Failed to parse svn info for external

Article ID:115000610071
1 minute readKnowledge base

Issue

You are using Subversion as SCM in your build and the checkout fails with:

Fetching 'https://subversion_host/path/file' at -1 into 'some/path/file'
...
At revision XXXXX
ERROR: Failed to parse svn info for external https://subversion_host/path/file at some/path/file
org.tmatesoft.svn.core.SVNException: svn: E200005: 'some/path/file' is not under version control
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc.SVNErrorManager.error(SVNErrorManager.java:64)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc.SVNErrorManager.error(SVNErrorManager.java:51)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc16.SVNWCClient16$12.handleError(SVNWCClient16.java:3456)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc.admin.SVNWCAccess.walkEntries(SVNWCAccess.java:774)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc.admin.SVNWCAccess.walkEntries(SVNWCAccess.java:757)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc16.SVNWCClient16.crawlEntries(SVNWCClient16.java:3433)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc16.SVNWCClient16.doInfo(SVNWCClient16.java:2645)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc2.old.SvnOldGetInfo.run(SvnOldGetInfo.java:18)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc2.old.SvnOldGetInfo.run(SvnOldGetInfo.java:12)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.internal.wc2.SvnOperationRunner.run(SvnOperationRunner.java:21)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.wc2.SvnOperationFactory.run(SvnOperationFactory.java:1235)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.wc2.SvnOperation.run(SvnOperation.java:294)
   at org.tmatesoft.svn.core.wc.SVNWCClient.doInfo(SVNWCClient.java:2485)
   at hudson.scm.SubversionSCM$BuildRevisionMapTask.invoke(SubversionSCM.java:1288)
   at hudson.scm.SubversionSCM$BuildRevisionMapTask.invoke(SubversionSCM.java:1238)
   at hudson.FilePath$FileCallableWrapper.call(FilePath.java:2719)
   at hudson.remoting.UserRequest.perform(UserRequest.java:120)
   at hudson.remoting.UserRequest.perform(UserRequest.java:48)
   at hudson.remoting.Request$2.run(Request.java:326)
   at hudson.remoting.InterceptingExecutorService$1.call(InterceptingExecutorService.java:68)
   at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
   at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
   at hudson.remoting.Engine$1$1.run(Engine.java:62)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Environment

Resolution

Subversion 1.6 added the support for files in `svn:externals.

This error occurs if you try to use this feature with a local workspace created for an older version of Subversion.

To control this behavior with Jenkins go to Manage Jenkins -> Configure System -> Subversion and configure the Subversion Workspace Version to 1.6 from the combo box (by default it is set to oldest version - 1.4).

This article is part of our Knowledge Base and is provided for guidance-based purposes only. The solutions or workarounds described here are not officially supported by CloudBees and may not be applicable in all environments. Use at your own discretion, and test changes in a safe environment before applying them to production systems.