how to access subversion server remotely

Question

I just installed VisualSVN server yesterday at my home computer and I can access my repositories ok at localhost but when I try to access it remotely, it won't connect. Am I supposed to configure something else or is it not possible?

I'm using https://servername/svn as the URL in my browser and the home computer is behind a router. This is only for personal use.

Thanks

Answer 1

Are you sure that you have working name resolution for servername when not at home? For remote access to work you will at least require:

• Public IP number of your server, any RFC1918 numbers such as 192.168.XX won't be accessible from the outside.
• Name resolution; either through a officially registered DNS name or through a host file.
• If there is a firewall in your router it must allow https (TCP/443) traffic.
• If your server is on a private network and you want to access it through your router's official IP you will need port forwarding.

Answer 2

Your router likely does not allow traffic through on port 443 (SSL) by default. You may have to set up a rule to let that happen. Many routers call this setting up a DMZ or something similar. The basic idea is to allow traffic on that one port to one specific computer inside your protected network.

Answer 3

What do you mean by remote? Remote as in on the same LAN or remote as in across the internet.

First off, make sure your firewall on the home computer isn't blocking outside access to subversion.

If you still have problems on the same LAN, then I dont know.

For WAN, you have 3 options

1. Configure the router to DMZ to your home computer (forward all ports, the least secure option)
2. Configure the router to do a port-forwarding to your home computer to allow outside access
3. Configure IPSec or some other VPN type technology. (out of my area of expertise)

Once you have the ports forwarded or whatever configured, then how are you accessing your home computer? You can not use 192.168.* across the internet. You must get your public IP address and connect using it(I recommend http://ipchicken.com ). If your public IP address is dynamic, then you will need to get a dynamic IP address service such as http://no-ip.com so that you can get a free domain name that will always point at your home computer, and then you just use that domain name instead of using your home IP address and it will always work.