvn.googlecode.com/svn/trunk

Then patch "winplink.c" as follows:

Index: WINPLINK.C
===================================================================
--- WINPLINK.C	(revision 19877)
+++ WINPLINK.C	(working copy)
@@ -751,5 +751,37 @@
 
 int WinMain(hInstance, hPrevInstance, lpCmdLine, nCmdShow)
 {
+	DWORD res;
+	TCHAR *svnserve;
+	TCHAR *host;
+	svnserve = (LPSTR)malloc(80);
+	host = (LPSTR)malloc(80);
+	res = GetPrivateProfileString (TEXT("plink"), 
+		TEXT("svnserve"), 
+		NULL, 
+		svnserve, 
+		80, 
+		TEXT("plink.ini"));
+	if(res==0) 
+	{
+		return -1;
+	}
+	res = GetPrivateProfileString (TEXT("plink"), 
+		TEXT("host"), 
+		NULL, 
+		host, 
+		80, 
+		TEXT("plink.ini"));
+	if(res==0) 
+	{
+		return -2;
+	}
+
+	if(strcmp(__argv[1],host)==0)
+	{
+		__argv[2] = svnserve;
+	}
 	main(__argc,__argv);
 }

Create a c:\windows\plink.ini file with the following:

[plink]
svnserve=/home/username/bin/svnserve
host=username@hostname.com

Recompile TortoisePlink, then adjust the Tortoise network settings to use your patched version.

[cesto]

has anyone figured out a way to use it with Subclipse ?

i made a separate post before i came across this thread. i'm looking for the same thing. does anybody have any feedback on this? it seems the solution above needs you to use putty. my configuration consists of subversion & eclipse (subclipse) and tortoisesvn. any help is much appreciated.

[pferlito]

I'm having trouble installing svn. Here is what I'm doing:

wget http://subversion.tigris.org/downloads/subversion-1.6.4.tar.bz2
wget http://subversion.tigris.org/downloads/subversion-deps-1.6.4.tar.bz2
tar -xvjpf  subversion-1.6.4.tar.bz2
tar -xvjpf  subversion-deps-1.6.4.tar.bz2
cd subversion-1.6.4
./configure --prefix=$HOME --without-berkeley-db --with-ssl LDFLAGS="-L/lib64"
make
make install

Here is the error:

cp: cannot create regular file `/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/mod_dav_svn.so': Read-only file system
apxs:Error: Command failed with rc=65536

It's obviously trying to install the Apache mod_dav module, which is a requirement
for svn. How did other people get around this? I'm stumped.

[roysharon]

Here is the error:

cp: cannot create regular file `/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/mod_dav_svn.so': Read-only file system
apxs:Error: Command failed with rc=65536

It's obviously trying to install the Apache mod_dav module, which is a requirement
for svn. How did other people get around this? I'm stumped.

I've encountered the same problem, and will also appreciate any way around this.

Thanks!