Online Seminar: Backing Up Source Files and Documents with Subversion

Speaker: Baolai Ge, SHARCNET

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In this talk we introduce the use of open source software Subversion for the revision control and backup of your files on SHARCNET. Quite often many people have multiple copies of files at different places, including, for example, SHARCNET systems, departmental computers and personal laptops. When working on a project, people often keep multiple copies of source code, data files and notes that contain the changes ever made during the course of development. Manually keeping a large number of files and copies at different places up to date and synchronized across multiple locations can be tedious and error prone.

With Subversion, copies of files and folders are saved in a centralized repository on a server at SHARCNET. Old versions of files can be retrieved and new versions can be saved from anywhere at any time. Subversion also allows one to share files with others in a group when working on a project. Group members may make changes to the same file (assuming not at the same time in general) – checking out a file from the repository, making changes, committing the changes back to the reposity. Revisions of that file are tracked by the system and different versions can be retrieved by others when needed.

We will go through the basic features of the Subersion service provided by SHARCNET in details with examples. A working knowledge on a UNIX (like) environment is assumed.

It is highly recommended that you join the webinar a few minutes early to ensure you get your sound option sorted out before the meeting starts.