Installing the Validate Package on Windows

This page provides instructions for installing the Validate Server package using the installer.

Before you Begin

  1. Download the packages from Perforce Support. Account credentials are provided when the license is issued. Typically, only one or two users in an organization have access to the Validate technical support portal. If you don't have access, you can register for a new account.
  2. You need a license. Contact Perforce support to obtain a license file. Your IT department may have a remote license server set up, or you need to specify a license file in your projects_root/licenses folder.
  3. If you are using Validate 2023.4 with QAC 2023.4, you need to install the Validate RLM server using the installer included in the Validate package. You can do this by selecting Local when prompted to choose a license server location during the installation process.

Option 1: Installation Using the Windows Installer

Run the Validate Server installer, following the prompts. Note the following:

  • During installation, one or more Visual C++ Runtime redistributable packages may be installed on your computer. Depending on your operating system, a reboot may be required at the end of the installation.
  • If your system locale is Japanese, the installation package runs in Japanese. Otherwise, it runs in English.
  • You'll be asked where you want to create the projects_root directory, which is the data location for the Validate Servers and applications. It contains Validate Server settings and information about integration projects and build analysis runs. It also stores the Validate license file. The default location is C:\ProgramData\Perforce\Validate.

    • Do not install the Server package and the projects_root directory in the Program Files directory. Default security settings for Windows and Windows Server restrict writing to files in the Program Files directory.

  • You can specify server port information during installation in the Set up Validate servers dialog to override the default settings.
  • During installation, you specify whether you want to use the locally installed License Server (Local) or connect to a remote License Server (Remote). Local, the default option, requires you to copy your license file into the projects_root/licenses folder. If you select Remote, you must specify the host name and port number for your License Server.
  • You also have the option of starting the Validate Servers as Windows services automatically following installation. If you do not select this option, you need to start the servers manually following installation.

Option 2: Installation Using the Command Line

If you the System Administrator and prefer to install Validate silently on the command line, you can run the installer in CLI mode, as follows:

p4-validate-installer.23.1.0.9999.win64.exe install [option=value]
  • [option=value] are the settings and their values that you can configure on the command line.

Below are the available options you can specify during the installation:

Option Description
projects_root <directory> Specify the complete path to a non-default projects_root directory. Default: %ProgramData%\Perforce\Validate\projects_root. The directory you specify must meet one of the following conditions:
  • it does not yet exist
  • it is empty
  • it is a valid projects_root directory created previously. Do not specify the same directory as the root installation directory and do not install in a subdirectory of the projects_root directory.
license-server <host>[:<port>]

Specify a remote License Server host. The host argument is required; the port argument is optional. Default: localhost:27000.

 
license-port <port_number> Specify that the License Server will be run locally, but on a non-default port. Default: 27000.
database-port <port_number> Specify the port number that you will use to run the Database Server. Default: 3306.
web-port <port_number> Specify the port number that you will use to run the Web Server. Default: 8080.
start-service Optional: Specify whether to start the service as a windows service (Default: no).

Example 

p4-validate-installer.23.1.0.9999.win64.exe install projects_root=c:\mydata\projects_root license-server=ott-reprise license-port=27000 web-port=8221 database-port=3221

Note that the installer must be run from a command line that has administrator privileges, otherwise it fails.

Note on the Path Environment Variable

On Windows, the Validate bin directory is automatically added to your Path environment variable as follows:

Installation package Environment variable modified Value used
Server System Path <server_install>\bin
Desktop Analysis Tools System Path <desktop_analysis_tool_install>\bin

Note on Screen Scaling

When running the Validate installer on Windows with the scaling set to 150% or more, the install window will be too big, which will cause the button to perform the install to not be visible.

To work around this limitation, you should run the installer with the following environment variable set:

QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1

This can be done on the command line (not powershell) as follows:

set QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1 & <path to p4-validate installer>

For example:

set QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1 & D:\Downloads\p4-validate-installer.23.1.0.9999.win64.exe
The minimum supported resolution at 150% scale is 1920x1080. The minimum supported resolution at "Normal (100%)" scale would be 1024x768.

Log Files for Windows Installation

An installation log file is saved to your installation directory whenever one of the Validate installation packages is started on Windows.

A logs directory is created in the root Validate installation directory during installation. For the Server installer, for example, the log files in this directory store validate service output when the servers are first started and the projects_root directory is initialized.

Start the Servers

To start the servers, you must specify the location of your license file. Use Windows Services Administration or validate service start:

validate service --projects-root <projects_root> start 

where <projects_root> is the projects_root directory you specified during installation. For example: 

validate service --projects-root C:\qac\projects_root start 

Log in to Validate

After starting the Validate servers, Validate is accessible from a browser using the URL of the Validate server hostname and the Validate server port chosen during the install (for example, server21:8080). By default, the person who installed Validate is set as the Validate administrator, and is given the Projects root admin role. Initially, the Basic Authentication access control method is used, so no password is needed to log in. For example, if the user account used during the installation was ‘jsmith’, to log in to Validate with the administrator role, use the credentials:

username: jsmith
password: <empty>