On 8/31/07, Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ron Wilson wrote:
> > On 8/31/07, Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Strip, David R wrote:
> >>> I was not aware of the vulnerability under FILE://, but now that you
> >>> mention it, I'm guessing the problem arises when two (or more) people
> >>> try to commit (or otherwise modify) the repository at the same time.
> >>> Since FILE:// provides no directory level locking, you can get seriously
> >>> hosed. Is that the issue?
> >> Whether directory level locking is available or not depends fully on the
> >> network protocol and the filesystem on the server. If both support it,
> >> Subversion can use it and you will be fine even if multiple accesses
> >> happen at the same time. But lets face it: there simply isn't a network
> >> that stable to never have problems. And one cut connection is enough to
> >> leave a lock in the repository - you will have to execute an 'svnadmin
> >> recover' on the repository before any other access will be possible.
> >> And of course, if you run that command over the network and someone
> >> tries to access the repo that very moment, your repository could get
> >> screwed beyond repair. (svnadmin recover can't lock - it has to *remove*
> >> left over locks, that's why an access at that time is fatal).
> >
> > Unfortunately, there are some environments where the file:/// method
> > is the only option. I am working in such an environment. It is very
> > hard to get the IT people to grant us a DB on the MS SQL server or
> > even a MS extension to IIS, let alone get them to set up any other
> > kind of server. We were able to get a server folder under which we put
> > all our group's shared resources, including the SVN repositories.
> > (Fortunately, they long ago gave up on trying to support the "arcane"
> > needs of embedded software development and give us admin rights to our
> > PCs.)
>
> Believe me, I know what you're going through. But there's a better
> solution: use one of your 'old' PC's (you *do* get a new computer once
> in a while? I doubt that you're still using a 200MHz PentiumII with
> Win3.1 on it), put a basic Linux on there (no KDE or Gnome or other
> heavy stuff), add Apache and SVN. Then write a two line script which
> dumps all the repositories and copies them to the 'big' server (you have
> already shared folders there which get backed up), then call that script
> from a cron job every day at midnight.
> Put that old PC then somewhere in a dark corner in your office where
> your IT guys can't find it and they'll never know...
> (in case you're wondering: that's what we did at my former company)
They can still find it - or not allow it to grab an IP address in the
first place. In some environments, putting an unauthorized machine on
the network is serious trouble.
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Received on Sat Sep 1 00:04:09 2007