synchronization with Subversion

synchronization with Subversion

[Tad.Mannes]

Greetings,

we maintain a "central/main" git repository which our developers clone 
from.  We want to synchronize this "central" git repository with 
Subversion.  I know this is not the recommended way to do this, but this 
was the choice that was made.  The "central" git repository was originally 
cloned from Subversion as that was our migration path to git.

Currently I can't get the synchronization to work again after another 
sprint.  I get the following error message:
Unable to determine upstream SVN information from HEAD history.
Perhaps the repository is empty. at /usr/libexec/git-core/git-svn line 
525.
This synchronization has worked a number of times, but now it always fails 
with the above error.

I have read that it's best to have a linear commit history when 
synchronizing to Subversion, and I've read that "git rebase" is the way to 
accomplish this.  I've attempted this, but I run into two problems trying 
to do this:

1. Any files/directories which get moved/renamed cause the rebase to stop 
and I have to tell git to skip the commit, though it appears to me that 
the move/rename actually worked.  I am confused by this behavior, and 
don't understand why it happens at all.

2. There are a number of conflicts which occur during the rebase.  This 
also confuses me.  I think I understand why they happen, but I'm not clear 
about how to handle them.  Our code base goes back many years and contains 
a huge number of commits (originally in CVS, then migrated to Subversion 
and Git).  It isn't obvious what impact the conflict resolution would 
have.  My suspicion, is that it will breed even more conflicts as the 
rebase continues from that point.

As you might have guessed, Subversion is the corporate mandated 
repository, which is why we are attempting to maintain the 
synchronization.  We have a "central" git repository as we want to have 
more control over which changes are accepted.

I'm hoping for some suggestions for dealing with this.  Any takers?

Thnks/Brgds             --Tad
--- 
Tad K. Mannes
Senior Developer
SITA - Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques

Re: synchronization with Subversion

[Semen Vadishev]

Hello Tad,

> we maintain a "central/main" git repository which our developers clone
> from.  We want to synchronize this "central" git repository with
> Subversion.  I know this is not the recommended way to do this, but this
> was the choice that was made.  The "central" git repository was originally
> cloned from Subversion as that was our migration path to git.

Have you looked at SubGit, http://subgit.com/ ?

SubGit is a bi-directional git-svn synchronization tool. It's basically 
a set of hooks that enable instant conversion of changes between 
Subversion and Git repositories. So, I think it'd work great for you.

SubGit does not use git-svn internally, it's built on home-grown 
conversion engine. Most probably you have to re-translate your 
Subversion repository with SubGit in order to keep repositories synced.

SubGit is a commercial closed-source product. But we provide free 
options for open-source and academic projects. It's also free for 
evaluation period.

Semen Vadishev,
TMate Software,
http://subgit.com/ - git+svn on the server side!

On 8/7/12 22:28, Tad.Mannes@sita.aero wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> we maintain a "central/main" git repository which our developers clone
> from.  We want to synchronize this "central" git repository with
> Subversion.  I know this is not the recommended way to do this, but this
> was the choice that was made.  The "central" git repository was originally
> cloned from Subversion as that was our migration path to git.
>
> Currently I can't get the synchronization to work again after another
> sprint.  I get the following error message:
> Unable to determine upstream SVN information from HEAD history.
> Perhaps the repository is empty. at /usr/libexec/git-core/git-svn line
> 525.
> This synchronization has worked a number of times, but now it always fails
> with the above error.
>
> I have read that it's best to have a linear commit history when
> synchronizing to Subversion, and I've read that "git rebase" is the way to
> accomplish this.  I've attempted this, but I run into two problems trying
> to do this:
>
> 1. Any files/directories which get moved/renamed cause the rebase to stop
> and I have to tell git to skip the commit, though it appears to me that
> the move/rename actually worked.  I am confused by this behavior, and
> don't understand why it happens at all.
>
> 2. There are a number of conflicts which occur during the rebase.  This
> also confuses me.  I think I understand why they happen, but I'm not clear
> about how to handle them.  Our code base goes back many years and contains
> a huge number of commits (originally in CVS, then migrated to Subversion
> and Git).  It isn't obvious what impact the conflict resolution would
> have.  My suspicion, is that it will breed even more conflicts as the
> rebase continues from that point.
>
> As you might have guessed, Subversion is the corporate mandated
> repository, which is why we are attempting to maintain the
> synchronization.  We have a "central" git repository as we want to have
> more control over which changes are accepted.
>
> I'm hoping for some suggestions for dealing with this.  Any takers?
>
> Thnks/Brgds             --Tad
> ---
> Tad K. Mannes
> Senior Developer
> SITA - Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques
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