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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-18T12:14:09+00:00

You’re using subversion and you accidentally checkin some code before it’s ready. For example,

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You’re using subversion and you accidentally checkin some code before it’s ready. For example, I often: a) checkin some code, then b) edit a little, then c) hit up, enter to repeat the previous command which unfortunately was a checkin.

Is it possible to retract such an accidental checkin from the server with subversion?

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  1. Editorial Team

    NB: THIS PROBABLY WON’T WORK ON CURRENT VERSIONS OF SUBVERSION AND IS A BAD IDEA – but I’ve left it here for information

    NB: Normally when you have checked in by mistake, you should just revert the commit – see the other answers to this question. However, if you want to know how to actually undo the effects of the commit and change the repository to be how it was before, there’s some explanation below:

    This isn’t what you normally want, but if you really want to remove the actual committed version from the repository, then you can do a nasty rollback on the repository as follows (this assumes that $REV is set to the latest revision, which you are removing):

    • Backup your repository first as these changes may break it (and read the assumptions below)
    • Revert your local copy to the previous revision so it doesn’t get confused (svn revert -r $((REV-1)))
    • In the repository, remove db/revs/$REV and db/revprops/$REV
    • In the repository, remove db/current and (for subversion 1.6 or greater) db/rep-cache.db, and run svnadmin recover .
    • (Possibly) adjust the permissions on db/rep-cache.db to prevent attempt to write a readonly database errors

    This all assumes:

    • You’re using a fsfs-based repository
    • Subversion release greater than 1.5.0 (otherwise you have to manually edit db/current and change the revision number rather than running svnadmin recover .)
    • No other subsequent revisions have been committed
    • You have write access to the filesystem of the repository
    • You aren’t scared of somebody else trying to access it while you do the above

    I’ve done it when a huge file was committed to a repository that I didn’t want to stay in the history (and mirrors etc) forever; it’s not in any way ideal or normal practice…

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