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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2025.2

# Run p4 init

Here is the `p4 init` command syntax:

    p4 [-u user] [-d dir] [-c client] init [-h -q] [-c stream] [-Cx] [-xi -n] [-p]

p4 init includes a number of command-line arguments:

- To configure your personal server without Unicode support, pass the `-n` option.
- To have P4 Server create the personal server’s files in a directory other than the current directory, specify the directory with the `-d` option.
- Use the `-q` option to suppress informational messages.
- Use the `-c [stream]` option to create the specified stream as the mainline stream rather than the default `//stream/main`.

## Directories and files

The `p4 init` command creates the following directories and files in the directory in which the command is invoked:

- .p4root - A directory containing the database files that will contain the metadata about files checked into P4 Server.
- .p4ignore - A list of files P4 Server shouldn’t add or reconcile.
- .p4config - A file containing configuration parameters for the client-server connection.

In addition, the `p4 init` command does the following:

- Creates a `P4CLIENT` workspace. Note that the client option `allwrite` is set by default, making files writable without the need to check them out with `p4 edit` first. You must, however, issue a `p4 reconcile` command before shelving or submitting files.
- Creates a stream depot.
- Creates an initial stream, called `main`.

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