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P4 Authentication Service Documentation | 2025.1

# Starting P4 Authentication Service

P4 Authentication Service does not rely on a database because all data is stored temporarily in memory. The configuration is defined by environment variables.

After you know the service can start, see After configuring and starting.

## npm

The simplest way to run P4 AS is using npm start from a terminal window. However, that is not robust because if the service fails, it must be restarted. Therefore, we recommend that you use a Node.js process manager to start and manage the service.

## systemd

If you are using the systemd process manager for Linux, the systemd service unit is named `helix-auth`, and you can start and stop P4 Authentication Service by using the `systemctl` command that systemd provides.

## Process Managers

Node.js process managers generally offer many advantages over using just npm to run a Node.js application. Such managers include pm2, forever, and StrongLoop. These Node.js process managers typically hook into the system process manager (for example, systemd) and thus will only go down if the entire system goes down.

## Next

See Example Identity Provider configurations.

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