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= How to sync your ports tree using Subversion (over HTTP(s)) =

- Audience: end users who cannot use rsync (873/tcp) due to firewalls,
  proxies, policy, etc.
- Requires: MacPorts
- Requires: Subversion 


== Introduction ==

Some people live and work behind a firewall or proxy that blocks or
otherwise breaks rsync, which is the primary means of getting updated
portfiles in MacPorts. The following steps will switch your tree over to
using Subversion (over https) for syncing.

Note: if you are using a custom prefix, you will have to replace the default of `/opt/local` with the location of your MacPorts install in the instructions below.


== Installation ==

=== Step 0: Install Subversion ===

OS X 10.5 Leopard and later comes with Subversion already installed. If
you are using Tiger, or some other system which does not provide
a Subversion client, you will need to install Subversion yourself. If
you have a copy of the ports tree already, just run:
{{{
sudo port install subversion
}}}
If you do not have a copy of the ports tree, you can download the daily
tarball by following [wiki:howto/PortTreeTarball the tarball howto].

=== Step 1: Checkout Initial Copy ===
{{{
cd /opt/local/var/macports/sources
mkdir -p svn.macports.org/trunk/dports
cd svn.macports.org/trunk/dports 
svn co https://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/ .
}}}
If you prefer, the repository is also available via HTTP, which requires
less configuration, but is seen as less secure (subject to a man in the
middle attack).
{{{
svn co http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/ .
}}}


== Configuration ==

=== Step 2: Configure MacPorts ===

Edit `/opt/local/etc/macports/sources.conf` to comment out the `rsync://` entry and add the `file:///` entry:

Note: if you need to replace `/opt/local` with your custom prefix, make sure the initial "!file:///..." contains three slashes.

{{{
#rsync://rsync.macports.org/macports/release/tarballs/ports.tar [default]
file://opt/local/var/macports/sources/svn.macports.org/trunk/dports/ [default]
}}}

=== Step 3: Configure Subversion ===

First, tell subversion to use your proxy to connect to the server.  This
should not be necessary if your initial SVN checkout was from the http
or https URL's (and the checkout worked), so most people should not have
to do this.  If initial checkout failed, you will need this.  If you
needed to configure your own ~/.subversion/servers file to be able to do
the initial checkout, then you *do* need this step.

1. If the /opt/local/var/macports/home/.subversion/servers file doesn't
   exist, create it by copying the corresponding ~/.subversion/servers
   file from another user to that location.  (SVN automatically creates
   this file if it doesn't exist, so you probably already have one.)
1. Edit the file and set a proxy for hosts at `*.macports.org`.
   Different proxy configurations require different sets of options
   here, but the file is pretty well commented, so it should be easy to
   figure out what you need.  At a minimum you'll need settings for
   http-proxy-host and http-proxy-port.

Finally, if you want to use SVN over HTTPS to access the repository
(i.e. if your initial SVN checkout was the !https:// URL), you'll need to
tell SVN to trust the MacPorts signature.  (SVN doesn't trust the
authority that issued it, and `port sync` below invokes `svn up` with
the `--non-interactive` flag, so you won't have the opportunity to
accept the certificate then.)

1. `mkdir -p /opt/local/var/macports/home/.subversion/auth/svn.ssl.server`
1. As a normal user, run `svn ls https://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/`.
   When prompted, accept the certificate permanently.
1. SVN will store the certificate in a file in the directory
   `$HOME/.subversion/auth/svn.ssl.server`.  In that directory, find the
   file that contains the string "`https://svn.macports.org`" and copy
   it into `/opt/local/var/macports/home/.subversion/auth/svn.ssl.server`.

Or, you can use SVN over HTTP (i.e. your initial checkout was from the
!http:// URL), in which case you don't need to worry about the
certificate.

=== Step 4: Sync ===

Run sync in debug mode and watch for "svn update" instead of "rsync"
being used.  Basically, if this command works, you're good to go, and
future sync's will work as well.

{{{
port -d sync 
}}}

== See also ==

Additional topics related to MacPorts and SVN:

- Creating and testing ports not yet submitted to MacPorts:
  [https://guide.macports.org/#development.local-repositories Local SVN development repository]
- [wiki:RunningTrunk Running an unstable/development version of MacPorts]


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