Skip to content
Johnny Morano's Tech Articles

Johnny Morano's Tech Articles

Ramblings of an old-fashioned space cowboy

Menu
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
Menu

Recovering a deleted file in Subversion

Posted on August 31, 2010 by insaniac

Many times I have been looking on the Internet to find a suitable solution for this, but in the end I’ve created my own solution.

These next steps will explain how to recover a deleted file back into the HEAD revision, in a Subversion repositry.


The following example shows how to Subversion commands should be executed.

  • At first, a test environment is created:
    .oO( ~/trunk )Oo. svn mkdir test_dir
    A         test_dir
    .oO( ~/trunk )Oo. ls
    test_dir
    
    .oO( ~/trunk )Oo. cd test_dir/
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. ls
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. echo 'Regel 1'  >>file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn add file_1
    A         file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn ci -m '-m test set up'
    Adding         test_dir
    Adding         test_dir/file_1
    Transmitting file data .
    
    Committed revision 14.
    
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. ls
    file_1
  • Next, a certain file will be deleted:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn delete file_1
    D         file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn ci -m '- deleting test file'
    Deleting       test_dir/file_1
    
    Committed revision 15.
  • Afterwards, a few more Subversion commands are executed to have some more logging and revision numbers:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. echo 'Regel 1' >file_2
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn add file_2
    A         file_2
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn ci -m '- added second test file'
    Adding         test_dir/file_2
    Transmitting file data .
    
    Committed revision 16.
  • The svn log --verbose command shows which the commit messages, revision numbers and affected path names:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn log --verbose
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r16 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:47:21 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    A /trunk/test_dir/file_2
    
    - added second test file
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r15 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:46:53 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    D /trunk/test_dir/file_1
    
    - deleting test file
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r14 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:45:52 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    A /trunk/test_dir
    A /trunk/test_dir/file_1
    
    -m test set up
  • Since in revision r15 the file file_1 was deleted, one revision less will be used to recover the file, using the svn update -r command. Beware that the file must be first renamed to a new filename and afterwards renamed to the original filename!
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn update -r14 file_1
    A    file_1
    Updated to revision 14.
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn rename file_1 new_file_1
    A         new_file_1
    D         file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn status
    D      file_1
    A  +   new_file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn ci -m '- readding'
    Deleting       test_dir/file_1
    Adding         test_dir/new_file_1
    
    Committed revision 17.
  • Check the Subversion logging:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn log new_file_1
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r17 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:53:46 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    
    - readding
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r14 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:45:52 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    
    -m test set up
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • Rename the new filename to the original filename:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn rename new_file_1 file_1
    A         file_1
    D         new_file_1
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn ci -m '- readding'
    Adding         test_dir/file_1
    Deleting       test_dir/new_file_1
    
    Committed revision 18.
  • Check the Subversion logging:
    .oO( ~/trunk/test_dir )Oo. svn log --verbose file_1
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r18 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:54:09 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    A /trunk/test_dir/file_1 (from /trunk/test_dir/new_file_1:17)
    D /trunk/test_dir/new_file_1
    
    - readding
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r17 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:53:46 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    A /trunk/test_dir/new_file_1 (from /trunk/test_dir/file_1:14)
    
    - readding
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    r14 | jmorano | 2010-08-31 15:45:52 +0200 (Tue, 31 Aug 2010) | 1 line
    Changed paths:
    A /trunk/test_dir
    A /trunk/test_dir/file_1
    
    -m test set up
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • Recent Posts

    • Use multiple Azure subscriptions in Terraform modules
    • Read the HAProxy UNIX socket file using Perl
    • A Prometheus Exporter framework written in Perl
    • Managing LDAP passwords with Perl
    • Libvirt guest startup issue with AppArmor
    • Deploy a PostgreSQL database with an initial schema using Ansible
    • Using Ansible to finalize Hashicorp Packer images

    Categories

    • Automation (8)
    • Blog (60)
    • Database (4)
    • Development (37)
    • Linux (26)
    • Mac OS X (5)
    • Media (2)
    • OpenBSD (3)
    • Perl (34)
    • Photo (2)
    • PostgreSQL (4)
    • Terraform (5)
    • Web (11)

    Tags

    Ajax (3) Android (1) Ansible (2) API (5) AppArmor (1) Automation (5) Azure (3) azurerm (2) Bash (4) Cloud (2) CPAN (4) CSS (1) Debian (4) Dev (35) DevOps (11) EXIF (1) Facebook (1) Geotag (1) GMail (1) Google (3) Hack (2) Hashicorp (4) Hetzner (2) HTML (4) IMAP (2) IPTables (6) JavaScript (4) Libvirt (2) Linux (25) Logging (2) MacOSX (5) Media (2) Monitoring (6) MySQL (3) OpenBSD (4) Packer (1) Perl (35) PF (2) Postgresql (6) Security (7) SysAdmin (24) Terraform (4) Ubuntu (2) UNIX (9) Web 2.0 (3)

    Archive

    • April 2022 (10)
    • March 2022 (6)
    • December 2016 (1)
    • March 2016 (1)
    • November 2015 (1)
    • November 2014 (1)
    • August 2014 (1)
    • May 2014 (1)
    • February 2014 (2)
    • December 2013 (1)
    • October 2013 (2)
    • September 2013 (2)
    • August 2013 (2)
    • October 2012 (1)
    • August 2012 (4)
    • March 2012 (3)
    • July 2011 (1)
    • June 2011 (2)
    • April 2011 (3)
    • March 2011 (4)
    • February 2011 (2)
    • December 2010 (2)
    • October 2010 (4)
    • September 2010 (1)
    • August 2010 (5)

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    Footer

    • Shihai Corp
    • My Photo website
    © 2022 Johnny Morano's Tech Articles | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme
    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Do not sell my personal information.
    Cookie SettingsAccept
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
    viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT