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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2026.1

# Configuration file format

p4dctl uses a configuration file, `p4dctl.conf`, to control the following:

- Service settings for the services started with the `p4dctl` command.
- Settings for the `p4dctl` utility itself.
- Service processes managed by `p4dctl`, such as checkpointing and journal rotation.

- The environment in which managed services are running.

  The environment is configured using environment variables that can be defined globally or for a specific service. The service type determines which variables must be defined. See Service types and required settings.

A `p4dctl` configuration file is made up of an `environment` block and one or more `server` type blocks. The following sections describe each type in detail.

The configuration file can also contain comments. A comment is designated by starting the comment line with the `#` sign.

Settings specified outside of a server block are global and are merged into the settings of all services. They take the following form:

setting_name = value

For example:

    PATH = /bin:/user/bin

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