Create a new repository :

$ svnadmin create –fs-type fsfs /home/user/svn

Suppose you have an existing project you wish to import in SVN :

$ svn import /path/to/project/ file:///home/user/svn/project -m ‘Initial import’

Checking out your project :

$ svn checkout file:///home/user/svn/project /home/user/dev/project

A version controlled copy of the project is now available under /home/user/dev/project/

You can remove /path/to/project/ as soon as you are sure the version controlled copy is there.

You can start working on your project under /home/user/dev/project and issue the following to commit changes to the SVN repository :

$ svn commit -m ‘Your comment here’

viaIntroduction to SVN : importing a new project | Sébastien Wains.