Migrating from svn to git in 8 steps preserving the history

In this guide we will see how to migrate a svn repository to git, preserving its history.

All the commands listed in this guide can be executed from a Linux , MacOsX or Windows environment, in the latter case I strongly suggest you install git for Windows which includes the git bash (https://git-scm.com/downloads). 

MacOsX users may need to also install git-svn, you can grab it from here: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/git-svn.

Once the necessary download and install have been completed, let’s get started.

Step 1. Export svn users

Suppose we need to migrate the SVN repository located at:

https://mysvnhost/mypath/mysvnreponame

Run the command:

Open the file you just created with a text editor and modify the lines as follows:

svn-user = git-user

one line per user (including angle brackets ‘’), e.g.:

As the last line add:

To the right of the equal you can change the username and email as you prefer, this is a default git user that will be used when a commit svn does not contain the author.

Step 2. Initializing the git repository

Create a folder that will contain the git repository:

and run the command:

Next import users into the git repository you just created:

Step 3. Import the repo from SVN

Run the command:

Now grab some coffee or tea and wait for the repository to be imported. Depending on its size, it can take from a few minutes to hours. If the process stops for any reason you can re-run the command and the process will pick up where you left off.

At this point git-svn will have imported the main branch and all the branches and tags from the original SVN repository. At this point you can run the command:

to see the result. For example:

Depending on the layout of your SVN repository you may find a branch called remotes/origin/trunk or remotes/origin/git-svn.

Delete that branch; type:

or

Similarly, you can remove any branches that you don’t want get imported into the git repository.

Since SVN does not have real support for tags (they are actually branches), they will be imported as branches during fetch. It is therefore necessary to convert them into real git tags. You also need to convert the remote branches to local branches.

Step 4. Conversion of tags

To convert tags, create a shell script called convert-tags.sh in the /home/myuser directory as follows:

give it the necessary grants to be executed:

and finally run it:

Now verify that the remote tags have been converted to local tags:

Step 5. Converting branches

As with the tags, you now need to convert the remote branches to local branches and delete the remote branches:

To convert branches, create a shell script convert-branches.sh in the /home/ myuser directory as follows:

give it the necessary grants to be executed:

and finally run it:

Now verify that the remote branches have been converted to local branches :

Optionally, you can rename the master branch to main as follows:

Step 6. Cleaning the SVN stuff

Step 7. Add the remote site

Here I am assuming that the remote repository is hosted by Github. Of course you can change the URL according to your needs:

If you haven’t already done at global level, you may want to configure your “local” git user, adding it to the configuration of the local repository. Run the following commands:

If the remote Github site has commits, you may need to merge the logs. Run the command:

Step 8. Push the repository

Almost done. The last step is to upload the repository to the remote:

Congratulations, you have completed the migration!