[p4] Separating depot from DB's

[Jeff A. Bowles]

Steve's right.

A good rule of thumb, by the way, to remember checkpoint and
journal numbering:
      checkpoint.1002   = checkpoint.1001 + journal.1001
      checkpoint.1003   = checkpoint.1002 + journal.1002
      checkpoint.1004   = checkpoint.1003 + journal.1003
The way to read this is, "the database created from a restore
of checkpoint.1002 is the same content as a database created
from 'restore of checkpoint.1001 and then applying journal.1001".
(If you want to test this assumption, restore the checkpoint.1002
into area AA, restore checkpoint.1001+journal.1001 into area BB,
and then checkpoint each and compare the resultant checkpoints.
The data in the new checkpoint files should be the same, except
for perhaps a user update time and perhaps the checkpoint counter
itself.)

Note that Steve's point about checkpoints (checkpoint.xxx and
journal.xxx+1) is completely consistent with this.

Steve did not mention it, but I would be very cautious about
resetting P4ROOT while a server is running.

I also assume that you have carefully considered where you are
storing your checkpoint/journal and it is not anywhere close
(physically or logically) to the db.* files. Disk controllers fail,
meteorites can smash through the ceiling of your computer
room and destroy the RAID, etc. ;-)

     -Jeff Bowles

On 5/4/07, Stephen Vance <steve at vance.com> wrote:
> Benjamin --
>
> You can find more detail on why the server did not start in your log
> file. Normally, that's in your P4ROOT.
>
> Also, I would recommend setting the P4ROOT variable on a per-service
> basis rather than system wide. This is pedantic if you are only ever
> going to run one server, but is essential if you ever run multiple
> server instances. I believe that this is how Perforce defined P4ROOT to
> start, as well, but I don't remember for sure. To do this, you do 'p4 -S
> <servicename> set P4ROOT="D:\" where <servicename> is "Perforce" in the
> default installation.
>
> If I wanted to move my depots as you are doing, here's how I would
> approach it. First, I would redefine my depots so that their root was an
> absolute path, rather than a relative one. To do this, change your "Map"
> entry to the full path name, something like "E:/P4/depot/...". Then I
> would checkpoint, stop the server, change the P4ROOT, move the old db.*
> files someplace out of the way (keep them for safety, but this helps you
> verify that the server is running from where you want), copy the license
> file, restore from checkpoint and test. Also, you would use
> checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx+1, but it's only necessary to use the
> checkpoint if you stop the server before checkpointing.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Steve
>
> Benjamin Nias wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> >
> >
> > I have a P4 server running Server 2003 with an attached RAID Array for
> > the depot. Currently P4ROOT set to E:\P4 (a logical drive on the RAID).
> >
> >
> >
> > I have a separate logical drive on a directly attached RAID (D:\) that
> > has 10K drives. I wish to run P4 so that our depot lives in it's current
> > location on E:\P4 but the .db's are held on D:\.
> >
> >
> >
> > I tried to do this this morning with the following:
> >
> >
> >
> > E:\P4> p4d -jc
> >
> >
> >
> > E:\P4> p4 set -s P4ROOT="D:\"
> >
> >
> >
> > E:\P4> p4 admin stop
> >
> >
> >
> > E:\P4> p4d -r d:\ -jr checkpoint.xxx journal.xxx-1
> >
> >
> >
> > This produces and error of "journal is out of sequence". I've doubled
> > checked this and the checkpoint and journal files specified are indeed
> > in sequence and the ones just generated by my -jc command.
> >
> >
> >
> > Then, when restarting the server I get
> >
> >
> >
> > Connect to server failed; check $P4PORT.
> >
> > TCP connect to 1666 failed.
> >
> > connect: 1666: WSAECONNREFUSED
> >
> >
> >
> > When this failed I decided to set the root back to the original folder
> > so my users could continue whilst I made this post. However when
> > invoking -jr to the original location, I got the same error. I then
> > copied back the backed up .db's from before my checkpoint and all worked
> > fine.
> >
> >
> >
> > My questions are:
> >
> >
> >
> > Am I making the right steps to make the migration work?
> >
> > Am I being thrown off by a possible corrupted journal file as the -jr
> > didn't work even when P4ROOT was set to the original location?
> >
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Benjamin Nias
> >
> > Systems Administrator
> >
> > Rocksteady Studios Limited
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
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-- 
---
Jeff Bowles - jab at piccoloeng.com