title: How do I make a branch from a SVN tag with Maven?
body: <p>Suppose I have tagged the release version of our project under <code>$SVNROOT/project/tags/1.0</code>. Suppose now that I need to create a branch from that tag, mark it as being a <code>SNAPSHOT</code>, and update the <code>scm</code> configuration.</p>
  
  <p>I tried with the <code>release:prepare</code> goal thus:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ svn co $SVNROOT/project/tags/1.0 project-1.0
  $ cd project-1.0
  $ mvn release:branch -DbranchName=project-1.0.X -DupdateBranchVersions=true -DupdateWorkingCopyVersions=false
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But this fails, with an error message warning me that I don't have commit rights into the <code>$SVNROOT/project/tags/1.0 project-1.0</code> path (which is perfectly true---we don't allow commits into tags).</p>
  
  <p>What am I doing wrong here, and why was Maven trying to commit something in the tag?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update</strong></p>
  
  <p>Just to clarify: I <em>am</em> running this from the directory into which I've checked out the tag. The exact error I'm getting is the following:</p>
  
  <pre><code>[INFO] Executing: /bin/sh -c cd xxx &amp;&amp; svn --non-interactive commit --file /tmp/maven-scm-28755080.commit --targets /tmp/maven-scm-535803351230252749-targets
  [INFO] Working directory: xxx
  org.apache.maven.shared.release.scm.ReleaseScmCommandException: Unable to commit files
  Provider message:
  The svn command failed.
  Command output:
  svn: Commit failed (details follow):
  svn: 'pre-commit' hook failed with error output:
  you do not have the rights to access this file: xxx/tags/xxx. 
  
  
          at org.apache.maven.shared.release.phase.ScmCommitPhase.checkin(ScmCommitPhase.java:133)
          at org.apache.maven.shared.release.phase.ScmCommitPhase.execute(ScmCommitPhase.java:109)
          at org.apache.maven.shared.release.DefaultReleaseManager.branch(DefaultReleaseManager.java:379)
          at org.apache.maven.shared.release.DefaultReleaseManager.branch(DefaultReleaseManager.java:350)
          at org.apache.maven.plugins.release.BranchReleaseMojo.execute(BranchReleaseMojo.java:133)
          at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:490)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:694)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeStandaloneGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:569)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:539)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:387)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:284)
          at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:180)
          at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:328)
          at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:138)
          at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362)
          at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:60)
          at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
          at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
          at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
          at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:616)
          at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315)
          at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255)
          at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:430)
          at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:375)
  [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  [ERROR] BUILD FAILURE
  [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  [INFO] Unable to commit files
  Provider message:
  The svn command failed.
  Command output:
  svn: Commit failed (details follow):
  svn: 'pre-commit' hook failed with error output:
  you do not have the rights to access this file: xxx/tags/xxx. 
  </code></pre>