KB: SVN discontinuation with AES 7.2.1

Solution Details Copy Link Copied

When upgrading from an AES version where SVN support was enabled, you must disable the SVN support setting in the configuration file, LocalVault.ini. This change affects AES installations with the setting SvnMode=Full, which has to be changed to SvnMode=None. Design projects stored in an SVN repository managed through the AES VCS page need to be migrated to the AES native Git repository (Versioned Storage) before upgrading.

Altium provides the tools to migrate projects easily and quickly. With Altium Designer, you can migrate single projects. The SVN-to-Git migration tool allows you to migrate many projects in batch mode.

Users who don't use the SVN support (SvnMode=None) are unaffected.

Steps to prepare for an upgrade to AES 7.2.1:

1. Check if migration is needed. If the file LocalVault.ini in C:\Program Files (x86)\Altium\Altium365 has the entry SvnMode=Full and if there are SVN projects, you need to decide which projects have to be migrated through Altium Designer or with the SVN-to-Git migration tool.

1. All active SVN projects must be migrated. If you have active projects that you will not migrate, it is recommended that you stay on or update to AES 7.1.2, the most up-to-date version of AES with SVN support.
2. If SVN projects are not active anymore and you will not modify them in the future, they do not have to be migrated, but it is recommended that they be migrated. If you don't want to migrate non-active projects, you can keep them as archived projects. The non-migrated projects will be read-only. Direct access via an SVN server is still possible.
3. Now is a good time to do some housekeeping; for instance, the SVN-to-Git migration tool has a dry run mode that flags empty projects, which should likely be deleted rather than migrated.

2. Decide how the projects should be migrated. Should the SVN-to-Git migration tool be used to migrate project repositories by the server administrator or project-by-project through Altium Designer by the users?

3. AES administrators should communicate a migration plan to the AES users, including, e.g., the need to commit local project changes to the server before the migration.

4. Project migration through Altium Designer or with the SVN-to-Git migration tool.

1. When Altium Designer is connected to an AES, projects from an SVN repository can automatically be migrated to the built-in Git repository with the Migrate Project to Altium Versioned Storage command. Please see the documentation for further details: Moving from SVN to Git.
2. The SVN-to-Git migration tool runs on the AES host server; It migrates many projects from an SVN repository to the built-in Git repository in batch mode. After the migration, local copy users are notified through Altium Designer. Access to the SVN-to-Git migration tool can be requested through Altium Support with a Support Ticket ( https://www.altium.com/support ).

5. Verification of migrated projects. Open the projects from the server from scratch in Altium Designer.

6. Update local copies of migrated projects on user machines. For more details, please see the documentation, Collaboration after Migration. If problems occur, remove the local copy from the disk and open the project from the server to create a new local copy.

7. In the LocalVault.ini file, change SvnMode=Full to SvnMode=None.

8. Run the AES 7.2.1 installer, which updates the server as usual.

Questions and Answers for the discontinuation of SVN support with AES 7.2.1:

Question: Are external Git repositories affected by this change?

Answer: In the case of external Git repositories, we have 2 use cases.

Use case 1: The project is created locally and added to a Git repository, e.g., GitHub, Bitbucket, or some other Git server. Later, in Altium Designer, the project is added to the AES by the Make Available on Server command with the option Migrate to Altium Versioned Storage disabled. Preview and other functionalities like history do not work for this case. 

This option will still work with the same limitations as before.

Use case 2: An existing (external) Git repository was linked to the AES on the VCS page. In such a case, when a user creates a project from scratch in Altium Designer, or uses the Make Available on Server command in Altium Designer for a local project (not in VCS), this external Git repository can be selected for project storage.

This case is affected by the SVN discontinuation as the VCS page is no longer available, and it will not be possible to add new external Git repositories. Please see Moving from External VCS to Native VCS for this case.

Question: Does the SVN-to-Git migration tool support moving projects from an external Git repository to the native built-in Git repository?

Answer: No.

Question: How long does the migration take?

Answer: It depends on the number of projects, the number of commits, and the size of the involved data. But to give an order of magnitude, some past runs of the SVN-to-Git migration tool include: 840 projects (~40GB Repository folder, 13K commits) in 1h15 on 8 threads; 711 projects (~50GB Repository folder, 29K commits) in 8h05 on a single thread.

Question: Does everything get migrated, i.e. release packages and comments on documents? 

Answer: The migration through Altium Designer or with the SVN-to-Git migration tool concerns the project/design data and their history stored in the SVN repositories; release packages and comments on documents are not stored in the SVN repositories and are thus unaffected.

Question: How do I get access to the SVN-to-Git migration tool?

Answer: Request the SVN-to-Git migration tool through Altium Support with a Support Ticket ( https://www.altium.com/support ).

Question: How can customers request assistance with migration, and is there a cost? 

Answer: Support can provide customers with the SVN-to-git migration tool to manage the migration themselves. The tool itself is free of charge. Alternatively, customers can contact their account manager to arrange for Professional Services to assist them with their migration, which will be charged on a time-and-materials basis.

Question: What do I do if my project fails to migrate to Git?

Answer: Please contact Altium Support, ( https://www.altium.com/support ).

Question: Are SVNDbLibs affected?

Answer: No; SVNDbLibs are unaffected, as this is a solution for managing component libraries purely in Altium Designer.

Question: Does Altium Designer still support unmanaged (not server-based) SVN repositories?

Answer: Yes; Design Repositories created or connected through Altium Designer Preferences (Data Management - Design Repositories) are unaffected.