Question

I have an Ubuntu Server and wanted to install subversion and set up some repositories. I used the guide at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Subversion to setup a local repository.

When I walk into the directory I’ll find a README-file, which contains the following:

This is a Subversion repository; use the ‘svnadmin’ tool to examine
it. Do not add, delete, or modify files here unless you know how
to avoid corrupting the repository. Visit http://subversion.tigris.org/ for more information.

Where should I store my files or how to avoid corrupting the repository?

Best regards,
Erik Persson

Answer 1

You create the repository with svnadmin create.

After that, you check it out to a different directory (Your “working copy”). If you want to check it out on the same computer, use svn checkout file:///path/to/repository.

However, if you may want to have a working computer on another computer – your laptop, or someone else’s, you need to make the repository available via http or svnserve (The howto you linked describes just that) and check it out on another computer. Typically, you don’t need to to ever touch your repository again. Any write will be done by svn when you commit changes.