SmartSVN 14.5: JavaHL SQLite mismatch on Linux

[Bruno Antunes]

Hello,

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3, SmartSVN 14.5 triggers the  error "Couldn't perform atomic initialization" when opening an existing working copy or checking out a new project:

Extract with error from log file:
...
1s186 ... [ThreadPool-0 (com.syntevo.smartsvn.i$$Lambda/0x000000010019f158)] INFO      smartsvn.javahl - JavaHL version: 1.14.5 (r1922182)
1s187 ... [ThreadPool-0 (com.syntevo.smartsvn.i$$Lambda/0x000000010019f158)] INFO      smartsvn.javahl - JavaHL runtime version: 1.14.5
...
11s700 ... [ThreadPool-0 (RunnableQueue)] INFO smartsvn.project.scan - Opening project 'fraw', roots: [/home/vagrant/work/fraw]
11s758 ... [ThreadPool-0 (RunnableQueue)] SEVERE     smartsvn.command - Couldn't perform atomic initialization
svn: Couldn't perform atomic initialization
SQLite error
svn: SQLite compiled for 3.40.0, but running with 3.34.1

org.apache.subversion.javahl.ClientException: Couldn't perform atomic initialization
svn: Couldn't perform atomic initialization
SQLite error
svn: SQLite compiled for 3.40.0, but running with 3.34.1

        at org.apache.subversion.javahl.SVNClient.status(Native Method)
        at org.apache.subversion.javahl.SVNClient.status(SVNClient.java:141)
        at smartsvn.WI.a(SourceFile:1070)
...

Research:

• SmartSVN extracts libsvnjavahl-1.so into ~/.config/smartsvn/14.5/svn-tmp/ at startup.
• The bundled JavaHL is linked against SQLite 3.40, but the system SQLite on RHEL 9.3 is 3.34.
• SmartSVN loads this .so via an absolute path, bypassing LD_LIBRARY_PATH, so users cannot easily override or disable it.
• The GUI no longer offers an SVNKit/JavaHL selection, so users are forced into JavaHL even if it fails.

Impact:
SmartSVN starts normally, but all JavaHL-based operations (e.g., opening a WC, checkout) fail on systems with older SQLite, making the client unusable for repository work.

Suggested actions:

• Provide a GUI option to force SVNKit as the backend.
• Respect an environment variable (e.g., SMARTSVN_JAVAHL_DISABLE) to disable JavaHL.
•  Bundle JavaHL with a matching SQLite, or statically link SQLite to avoid system dependency issues.

Temporary workaround:
Use a wrapper script that deletes libsvnjavahl-1.so immediately after extraction so SmartSVN falls back to SVNKit. This works but is fragile since the svn-tmp folder is regenerated each launch.

Thank you for reviewing this issue.

Best regards,
--
Bruno Antunes

[SmartSVN Support]

Hi Bruno,

This problem should be covered in the readme-linux.txt file in the root directory of the SmartSVN bundle.

--
Best regards,
Thomas Singer
syntevo GmbH
https://www.syntevo.com

> *Research:*
>
> - SmartSVN extracts libsvnjavahl-1.so into
> ~/.config/smartsvn/14.5/svn-tmp/ at startup.
> - The bundled JavaHL is linked against SQLite 3.40, but the system

> SQLite on RHEL 9.3 is 3.34.

> - SmartSVN loads this .so via an absolute path, bypassing

> LD_LIBRARY_PATH, so users cannot easily override or disable it.

> - The GUI no longer offers an SVNKit/JavaHL selection, so users are

> forced into JavaHL even if it fails.
>
>
>

> *Impact:*SmartSVN starts normally, but all JavaHL-based operations (e.g.,

> opening a WC, checkout) fail on systems with older SQLite, making the
> client unusable for repository work.
>
>

> *Suggested actions:*
>
> - Provide a GUI option to force SVNKit as the backend.
> - Respect an environment variable (e.g., SMARTSVN_JAVAHL_DISABLE) to
> disable JavaHL.
> - Bundle JavaHL with a matching SQLite, or statically link SQLite to
> avoid system dependency issues.
>
>
>
> *Temporary workaround:*Use a wrapper script that deletes libsvnjavahl-1.so

> immediately after extraction so SmartSVN falls back to SVNKit. This works
> but is fragile since the svn-tmp folder is regenerated each launch.
>
> Thank you for reviewing this issue.
>
> Best regards,
> --
> Bruno Antunes
>

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>

[Bruno Antunes]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. The "readme-linux.txt" does reference defining LD_LIBRARY_PATH. From my previous tests i did this, but if dine no seem to work!

I rested defining again LD_LIBRARY_PATH to $HOME/.config/smartsvn/14.5/svn-tmp/16017 (matching SmartSVN Version), as described in readme, and it works; i assume that I may have defined LD_LIBRARY_PATH wrongly in my previous test.

Regarding this issue,  i can still also suggest

• Provide a GUI option to force SVNKit as the backend.

• Respect an environment variable (e.g., SMARTSVN_JAVAHL_DISABLE) to disable JavaHL.

best regards,

--
Bruno Antunes

[SmartSVN Support]

Hi Bruno,

> Regarding this issue, i can still also suggest
>

> - Provide a GUI option to force SVNKit as the backend.
> - Respect an environment variable (e.g., SMARTSVN_JAVAHL_DISABLE) to
> disable JavaHL.

Sorry, this is not possible technically. Since ~10 years SmartSVN requires JavaHL and can't use SVNKit any more.

--
Best regards,
Thomas Singer
syntevo GmbH
https://www.syntevo.com

08/20/2025 10:08 - Bruno Antunes wrote:

> Hi. Thanks for the reply. The "readme-linux.txt" does reference defining
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH. From my previous tests i did this, but if dine no seem to
> work!
>
> I rested defining again LD_LIBRARY_PATH to
> $HOME/.config/smartsvn/14.5/svn-tmp/16017 (matching SmartSVN Version), as
> described in readme, and it works; i assume that I may have defined
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH wrongly in my previous test.
>
> Regarding this issue, i can still also suggest
>

> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smartsvn/4d0358c2-1627-407f-9259-4da1e03fc221n%40googlegroups.com.
>

[howardchihom]

Install the  SQLite3.4 

Use a wrapper to run svn 

#!/bin/csh  -fx
set SQLITE_PREFIX=/opt/sqlite-3.40
set SMARTSVN_HOME=/opt/smartsvn  

setenv PATH ${SQLITE_PREFIX}/bin:$PATH
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH ${SQLITE_PREFIX}/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
/tools/smartsvn/bin/smartsvn.sh

SmartSVN Support 在 2025年8月20日 星期三下午4:13:24 [UTC+8] 的信中寫道：