---
name: "svnserve"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "subversion"
version: "1.14.5-6"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/svnserve"
---

# svnserve(8)

Server for the 'svn' repository access method

## NAME

svnserve - Server for the 'svn' repository access method

## SYNOPSIS

- **svnserve** \[*options*\]

  ## DESCRIPTION

**svnserve** 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 **svnserve**.  The following options are recognized:

- **-d**, **--daemon**

  Causes **svnserve** to run in daemon mode.  **svnserve** backgrounds itself and accepts and serves TCP/IP connections on the svn port (3690, by default).

- **--listen-port**=*port*

  Causes **svnserve** to listen on *port* when run in daemon mode.

- **--listen-host**=*host*

  Causes **svnserve** to listen on the interface specified by *host*, which may be either a hostname or an IP address.

- **--foreground**

  When used together with **-d**, this option causes **svnserve** to stay in the foreground.  This option is mainly useful for debugging.

- **-i**, **--inetd**

  Causes **svnserve** to use the stdin/stdout file descriptors, as is appropriate for a daemon running out of inetd.

- **-h**, **--help**

  Displays a usage summary and exits.

- **--version**

  Print **svnserve**'s version and the repository filesystem back-end(s) a particular **svnserve** supports.

- **-r** *root*, **--root**=*root*

  Sets the virtual root for repositories served by **svnserve**.  The pathname in URLs provided by the client will be interpreted relative to this root, and will not be allowed to escape this root.

- **-R** **--read-only**

  Force all write operations through this **svnserve** instance to be forbidden, overriding all other access policy configuration.  Do not use this option to set general repository access policy - that is what the **conf/svnserve.conf** repository configuration file is for. This option should be used only to restrict access via a certain method of invoking **svnserve** - for example, to allow write access via SSH, but not via a **svnserve** daemon, or to create a restricted SSH key which is only capable of read access.

- **-t**, **--tunnel**

  Causes **svnserve** 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.

- **--tunnel-user**=*username*

  When combined with **--tunnel**, overrides the pre-authenticated username with the supplied *username*.  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.

- **-T**, **--threads**

  When running in daemon mode, causes **svnserve** to spawn a thread instead of a process for each connection.  The **svnserve** process still backgrounds itself at startup time.

- **--config-file**=*filename*

  When specified, **svnserve** reads *filename* once at program startup and caches the **svnserve** configuration.  The password and authorization configurations referenced from *filename* will be loaded on each connection.  **svnserve** will not read any per-repository **conf/svnserve.conf** files when this option is used.  See the [**svnserve.conf**(5)](/svnserve.conf/5.md) man page for details of the file format for this option.

- **--pid-file**=*filename*

  When specified, **svnserve** will write its process ID to *filename*.

- **-X**, **--listen-once**

  Causes **svnserve** to accept one connection on the svn port, serve it, and exit.  This option is mainly useful for debugging.

Unless the **--config-file** option was specified on the command line, once the client has selected a repository by transmitting its URL, **svnserve** reads a file named **conf/svnserve.conf** in the repository directory to determine repository-specific settings such as what authentication database to use and what authorization policies to apply.  See the [**svnserve.conf**(5)](/svnserve.conf/5.md) man page for details of that file format.

## SEE ALSO

[**svnserve.conf**(5)](/svnserve.conf/5.md)