Step 1: Download and install P4V and other client applications | End user

1. Double-click the downloaded .exe file to start the installer.

2. On the Select Applications screen, make sure all applications, including P4 Admin, are selected. To install P4V in a different folder, click Change and select a folder.

3. Click Next.

4. On the Client Configuration screen, enter or select the following information:

   • Server: Enter the P4 Server address provided by your administrator.

   • User Name : Enter the username provided by your administrator.

   • Text Editing Application: Accept the default editor or click Browse to select a different application.

5. Click Next.

6. On the Ready to install screen, click Install to start installation.

   If you are prompted to allow the installer to make changes to your computer, click Yes.

7. When installation is complete, on the Finished installing screen, click Exit.

   P4V opens unless you selected not to open it.

For macOS, install P4V, P4 Admin, and P4 Merge first. Then, install the command-line client (P4).

Install P4V, P4 Admin, and P4 Merge

1. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file.

2. Drag p4v, p4merge, and p4admin to the Applications folder.

3. In the Applications folder, double-click p4v. If you are prompted to open it, click Open.

4. In the Open Connection dialog box, enter the following information:

   • Server: Enter the P4 Server address provided by your administrator.

   • User: Enter the username provided by your administrator.

5. Click OK.

6. In the Perforce Password Required dialog box, enter your password and click OK.

   P4V opens.

Install P4

1. Go to the P4 download page.

2. In the Family field, select your operating system and the appropriate Platform.

3. Click Download.

4. In the download confirmation dialog box, click Download again.

5. Double-click the downloaded .tgz file to extract p4.

6. Open a command prompt.

7. Make the downloaded p4 file executable. Run:

   chmod +x Downloads/helix-core-server/p4

8. Move p4 into /usr/local/bin, a common execution path. Run:

   sudo mv Downloads/helix-core-server/p4 /usr/local/bin/

9. To test that P4 works, run p4 info. The installation is successful unless a Command not found: p4 error is displayed.

   An error may be displayed that tells you to check $P4PORT. P4PORT stores the server address you entered during P4V installation and P4USER is the username you entered.

   • To view your default P4 settings, at a command prompt, run p4 set.

   • To change the P4PORT value, run p4 set P4PORT=server address.

   • To view the values you set, run p4 set again.

For Linux, install P4V, P4 Admin, and P4 Merge first. Then, install the command-line client (P4).

Install P4V, P4 Admin, and P4 Merge

P4V is packaged as a compressed file that includes P4V, P4 Merge, P4 Admin, and P4VC. P4VC is a command-line client that can send certain P4 command-line commands to P4V without opening a full P4V instance.

1. Uncompress the .tgz file.

   tar xvfz p4v.tgz

   New directories are created:

   • p4v-202x.xxxxxx/bin

   • p4v-202x.xxxxxx/lib

2. Add the new directories to your PATH. For example:

   PATH="$PATH:~/Downloads/p4v-2024.1.2591061/bin"

3. To start P4V, open a terminal window and run p4v.

   P4V opens.

To install P4 on a Linux computer where P4 Server is not installed, complete the steps in Install P4.

Install P4

If you installed P4 Server for Linux, P4, a more full featured command-line client than P4VC, was installed on the server. Complete the following steps to install P4 on a Linux computer that does not have P4 Server installed.

These steps are for the Ubuntu package manager for Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat), a popular version of Linux. If you need P4 packages for APT or YUM repositories, or need steps to install YUM-based packages, go to the Perforce Packages page.

1. Make sure you have sudo access on the computer where you are installing P4.

2. Download the Perforce public key:

   $ wget https://package.perforce.com/perforce.pubkey

3. Get the fingerprint of the public key:

   $ gpg -n --import --import-options import-show perforce.pubkey

4. Verify that the downloaded key matches the authentic Perforce fingerprint:

   $ gpg -n --import --import-options import-show perforce.pubkey | grep -q "E58131C0AEA7B082C6DC4C937123CB760FF18869" && echo "true"
   
   If the output is true, the key is valid.

5. Add the public key to your keyring:

   $ wget -qO - https://package.perforce.com/perforce.pubkey | sudo apt-key add -

6. Create a file for the Perforce repository:

   $ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/perforce.list

7. To add the new repository to the package manager, add the following line to the file you created:

   deb http://package.perforce.com/apt/ubuntu noble release

8. Save the file.

9. Refresh local packages:

   $ sudo apt-get update

10. Install P4 using the built-in Ubuntu package manager:

    $ sudo apt-get install helix-cli

11. Enter Y to confirm and wait for installation to complete.