# phpman > man > svnserve(8)

[svnserve(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svnserve/8/markdown)                            System Manager's Manual                           [svnserve(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svnserve/8/markdown)



## 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
            Sets the virtual root for repositories served by **svnserve**.  The pathname  in  URLs  pro‐
            vided  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 invok‐
            ing **svnserve** - for example, to allow write access via SSH, but not via a  **svnserve**  dae‐
            mon, 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  hav‐
            ing 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svnserve.conf/5/markdown) 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  op‐
            tion is mainly useful for debugging.

       Unless  the  **--config-file**  option was specified on the command line, once the client has se‐
       lected 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 authenti‐
       cation database to use and what authorization policies to apply.   See  the  [**svnserve.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svnserve.conf/5/markdown)
       man page for details of that file format.

## SEE ALSO
       [**svnserve.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svnserve.conf/5/markdown)



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