p4 verify

Synopsis

Verify that the Perforce versioning service's archives are intact.

Syntax


p4 [g-opts] verify [-t | -u | -v | -z] [-m max] [-q -s -X] [-b batch] file[revRange] …
p4 [g-opts] verify -U unloadfile …

Description

p4 verify reports the revision specific information and an MD5 digest (fingerprint) of the revision's contents.

If invoked without arguments, p4 verify computes and displays the MD5 digest of each revision. If a revision is missing from the archive and therefore can't be reproduced, the revision's output line ends with MISSING! If the digests differ, the output line for the corrupt file ends with BAD!

In replicated environments, p4 verify -t reports BAD! or MISSING! files with (transfer scheduled) at the end of the line.

Options

-b batch

By default, p4 verify processes files in batches of 10,000 files at a time. You can change this batch size with the -b batch option. To disable batching, specify -b 0. If the -z option is specified, the -b option is ignored and all options are processed in a single batch.

-m max

Limit p4 verify to max number of revisions.

-q

Run quietly; verify the integrity of files for which MD5 digests have previously been generated, and only display output if there are errors.

-s

Verify file size as well as digest. The -v implies the -s option.

-t

When run on a replica, p4 verify -t causes the replica to schedule a transfer of the contents of any damaged or missing revisions.

The -t option cannot be used with the -v or -u options.

-u

Store the filesize and MD5 digest of each file in the Perforce database if and only if no filesize and/or digest has been previously stored. Subsequent uses of p4 verify will compare the computed version against this stored version.

-U unloadfile

Verify files in the unload depot. See p4 unload for details.

-v

Store the MD5 digest of each file in the Perforce database, even if there's already a digest stored for that file, overwriting the existing digest. (The -v option is used only to update the saved digests of archive files that have been deliberately altered outside of Perforce control by a Perforce system administrator.)

The -v and -u options are mutually exclusive.

-X

Skip files of filetype +X (for which the service runs an archive trigger.)

-z

Skip revisions that have already been computed in the current pass; this option speeds verifications in the cases of revisions which exist via lazy copies. This option cannot be used with the -v or -u options.

g-opts

See “Global Options”.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier?

Can File Arguments Use Revision Range?

Minimal Access Level Required

Yes

Yes

admin

  • If p4 verify returns errors, contact Perforce technical support.

  • It is good administrative practice to regularly verify the integrity of your depot files with p4 verify -qz //...

    For details, see the Perforce Server Administrator's Guide: Fundamentals.

  • As of Release 2005.1, Perforce tracks file length metadata on a per-revision basis. Newly submitted files have file length metadata added to the database automatically. (You must still run p4 verify -u at least once following an upgrade to 2005.1, in order to update file length metadata for any pre-2005.1 files for which file lengths were not stored.)

    Administrators of very large sites (such as those with tens of millions of revisions) may encounter memory constraints immediately following an upgrade to 2005.1 if they attempt to update file length metadata for the entire repository at once. If this is the case, use the -m maxRevs option to limit the number of revisions updated per command; p4 verify -u -m 1000000 //... limits file length metadata recomputation to a million files at a time, enabling an administrator to divide file length metadata recomputation over several calls to p4 verify.