Warren Weckesser -- Notes for setting up ssh and svn access

Notes for setting up ssh and svn access

I am still learning about this stuff, so it might not work as expected. Let me know if there are any problems.

Login in to a computer in the lab, and start a console. Enter the following commands. (You need to do this once on each computer that you will use.) Replace userid with your login name, and replace NN with the appropriate number. (For example, if you are on mathlab03, replace NN with 03.)


 $ ssh-keygen -t dsa -f ~/.ssh/id_dsa -C "userid@mathlabNN.colgate.edu"

You will be asked for a "passphrase".


 $ cat ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub | ssh userid@horseshoe.colgate.edu 'cat - >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys'

You will be asked for your password on horseshoe.colgate.edu.


 $ ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_dsa

If everything has worked, you can now ssh to horseshoe without having to enter a password. You should also be able to access the subversion repository without needing a password. To test your access to horseshoe, try this:


 $ ssh horseshoe.colgate.edu

You should end up logged into horseshoe, without being prompted for a password. To leave horseshoe, use "exit".

Note: The above will work on the Linux computers in the lab. These computers start the command ssh-agent automatically. On other Linux or Mac computers, you may have to start ssh-agent manually before ssh and the svn commmands will work. Here is one way:

 $ eval `ssh-agent -s`

Accessing the subversion repository

I put the files from the web page into a Subversion repository on horseshoe.colgate.edu. I have also set up your horseshoe accounts so you can access and modify this repository. The idea is that when you want to work on files in the repository, you copy them to your computer, make changes, and them put them back into the repository. The Subversion software keeps track of the changes.

There is a Subversion book online at http://svnbook.red-bean.com/.

Here are some of the basic commands:

To copy the files to your computer (subversion calls this "checkout"). This command will put all the files in the "cpldosc" repository into a directory called cpldosc on your computer.
```
 $ svn checkout svn+ssh://horseshoe.colgate.edu/srv/svn/cpldosc/trunk cpldosc
```
To add a new file to the repository. This tells subversion that "filename" should be included in the repository when you copy the files back.
```
 $ svn add filename
```
Note: No special command is needed if you change an existing file. Also, there are other subversion commands to handle renaming or deleting files.
Update your copy of the repository with changes made by anyone else
```
 $ svn update
```
To copy your files back to the repository (subversion calls this "commit")
```
 $ svn commit -m "Add an explanation of your changes here."
```