Login process for the user

Users are authenticated in one of two ways:

• The user logs in explicitly using the p4 login command. (For more information, see p4 login in Helix Core Command-Line (P4) Reference.)

• The user enters a p4 command that requires that the user be authenticated. If the user is not already authenticated, the command prompts the user to log in. If the login attempt is successful, the original command continues.

To log in to the Helix Core Server explicitly, the user obtains a ticket from the server by using the p4 login command:

$ p4 login

The user is prompted for a password, and a ticket is created for the user in the file specified by P4TICKETS. The user can extend the ticket’s lifespan by calling p4 login while already logged in. This extends the ticket’s lifespan by 1/3 of its initial timeout setting, subject to a maximum of the user’s initial timeout setting.

By default, after 3 consecutive failed login attempts, the server imposes a delay of up to 10 seconds on the user’s ability to run p4 login. To alter this behavior, set dm.user.loginattempts to a different number of consecutive failed login attempts.

By default, the server issues a ticket for the user that is valid solely for the user’s IP address. If the user has a shared home directory that is used on more than one workstation, the user can log in to the server from those workstations by using p4 login -a to create a ticket in the home directory that is valid from all IP addresses.

Tickets can be used by multiple clients on the same machine if they use the same user and port.