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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2026.1

# Set a depot location

A depot’s location defines where its versioned files are stored on disk or in external storage. You can specify this location when you create a depot, and you can change it later if you need to move depot data to new storage.

This section provides an overview of depot location options and general considerations. Detailed procedures are covered in the linked subtopics.

In this section:

## Minimizing downtime during migration

To reduce disruption for users, copy depot data to the new location in advance and perform the final switch using an incremental update. Synchronization utilities such as `rsync` (Unix-based systems) or `robocopy` (Windows) are commonly used for this purpose.

By pre-copying most of the data, the depot remapping step typically requires copying only recently changed files.

## Symlink considerations

Ensure that all file systems are mounted correctly on both the source and target systems. If any depots reference directory paths that include symlinks, review them carefully before moving data.

Symlinks are managed by the operating system, not by P4 Server, and must be accounted for explicitly when copying or relocating depot data.

## tiny.db considerations

If your deployment uses `tiny.db` to store file revisions, additional steps are required when changing a depot’s location. In this case:

1. Take a checkpoint of the `tiny.db` file.

2. Update the checkpoint content to reflect changes to the depot spec’s `map` field or to `server.depot.root`.

3. Restore the database from the updated checkpoint.

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