p4 configure

Set and manage server configuration variables.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] configure set [P4NAME#|server_id#]variable=value
p4 [g-opts] configure unset [P4NAME#|server_id#]variable
p4 [g-opts] configure show [allservers | P4NAME | variable]

Description

Configuration variables are used to control and customize the behavior of the Perforce service.

Important

The configuration variables are described in:

Configurables - alphabetical list, which gives the most information, including whether you need to stop the server
p4 help configurables, which lists the name, default value, and use
p4 help environment, which lists the name, definition, and where to get more information

Configurable settings might affect the client, the server, or a proxy.

The p4 configure command provides one way to change the configuration of an active server. For information on how you set configurables that affect the client or the proxy, see Configurables.

You can set configurables in the following ways for the server. Methods are shown in order of precedence:

Precedence	Method
1	Command line options that are passed at server startup. For example: $ p4d -v net.keepalive.idle=2700
2	Persistently, using the `p4 configure set` command. This method allows you to set the specified configurable for a named server or for any server.
3	Using environment variables. On Windows, using the p4 set command On Unix, using the `export` command Note When set using environment variables, certain server-related configurables are read-only. For example, you cannot change `P4ROOT` or `P4JOURNAL` with `p4 configure`.
4	Using default values, by taking no action.

Tip

You can use K and M to represent large numbers. For example, 10M is the default value for the dm.shelve.maxfiles configurable.

Use p4 configure show to display the configuration state of the current server, a named server, or any configurable. Each configurable is displayed along with its value and an indication of what method was used to set it. Use p4 configure unset to unset the value of a configurable.

After installing Helix Server, it is good practice to:

enable process monitoring by setting monitor to 1 or 2
require ticket-based authentication by setting security to 3 or 4
prevent the automatic creation of new users by setting dm.user.noautocreate to 1 or 2
force new users that you create to reset their passwords by setting dm.user.resetpassword to 1

Stopping the server for some configurables

Changes to most configurables take effect immediately. For example,

monitor (enable/disable the p4 monitor command)
security (set the security level).

Changes to P4AUTH, P4PORT, the startup.n configurables used in replicated environments, net.tcpsize, and net.backlog require a restart. To restart the server, use p4 admin restart.

For certain configurables, such as ssl.tls.version.min, the situation is as follows:

After you change the value of this configurable, you must explicitly "stop" the server.

Note

p4 admin restart is not sufficient.

For UNIX, see Stopping the Perforce Service and Starting the Perforce Service.

For Windows, see Starting and stopping the Helix Server.

Setting configurables in distributed environments

Servers can be identified by name. In replicated and distributed environments, a master can control the settings of multiple replicas by specifying the server name as part of the configurable. For example, the following command sets the value of the serviceUser configurable for an edge server (tokyo_edge). The command is executed on the commit server.

$ p4 set tokyo_edge#serviceUser=svc_tokyo_edge

See Helix Core Server Administrator Guide: Multi-Site Deployment for details.

Accessing configurables when the server is down

If the Helix Server is not running or you cannot access the server, you can use the p4d command to list, set, and unset server configurables:

To list all server configuration variables, use the -cshow option. For example:
```
$ p4d -r $P4ROOT -cshow
```

To set or unset values, use -cset or -cunset. For example:

$ p4d -r $P4ROOT "-cset myServer#auth.ldap.timeout=30"
$ p4d -r $P4ROOT "-cunset myServer#db.replication"

For more information, see the Support Knowledgebase article, "Accessing Server Configuration Variables".

Options

`set variable=value`	Sets the named variable to the provided value.
`unset variable`	Unsets the named variable.
`show`	Shows the current configuration of the server currently specified by `P4PORT`. Note Regarding the maximum size of the `db.monitor` table, see db.monitor.shared configurable, and note that `p4 configure show` indicates the actual maximum, but `p4 configure show allservers` indicates a manual preference that is only enforced if sufficient memory is available.
`show allservers`	Shows the configuration variables for all servers known to the system.
`show variable`	Shows the setting of a specific configuration variable.
`show P4NAME`	If a Helix Server was invoked with `-In`P4NAME or with the `P4NAME` environment variable set to a server name, shows the settings of the named server. Important To avoid configuration problems, the value of `serverID` should always match the value of P4NAME if both are set. We recommend setting `serverID`, but support `P4NAME` for backward compatibility.
`g-opts`	See Global Options.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier?	Can File Arguments Use Revision Range?	Minimal Access Level Required
N/A	N/A	`super`

Related Commands

The p4 configure command replaces many of the settings formerly set by p4 counter.

To list all counters and their values

p4 counters