How to Install Subversion on Mac OS X

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Last Updated: October 2, 2025 Tested

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Installing

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Set Up

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Tips

Subversion, sometimes called SVN, is an open-source system that remembers every change made to your files and directories. It can be helpful if you'd like to track how your documents have changed over time or to recover an older version of a file. Start at Step 1 for detailed instructions for installing Subversion on Mac OS X.

Part 1

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Installing

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Navigate to http://subversion.apache.org/packages.html#osx. There you will find a number of binaries that you can download, each having various requirements. Pick the one most appropriate for your needs.
pkg file. It should create a Subversion installer on your desktop. Double click that file, and follow the installation steps as directed.

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Open the Terminal, located in the Utilities folder. Alternately, search in Spotlight for Terminal. Enter the following at the [username]$ prompt:
- svn [enter]
- If that returns "Type 'svn help' for usage," then svn is working correctly.
- If /usr/local/bin is not in your path, edit your .profile and add a line like the following:
  - export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
- Open another Terminal window and try again with: svn [enter]

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You will need this to distribute a Subversion project.
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Launch Terminal, then create a directory called svnroot in your account directory, as follows: mkdir svnroot
- Type: svnadmin create /Users/[your username]/svnroot
- That creates your server!
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Use the svn server with Terminal. You can checkout in the terminal with this command: svn checkout file:///Users/[your username]/svnroot
- For remote access, enable "ssh access" (in System Preferences/Sharing) and checkout with: svn checkout svn+ssh://my.domain.com/Users/[your username]/svnroot
For example, svnX supports all current versions of Mac OS X from 10.5 to 10.8. You can get it at http://code.google.com.
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After the download, start SVNx and you will see two windows named Working Copies and Repositories. Under Repositories, add the URL und Login Data from the SVN Server.
- Open the window; if you get an error, check the LogIn.
- Switch to the Terminal and type: svn import -m "your Import message" /my/local/project/path /my/remote/svn/repository This command adds all files from the local Project to the SVN Server.
- Add the path of your SVN repository (from the SVN server) to the list in the Working Copy window in SVNx.
When you're working on this Project, you will see your modifications here.
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Test it. Make a small modification on your working copy, then refresh the Working Copy window.
- SVNx displays all files with modifications. Press the Commit button to add it to the SVN Server Repository.
If you prefer to work on the Subversion repository directly from the Finder, consider using either SCPlugin or SVN Scripts for Finder.

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Tips

Various additional documentation exists in the doc/ subdirectory of the Subversion source. See the file doc/README for more information.

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The primary documentation for Subversion is the free book Version Control with Subversion, a.k.a. "The Subversion Book." You can get it from http://svnbook.red-bean.com/

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