Downgrade Subversion 1.8 working copy to 1.7

Question

Has anybody already managed to downgrade from Subversion 1.8 to Subversion 1.7? The provided script at http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/tools/client-side/change-svn-wc-format.py only handles Subversion up to 1.6.

Answer 1

If I read this correctly, there is no way to revert back. http://tortoisesvn.net/tsvn_1.8_releasenotes.html#compatibility (According to TortoiseSVN)

Answer 2

• Commit any uncommitted work or save uncommitted work if you are unable to commit with 1.8 SVN.
• Delete or rename working directory.
• Uninstall your 1.8 SVN client.
• Install 1.7 SVN client.
• Checkout repo again. Working copy is now 1.7 format

Answer 3

Since both Subversion 1.7 and 1.8 have a single .svn folder in the root directory (unlike 1.6 and lower) you can use the following simplified procedure:

1. Install subversion 1.7 for your OS. If you are on osx and use homebrew, you can do it by running the following commands in terminal:

   brew tap homebrew/versions brew install subversion17

   Now, assuming you are in the root of your working copy:

2. Rename the .svn folder in your working copy (just in case you'll need to restore later):

   mv .svn .svn18

3. Do a new checkout in a temporary folder using subversion 1.7:

   svn co http://myrepo.com/ /tmp/v17

4. Copy only the .svn folder created by subversion 1.7 to your working copy:

   cp /tmp/v17/.svn .