Subversion installation troubles on Windows 8 - windows

After successfully running subversion for years on a Windows 2008 server, I recently moved to Windows 8.1, mainly because the machine does also serve videos to my home network (works fine) and because Windows 8 provides better energy saving on my platform than Windows 2008 server did. So far, so good.
Then I tried to re-install Subversion. I intend to use the built-in server application svnserve.exe. I downloaded the latest windows package, installed it (success), and configured a service (svnserve --service ...) which I can successfully start using the Windows Service Management Console. Port 80 is already taken by a different application, so I let subversion pick 3690, which is fine for me. I used netstat to confirm that svnserve.exe is bound to port TCP:3690, which is listed OK. Just to clear one potential roadblock I also disabled the Windows firewall.
Then I created a sample repository named "test" using svnadmin locally, success as well, a subversion file structure appeared on the harddisk.
Problems arise when I try to access the repository using my local browser (Firefox), an attempt to connect to URLs
http://127.0.0.1:3690[/svn|/svn/test]
all three give me the same cryptical response:
( success ( 2 2 ( ) ( edit-pipeline svndiff1 absent-entries commit-revprops depth log-revprops atomic-revprops partial-replay inherited-props ephemeral-txnprops file-revs-reverse ) ) )
Somehow I have expected a subversion GUI instead.
Connecting from a remote machine via browser reveals the same useless line of text.
Connecting from a remote machine using my usual Tortoise client gives the message:
Unable to connect to a repository at URL 'http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:3690/svn/test
Error running context: The server unexpectedly closed the connection
I tried to add the --log-file option to svnserve, and indeed a log file appears once I start the service, but it is empty and it remains empty.
Trying to use svnserve -X instead of running it as a service reveals the exact same behavior.
Seems I am stuck. Anyone who has an idea what I can do to get that thing working?

Just to help out another beginner running into the same problem ... I finally found the problem: I simply used the wrong client, svnserve does not support web browsers. Using the Tortoise client, and providing the correct prefix (svn:127.0.0.1/...) was all I had to do.
The long version:
If one wants to work with the simple, reliable, fast, but plain-text and proprietary protocol based) svnserve service, he needs to use a proprietary client, like Tortoise, and the svn: prefix instead of http/https:, and no port, like
svn://mysvnserver/testrepo
If needed, one may even reconfigure svnservice to use authentication and encryption later. svnserve isn't supporting web browsers, if one tries to access svnserve using a web browser like I did he gehts the internals of the svn protocol dumped to the screen.
If one wants to use his web browser, http/https protocol, and niceties, like a user friendly browser based interface and some remote administration capabilities, he must not use svnserve, but install a web server service (like apache) and configure if for use with subversion.
So in the end my problem had nothing to do with Windows 8. It just has slipped from my mind that years ago I went the apache path, while now I decided that the built-in svnserve service was good enough for my needs.
Armin.

Related

Notify a windows machine within a network, without username and password

The problem statement:
Suppose there are 20 windows machines within a local network. One of the machines serves as the server and hosts the database. Now, the other 19 machines have the access to read from the server machine, but the server machine does not have username and password for any of the other 19 machines.
I have to update a desktop application installed on all the machine. There is a spring-boot application, hosted on the server machine which downloads the build. Now, as soon as I download the build I have to notify all the other 19 machines that build has been downloaded so that they can read and update themselves.
Solution 1: Install a windows service which will poll the server and check if updates are available.
Solution 2: Host a POST web API on the 19 machines and notify them by making a post call. I think installing IIS or Tomcat on every machine is not viable.
Is there any other optimal solution for notifying the client?
Note: We cannot take the RDP and neither have credentials but we can make use of already deployed windows application on the other 19 clients.
Solution 3: If your machines share the same domain, use msi install packages to update software all across domain by using Group Policy. It's common way.
Solution 4: Launch desktop application directly from server shared folder. It works good while server machine is always accessible and application is not too heavy for your LAN.
Here you need some care about writing new application files while it running on client computers. Good way is to keep a different folders for different versions and launch with shortcut pointing to latest one:
v1.3\app files here
v1.4\app files here
v1.4.6\app files here
v1.7\app files here
app.lnk → v1.7\app.exe
client machines launch the application with app.lnk.
Upd: if you update application when nobody works (see 1am…2am), you can omit all of this versioning stuff.
Solution 1: It work as well. You can use NSSM to easily launch your update script or exe-file as a Windows service.
I would use a windows service or a scheduled task (both could be the same application you provide, but with some arguments). It frequently checks if a new version is available (maybe only once a day).
If you only have a short time frame when the new version has to be installed on all machines you could also provide an installation date with the new version. (Maybe the check will be done through a REST api where the client sends the current installed version number and the server answers with an status code 200 and the body is either empty or provides an json object containing the new version number, the due date and the download url.)
Then the client can already download the new version and make it available on the machine, but it triggers the installation only when the due date is reached. This check of the due date can happen more often, cause all informations are already on the client machine and can be done locally.

Very slow svn client on windows, very fast svn client on linux

I am forced to use a visual-svn-server that is located in our windows domain. The problem is that it is super slow to use with windows client. Weird thing is that the same repository is very fast with linux client. The difference is like 3sec vs 90sec. I know somebody should fix the server, rather than me trying to fix the client, but i have no change of doing that.
So, to debug the problem I did some package capture with wireshark and it seems like windows, when doing 'svn up' (on up to date repository) does quite much ldap-negotiations before actually talking again with the actual svn-server. This takes time. Linux svn client when doing 'svn up' is not doing any ldap calls. The problem is not on my machine, but on all my colleagues windows clients too.
I tried forcing the svn client to 'basic' auth with configuration option http-auth-types (http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.7/svn.advanced.confarea.html), but it didnt help. I figured that would be basic, no ldap, http-basic-auth. I am able to confirm that the setting is included, since setting it to 'digest' says that authentication method is not available. But even that takes about 60s, so my guess is that its doing the ldap-wacko stuff before trying to do the authentication.
The subversion client i am using is 1.8 serie from tortoise svn official build. I did try also slicksvn client and it did have the same problem. The svn versions shows ra_serf is handling the https requests and my repository is visual-svn server located at https://my_server_intra_dns_name/
When opening the address with browser, its again fast as it should, so problem should not be with dns or similar.
I am linux guy, so i am bit lost with windows, but does anybody have an idea wtf is going on here?
---- edit ----
I had also linux as guest operating system on the windows host, and inside that linux doing svn up was about 3s, compare that to native windows 'svn.exe up' that took over minute !
If a Windows machine has a limited connectivity to the Internet, then you may notice the delay when running Subversion client command's against a remote repository over HTTPS.
Using a traffic analyzer you can notice, that the delay happens when Windows attempts to access ctldl.windowsupdate.com and gets a timeout. Windows attempts to access ctldl.windowsupdate.com to check Certificate Trust List (i.e. Certificate Revocation List). With limited Internet connectivity, Windows may be unable to access it thus resulting in these delays.
If it's not your case, then I suggest contacting VisualSVN's support team for investigation.
In my case it was due ot Windows proxy settings - that you set in IE (I use TortoiseSVN client, and Visual SVN Server was set to use basic authentication).
After I've set up IE proxy settings accordinlgy (automatic for me, but for you it might be something different) initial delay was gone.
It helped even though the svn server is on local LAN and I have checked with Wireshark if the traffic goes over proxy. In Tortoise I have proxy disabled. Why it helped with my issue - no idea.
The initial delay I had was 11-13 seconds. Now next to none.
And I am not using ssh client.
Go to http(s) location of your SVN server using your browsers: IE, Fireofx, whatever, and if the response is quick then it is very possible that is an svn client problem, or due to some similar settings (similar to your browser settings).
For instance IE was slow (IE was set up for local connection only previously), Firefox (with proper proxy settings) was OK - and SVN server IS local (sounds like some sort of network/firewall/routing issue to me, but proxy settings helped me).

VNC server -> websockify -> noVNC issue

Hello i have a bit of a problem using websockify.
I made executable for windows, then i start my websockify in cmd:
c:\web\websockify.exe 192.168.1.70:5901 192.168.1.70:5900
WARNING: no 'resource' module, daemonizing is slower or disabled
WebSocket server settings:
Listen on 192.168.1.70:5901
Flash security policy server
No SSL/TLS support (no cert file)
proxying from 192.168.1.70:5901 to 192.168.1.70:5900
so far all good. In the background VNC server is running on the same
computer at port 5900. The thing is i need to use websockify to be
able to use novnc on the other computer in local network.
I have latest novnc installed on latest XAMPP server (apache 2.2).
When i start vnc.html it asks for server, port, password. I typed
them in and press connect. I get an error on the websockify side:
WARNING: no 'resource' module, daemonizing is slower or disabled
Usage:
websockify.exe [options] [source_addr:]source_port target_addr:target_port
websockify.exe [options] [source_addr:]source_port -- WRAP_COMMAND_LINE
websockify.exe: error: no such option: --multiprocessing-fork
I can't connect using noVNC. I searched for internet to find solution
but did not find it.
Can someone help me get this apps together runnig?
or is there some more windows friendly solution with some other app that
does what websockify does?
br
Did you follow this guide? https://github.com/kanaka/websockify/wiki/Compiling-Websockify-as-Windows-Executable
Websockify uses the python multiprocessing module. This module is problematic on Windows, especially with older versions of python. You might try python 3.2 or greater and see if you have more success although no guarantees. Websockify is developed and tested on Linux only.
There used to be a pre-built version of Websockify for Windows that at least worked without multiprocessing (one client at a time), however, github dropped support for downloads so this build is no longer available.
Disclaimer: I made websockify.

Unable to run Firebird

I am installing Firebird (v1.5.5 - I know it's old but it works) on a new computer which is running Windows 7. I have installed the classic server version as a service. According to documentation at the Firebird site, I modified the firebird.conf file so that IPCName would be global\FirebirdIPI; I did this while the service was not running.
Despite all my efforts, I have been unable to access any of the databases which I copied to this new computer via ISQL. FWIW, the EMS SQL 2005 manager program is successful in accessing the databases, but this program apparently has a direct method which does not require fbclient.dll.
What else should I be checking?
Update from a few days later. After wasting a great deal of time with Windows 7, we decided to downgrade the computer and run XP. After installing the superserver version of FB 1.5.5, I can run my programs and access the databases which are stored on this computer. Attempts to access the databases from other computers connected on the network failed with a variety of error messages, but normally something like 'i/o error for file !firebird!\db\q400.fdb'.
In order to allow people on the network to continue to access the databases, I revived the NT server and started the Firebird service - and all the programs can access these databases successfully from remote computers!
To simplify matters, there are three computers on the network:
the NT server ('zorcomp'), which is running the Firebird service; the fdb files reside on this computer in a directory called 'db' which sits under a shared directory called 'firebird'
a computer running XP, called 'kivserver', which also has a shared directory called 'firebird' and underneath that a directory called 'programs'. Copies of all the fdb files reside in a directory called 'db'.
a computer running XP, which maps \zorcomp\firebird to disk L: and \kivserver\firebird to disk T. From this computer, I can run a program sitting in T:\programs and get it to access successfully a file sitting in L:\db. If I stop the FB service on zorcomp and start the same service on kivserver, the same program cannot access files sitting in T:\db.
I hope this is clear enough. For the life of me, I can't see any difference between all the files which are residing in \kivserver\firebird to those which are sitting in \zorcomp\firebird - but somehow there is a difference!
Obviously, I don't want this arrangement to continue - the NT server has to be retired honourably.
Further edit. I now have the firebird server running on 'kivserver' (NT). I can access the database files locally.
Computers running Win7 can now access these database files using a connection string \\kivserver\firebird\db\database.fdb.
Computers running XP cannot access these database files, although IIRC wisql did succeed with \\kivserver\firebird\db\database.db.
The NT server has been disconnected from the network.
TIA,
No'am
AFAIK EMS SQL uses fbclient.dll (or a wraper around it).
If the only thing you want is to access the databases, I suggest you to do so using TCP protocol instead of the local protocol. To do it connect like this:
c:\>isql localhost:c:\path\to\db.fdb -u sysdba -p masterkey
Unless you're avoiding TCP or the machine have no local interface enabled, it will do the work for you.
Try using this to connect to your database:
hostname:drive:\complete path\filename.fdb
or
\hostname\drive\complete path\filename.fdb
May I know the component you're using?
If your clients are Windows 7 then you might try to use \\hostname\sharename\filename.fdb instead of drive:\filename.fdb connection string.
Several months later, the NT server was somewhat abruptly retired when it displayed 'MBR error' on rebooting after someone unlugged it by accident. Thus I was left with no option but to start running the Firebird server program on 'kivserver'. The connection problems returned.
Eventually I was able to solve the problem with the following connection string
10.0.0.202:e:\firebird\db\manager.fdb
where 10.0.0.202 is the ip address of the server, and e:\firebird\db the directory in which the database sits, relative to the server itself.
I hope that someone else, some time, will find this information useful.

Is an SSH tunnel through Citrix Client possible?

I know it is not strictly a programmer question, on the other hand, I would really like to be able to do a simple svn up on the production servers, which would save us a lot of hassle.
Or production servers are within a corporate network, and access is only allowed through a gateway server. From that we can access the actual servers via Remote Desktop. Because of this maintenance unfriendly setup we use a sftp server to get our files to the production server (where the ftp server alwys resets last modified date), so it is complicated to determine which files have changed.
So if it would be possible to setup a ssh tunnel from the actual server through the citrix connection, it would ease the whole update process.
(On further option which I consider is to use bazaar to push our updates to the sftp server and then pull the updates from there, but unfortunately there is no working svn plugin for bazaar available [on windows])
Okay, not wanting this to remain unsolved, I posted the following on the usenet in alt.os.citrix:
G'day everyone
Someone asked me this question. I haven't a clue. Any ideas?
"the connection I have is PC -> Citrix Access Gateway -> actual Server. My question is, if it is possible to establish a ssh connection from my PC to the actual Server."
The response I got from a Catherine Jefferson was:
Should be. I do this all the time using an Access Gateway VPN, then ssh to servers inside the company LAN.
What version of the Access Gateway is this user running? I work for Citrix, might be able to get a more specific answer for him or her.
So may I suggest you hook into alt.os.citrix (probably via Google Groups if you don't have an NNTP tool) and buy into the conversation.
--Bruce
I do this a lot. The tunnel is like:
ssh -nvCXAN -L 1494:10.0.2.39:1494 www.starshipping.com &
Then, you need an ICA file that points to localhost.
[WFClient]
Version=2
[ApplicationServers]
Connection To Citrix Server=
[Connection To Citrix Server]
WinStationDriver=ICA 3.0
TransportDriver=TCP/IP
ClientAudio=Off
DesiredColor=8
Username=yourusername
Domain=yourdomain
Password=xxxxxxxxx ; has to be encrypted. I pulled from another ICA file generated internally
ScreenPercent=97
TWIMode=OFF
Address=localhost
This all worked very fine on OSX until Citrix gave out a new version of the Citrix client which is now called the Citrix Online Plugin. Haven't been able to get it to work since then. Meanwhile, our VPN has been working fine, so haven't worried too much about it.
Citrix over SSH, How to Create a Key Pair for SSH Authentication Using PuTTYgen, Terminals. It seems that the answers are "out there" but not readily found. That was just five minutes in Google. HTH.

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