Perforce 2003.2 Command Reference
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p4 depots

p4 depot

Synopsis

Create or edit a depot specification.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] depot depotname
p4 [g-opts] depot -d depotname
p4 [g-opts] depot -o depotname
p4 [g-opts] depot -i

Description

The files on a Perforce server are stored in a depot. By default, there is one depot on every Perforce server, and its name is depot. However, it is possible to create multiple depots on a single server with the p4 depot command. Although it is normally not necessary to create multiple depots, there are two situations where this might be desirable:

In the former case, once a second depot has been created, it can be used exactly as the default depot depot is used. For example, to sync a file README in the rel2 directory of the depot new, use p4 sync //new/rel2/README. It can also be used on the left-hand side of any client or branch view, exactly as the default depot depot is used.

In the latter case, referred to as the use of remote depots, the Perforce client's default Perforce server (i.e. the machine specified in P4PORT) allows the Perforce client to access a remote Perforce server, so the client doesn't need to know where the files are actually stored. Remote depots are restricted to read-only access. Thus, a Perforce client program can't add, edit, delete, or integrate files that reside in the depots on the other servers. For more information about remote depots, see the Perforce User's Guide and the Perforce System Administrator's Guide.

To create or edit a depot, use p4 depot depotname and edit the fields in the form.

Form Fields

Field Name
Type
Description

Depot:

Read-Only

The depot name as provided in p4 depot depotname.

Owner:

Writable

The user who owns the depot. By default, this is the user who created the depot.

Description:

Writable

A short description of the depot's purpose. Optional.

Type:

Writable

local or remote. Local depots are writable; remote depots are proxies for depots residing on other servers, and cannot be written to.

Address:

Writable

If the Type: is local, the address should be the word subdir.

If the Type: is remote, the address should be the P4PORT address of the remote server.

Map:

Writable

If the Type: is local, the map should be the relative location of the depot subdirectory relative to the Perforce server's P4ROOT. It must contain the ... wildcard; for example, a local depot new might have a Map: of new/... .

If the Type: is remote, the map should be a location in the remote depot's physical namespace, for example, //depot/new/rel2/... . This directory will be the root of the local representation of the remote depot.

Options

-d depotname

Delete the depot depotname. The depot must not contain any files; the Perforce superuser can remove files with p4 obliterate.

If the depot is remote, p4 obliterate must still be run: no files are deleted, but any outstanding client or label records referring to that depot are eliminated.

-i

Read a depot specification from standard input.

-o

Write a depot specification to standard output.

g-opts

See the Global Options section.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use
Revision Specifier?

Can File Arguments Use
Revision Range?

Minimal Access Level Required

N/A

N/A

super

For example, to eliminate remote access to all files in all depots on a particular server, set the following permission on that server:

Since remote depots can only be used for read access, it is not necessary to remove write or super access.

The virtual user remote does not consume a Perforce license.

Related Commands

To view a list of all depots known to the Perforce server

p4 depots

To populate a new depot with files

p4 add

To add mappings from an existing client workspace to the new depot

p4 client

To remove all traces of a file from a depot

p4 obliterate

To limit remote access to a depot

p4 protect


Perforce 2003.2 Command Reference
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p4 delete
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p4 depots
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Last updated: 12/12/03