If your Windows system is a descendant of Windows NT (2000, 2003, XP, Vista), then you can run svnserve as a standard Windows service. This is typically a much nicer experience than running it as a standalone daemon with the --daemon (-d) option. Using daemon-mode requires launching a console, typing a command, and then leaving the console window running indefinitely. A Windows service, however, runs in the background, can start at boot time automatically, and can be started and stopped using the same consistent administration interface as other Windows services.

You'll need to define the new service using the command-line tool SC.EXE. Much like the inetd configuration line, you must specify an exact invocation of svnserve for Windows to run at start-up time:

C:\> sc create svn
        binpath= "C:\svn\bin\svnserve.exe --service -r C:\repos"
        displayname= "Subversion Server"
        depend= Tcpip
        start= auto

This defines a new Windows service named “svn”, and which executes a particular svnserve.exe command when started (in this case, rooted at C:\repos.) There are a number of caveats in the prior example, however.

First, notice that the svnserve.exe program must always be invoked with the --service option. Any other options to svnserve must then be specified on the same line, but you cannot add conflicting options such as --daemon (-d), --tunnel, or --inetd (-i). Options such as -r or --listen-port are fine, though. Second, be careful about spaces when invoking the SC.EXE command: the key= value patterns must have no spaces between key= and exactly one space before the value. Lastly, be careful about spaces in your command-line to be invoked. If a directory name contains spaces (or other characters that need escaping), place the entire inner value of binpath in double-quotes, by escaping them:

C:\> sc create svn
        binpath= "\"C:\program files\svn\bin\svnserve.exe\" --service -r C:\repos"
        displayname= "Subversion Server"
        depend= Tcpip
        start= auto

Also note that the word binpath is misleading—its value is a command line, not the path to an executable. That's why you need to surround it with quote marks if it contains embedded spaces.

Once the service is defined, it can stopped, started, or queried using standard GUI tools (the Services administrative control panel), or at the command line as well:

C:\> net stop svn
C:\> net start svn

The service can also be uninstalled (i.e. undefined) by deleting its definition: sc delete svn. Just be sure to stop the service first! The SC.EXE program has many other subcommands and options; run sc /? to learn more about it.