1) I highly suggest NOT changing the deploy.rb file in the Cap gem. You can override any task in your own deploy.rb file. For instance: namespace :deploy do

1) I highly suggest NOT changing the deploy.rb file in the Cap gem. You can override any task in your own deploy.rb file. For instance: namespace :deploy do desc "Custom stop task" task :stop, :roles => :web do #My custom "stop" command end end (as a side note, does anyone know how to do code formatting on here?) 2) I think from what you're saying- it is deploying correctly, but you're confused as to why it is asking for your password three times? This is common, and I think it is a bug with Subversion. I deploy using svn+ssh as well and get the same thing. If I remember correctly, you only have to enter in your password correctly for the first one, and can just hit enter through the other 2. Alternatively, you can make sure you have your SSH keys set up correctly.