SVN Could not read status line error on checkout

Question

I used to be able to check out/in from our SVN repository at work. Then I did a clean install of OS X 10.8 due to some issues. Everything else is great but now I can't check out or update. No one else here is experiencing problems.

Here's the error I'm getting:

svn: OPTIONS of 'http://subversion.myhost.com/svn/repository/trunk': Could not read status line: connection was closed by server (http://subversion.myhost.com)

I've done a lot of googling over the last couple of days but nothing I found was helpful. The most informative page is here: SVN: Could not read status line: connection was closed by server

Stuff I've tried:

changing http -> https -> svn (connections to https/svn are refused)
checking for proxy/firewall blocking (couldn't find any--but perhaps there's something I missed?)
loading the repository from the web interface (can browse it just fine, but still can't check out)
updating subversion (was using svn from Xcode 4.5) then installed svn (1.6.18) via macports (still getting same error)
wiped my subversion preferences in ~/.subversion
double/triple/quad+ checked the URL (same every time)
checking out stuff from a completely different repository off-site (got the same error)
drinking lots of Mountain Dew and hoping for inspiration (getting jittery but nothing else has changed)

Anyone have other ideas?

I did some more digging, and apparently something was blocking all http traffic from the svn client. After another day of searching I found out that it was the Cisco VPN client I had installed, which had a process that filtered it out even when I wasn't connected to the VPN. — conan
Thanks for that! Other users might benefit from knowing that in my case a service Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Agent vpnagent.exe also needed to be stopped. — Craig
Thanks so much for posting this question and your respective solution. I hit the same problem and never would have guessed it was the damn Cisco VPN client. As Craig mentioned, there is a background process that also needs to be quelled, but everything worked once that was stopped. Cheers! — cosmosis
I've found a solution for mac here. superuser.com/a/579485/290504 — Anderson

Matt Mitchell Matt Mitchell · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-06T05:40:38

I just got burned by this too; thanks for pointing me in the direction of the culprit (the damned VPN client). I note that it does this fuckery even with the VPN connection disabled, lest you think that you can stop it from screwing with your network stack by asking nicely!

Where did you discover it was the client? I am going to have to fight this one out with my IT team so was curious what other information was out there.

SVN Could not read status line error on checkout

4 Answers