I have decided to go with Subversion for a source control repository for my personal and side projects and I'm now trying to decide what OS to use. Currently my file server for my home network is Windows 7 beta. I'm wondering if I should wipe it and install Windows Server 2008 instead? Basically I'd like to know if there are things I could take advantage with a server OS that I can't with Windows 7. First thing that comes to mind is accessing subversion remotely with a VPN connection.
I'm a .net developer, but have dabbled in Linux a bit so I'm not completely turned off to the idea of an ubuntu or debian server...
I imagine the installation and configuration process might go off with fewer hitches if installed on Linux, just because of the package management, but that's assuming some experience with the package system of $whatever_distro. If you're comfortable with Windows, Subversion works perfectly well on there. I've set it up on both, but prefer the Linux installation process (easier Apache integration, in my view), but I had pre-existing Linux experience.
If you're familiar with Windows, I bet you'll find the installation and configuration process easier there. As others have said, many of the tools are cross-platform.
You can run a Subversion server on Windows or Linux (or whatever) so it really doesn't matter. Pick whichever one you already have and feel most comfortable with. Since you are a Windows developer I see no real reason to toss Linux into the mix though.
If your goal is to minimize the amount of work you put into the maintenance of subversion, go with the OS you are most comfortable with. Many maintenance scripts, and subversion hooks are written and available in perl and python which are available for both windows and linux.
One advantage to the Windows server OSes over their client counterparts is that the client OSes are limited as to the number of inbound connections. If you are going to be the only person working on the repo, this may not make a difference. However, if there are multiple people, then this would be an issue. XP Pro/Vista Ultimate are limited by Microsoft to 10 inbound connections. I cannot speak for Windows 7.
To make life easy, try VisualSVN Server. For personal projects there's no reason to setup a separate server just for SVN.
Windows 7 will be able to host Subversion with no problems whatsoever..
If your file-server is already setup and working under Windows 7, I'd say stick with that.. Adding SVN is no reason to install a new OS
You don't need a server at all to use subversion.
If you've already got a file server on your home network, and you're doing this only for you and your personal projects, just use a subversion client such as TortoiseSVN and create your repository (or repositories) on your file server via network share (or mapped network drive, etc).
I wouldn't recommend this for multi-user setups (unless each has their own repository), but for a single user this is the simplest option. And using this approach, to answer your question, you wouldn't gain anything by switching to a server OS such as Windows Server 2008.
I'd actually recommend going with a hosted Subversion provider instead of setting up Subversion on Windows or getting a second server for that purpose. I work for ProjectLocker, but if you Google "subversion hosting", you'll see there are a number of providers that offer free or reasonably priced solutions. The advantages:
It's a hosting provider's primary job to keep your code safe, secure, and accessible, so they focus on uptime, backups, and security monitoring so you don't have to
You don't have to learn how to be a system administrator or Subversion administrator; several providers have user interfaces that make it easy to manage users and permissions.
Hosting instead of DIY lets you focus on what you actually care about: writing great software
I suggest you take a look at ProjectLocker and some of the other providers and decide which one is right for you. You may decide that doing it yourself is the best option for you, but for many people in your situation, a hosted solution has met their needs.
Related
I am starting with Bazaar (switching from Subversion, sorry if terminology is a bit off sometimes). Using Bazaar locally no problems.
Got bzr+ssh:// working on my Windows server (finally! and even ssh agent is working wow!)
Now I want a shared repository on the server from which the developers can branch to their machines. I want the repository in a specific folder, for example in C:\bzr\MyProject.
When I do:
bzr init-repo --no-trees bzr+ssh://myserver.com/MyProject
it creates the repository in C:\cygwin\home\user\MyProject in the home directory of my user account - it is understandable, but worrying.
Then as an experiment I also tried and succeeded:
bzr init-repo --no-trees bzr+ssh://myserver.com/C:\bzr\MyProject
This created the repository where I wanted. But how do I "map" or "alias" the URL (or bzr) so my developers can logon under their accounts and use URL
bzr+ssh://myserver.com/MyProject
to access the shared repository in C:\bzr\MyProject?
Obviously I don't want developers to use bzr+ssh://myserver.com/C:\bzr\MyProject because of the physical path in the URL.
Ok my own answer is if you want to run Bazaar on a Windows server for a development team who will access it over the internet,
and you are not familiar with Linux, Cygwin, SSHD and related stuff then it might turn out more complicated than you can bear.
I actually abandoned the Bazaar idea and gone with Mercurial. I must say Mercurial install on the server is also steep, but at least it is just Windows, IIS and only a bit of Python. Got it running in half a day.
Some of the problems that I had with bzr+ssh:// on a Windows server are:
Needs SSHD installed on the server. SSHD (from stripped down Cygwin) supplied with Bazaar refused to work. Had to install Cygwin and learn a bit of Linux stuff, how to run as a service, how to configure, how to generate keys.
Hard to add a new user in a way that does not request passwords typing for each command. Will need to generate a keypair, mock with copying the keys to th server in two locations (Cygwin's home user folder and Window's too). Probably need to log on the user to Windows to create a profile. Don't want developers logging on to the server actually.
Hard to set up a shared repository in a specific location on the server. Does not seem possible with bzr+ssh. Possible with sftp. Might need to use symlinks as bialix suggested above.
As a newbie to linux stuff I don't understand all implications of running sshd on the server and giving shell access to the developer accounts. Have to use bzr shell limited... documentation is scarce.
Basically, bzr+ssh:// on a Windows server seems to be what installing Subversion on a Windows server was like several years ago - hard. Hopefully it will get better with Bazaar too because I chose it over Mercurial initially.
I am developing a webapp that will be used on LAN mostly. I have different locations where I deployed this app. Some of the locations run windows and some run linux (no x-window system). I need to know if there is a software out there that could easily synchronize my files stored somehere in the cloud (the clouding service can be provided by the app developers or to use different clouds) on both linux and windows machines. My english is a bit rusty so i'm going to explain this in simple words.
I will work on my local machine. I want to upload the files somewhere on the cloud and the clients installed on the LAN servers should synchronize the files. The client must be available for linux under console (as a daemon if possible) while on windows it can be something like dropbox or ubuntu one.
Does somebody know of such an app?
Dropbox is available for Linux.
You could also investigate unison.
I think "Git" is the best solution to develop your project in different machine.
You can sync your code with easy command through this app, and it will record all the version of your code.
Just google "Git tutorial", and you will find many useful introductions.
I think there is a great tool called Syncthing should be considered after 8 years.
https://syncthing.net/
Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers and replaces proprietary sync and cloud services with something open, trustworthy and decentralized. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, if it is shared with some third party and how it's transmitted over the internet.
Check the list of Syncthing's goals for more details.
Is there anyone out there that can share experiences with the various flavours of running svnserve on Windows. I'm using it mainly for a small hobby project that I share with friends, so it will run on my desktop.
Using the Collabnet Subversion Edge seems a bit heavy weight. Any drawbacks in just run 'svnserve'? I recently found VisualSVNserver which seems to add some easy administrative functions.
I have good experience with VisualSVN server, very easy to set up and configure user accounts.
It is also very easy to upgrade, just run the latest installer and you're done.
With VisualSVN you can run HTTPS with a self signed certificate. If you just run svnserve you're left without encryption and that is not recommended if you plan to access your server from the internet.
Keep in mind that whatever solution you choose they all use standard svn as the backend and you can easily move your repositories from one solution to another.
If you plan to make your project open source you can host your code at sourceforge or codeplex.
I'm a web developer that needs to build a piece of software for my local office of about 20-30 Windows computers. It needs to automatically and silently run software updates and deployments on all computers.
The Windows computers run on a local network. I'm not sure where to start putting my hands on with something like this... I'm an experienced programmer, just need the right direction on what to read.
I know each Windows client has a Samba server, and also we're using Active Directory, but I'm not sure how that works.
How would I go about starting developing this? I'm sure there's Windows APIs for samba file transfers, but I also need to know about documentation on silently installing the .exe or whatever, and also I need APIs to know the applications running on the client to understand if they need to be updated.
Where's all these APIs?
Have a look at wpkg.org. It's license is GPL. It runs on Samba in an Active Directory. See also their feature overview.
I mentioned Samba only because you also did so. Though your exact words read: 'I know each Windows client has a Samba server [....] though I'm not sure how that works.'
In case you meant that each Windows client has access to a Samba server, my answer may be contributing to help you.
In case you thought your Windows clients are running Samba themselves, this is impossible (but my answer may help to clarify a few things nevertheless).
Here's why:
Samba is an implementation of the Microsoft SMB stack of networking protocols for Unix-oid operating systems.
SMB is what all Windows computers use natively.
why exactly you want do develop this application
there is a Microsoft product responsible for this thing . it is called SUS server
VisualSVN server is a nice piece of software; particularly in that it uses the builtin Windows authentication mechanism on my server. I'd like to try to start using Mercurial though, and I'd like to keep the Windows authentication scheme.
Is there some way to set this kind of thing up using the tools available on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (in particular, IIS 7)?
If you're using it within a LAN, you can just store your mercurial repo on a windows network share - no need for a server component.
If need it web-accessible, the answer Am linked to above seems to cover how to set up IIS.
If you're not adverse to paying, Kiln might be worth investigating, though I can't tell from the info on the site if they use Windows auth.
Excuse my necroposting, but I've just released an alpha version of HgLab, which is a purely managed Mercurial Server for Windows.