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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2025.2

# Ticket-based authentication

Ticket-based authentication is based on time-limited tickets that enable users to connect to the P4 Server.

The P4 Server creates a ticket for a user when they log in using the `p4 login -a` command.

P4 Server applications store tickets in the file specified by the `P4TICKETS` environment variable. If this variable is not set, tickets are stored in `%USERPROFILE%\p4tickets.txt` on Windows, and in `$HOME/.p4tickets` on UNIX and other operating systems.

By default, tickets have a finite lifespan, after which they cease to be valid. By default, tickets are valid for 12 hours (43200 seconds). To set different ticket lifespans for groups of users, edit the `Timeout` field in the `p4 group` form for each group. The timeout value for a user in multiple groups is the largest timeout value (including `unlimited`, but ignoring `unset`) for all groups of which a user is a member. To create a ticket that does not expire, set the `Timeout` field to `unlimited`.

The ticket for a service user defaults to unlimited in 2025.2 and later.

Although tickets are not passwords, a P4 Server accepts valid tickets wherever users can specify P4 Server passwords (except when logging in with the `p4 login` command). This behavior provides the security advantages of ticket-based authentication with the ease of scripting afforded by password authentication. Ticket-based authentication is supported at all server security levels, and is required at security level `3` and higher. To learn more, see Server security levels.

A ticket expires:

- If the user's AuthMethod is changed.
- If the user's password is changed and the user is using `AuthMethod` of `perforce`.
- When the ticket's password expires. This assumes that password aging is in effect.

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