Helix Core is now P4. Product user interfaces will be updated soon. Learn more >>

P4 Search Documentation | 2026.1

# Create users and tickets for external services

P4 Server requires users and tickets for external services. If you configure P4 Search with a script (Linux only), these are set up automatically. See Configure P4 Search for the first time.

If you choose to install P4 Search manually, you must create the P4 users and tickets yourself.

## About P4 users

Typically P4 Search uses an Index user and a Service user, created on the P4 Server.

- Index user: Must be a Standard user type with super access. Used to read content from the P4 Server, to set file attributes, and to install extensions. For instructions on creating the Index user and printing out the ticket, see Create users and tickets for external services.
- Service user: Can be a Standard or Service user type with a minimum of admin access. Used to authorize the proxy connection at Security level 5 and above. To learn more about creating the Service user and printing out the ticket, see Create users and tickets for external services.

If your P4 Server is running at security level 4 or lower, the Service user can share a single license with the Index user as long as they are both a Standard user type.

## User requirements at different security levels

At Security level 6 (or Security level 5, when using service specifications):

- The P4 Index user must be of type 'standard' with super permissions.

  - The long-lived ticket must be an all-hosts ticket.

- The P4 Service user must be of type 'service' with admin permissions.

  - The long-lived ticket must be a local ticket.

- The P4 Server must have a valid server spec with the AllowedAddresses field set. To learn more about Security level 6, see Server security levels in the P4 Server Administration Documentation.

At Security level 4 and below (or Security level 5 when not using service specifications):

- The P4 Index user must be of type 'standard' with super permissions.

- You can use the same P4 user for both the Index user and Service user.

- If you are using a different P4 Service user, then it must be of type 'standard' with admin permissions.

## Create the P4 Index user and ticket

The Index user must have super permissions to read content from P4 Server, to set file attributes, and to install extensions. If the Index user is undefined, the Perforce Service user is used.

The Index user name and ticket details are required when you set the following configurations:

- com.perforce.p4search.core.index.p4user

- com.perforce.p4search.core.index.p4ticket

Check the user requirements at your security level before creating the Index user.

1. On your P4 Server, create the Index user:

p4 user -f p4index

2. Create a group with unlimited timeouts and add the user to the group. For example:

   1. Create a group called unlimited:

   p4 group unlimited

   2. Edit the group spec to change Timeout to unlimited.

   3. Edit the group spec to add the p4index user to the group.

3. Open user protections form:

   p4 protect

4. Give the p4index user super permissions by adding the following entry to the form:

super user p4index * //...

5. Set the password:

p4 -u p4index passwd

6. Get a ticket for the user:

p4 -u p4index login -ap

7. Set the values in the default.config.properties configuration file.

## Create the P4 Service user and ticket

The Service user can be a Standard or Service user with a minimum of admin permissions to authorize the proxy connection at Security level 5 and higher.

The Service user name and ticket details are required when you set the following configurations:

- com.perforce.p4search.core.service.p4user

- com.perforce.p4search.core.service.p4ticket

Check the user requirements at your security level before creating the Service user.

1. On your P4 Server, create the user:

p4 user -f p4search

2. Create a group with unlimited timeouts and add the user to the group. For example:

   1. Create a group called unlimited:

   p4 group unlimited

   2. Edit the group spec to change Timeout to unlimited.

   3. Edit the group spec to add the p4search user to the group.

3. Open user protections form:

   p4 protect

4. Give the p4search user admin permissions by adding the following entry to the form:

admin user p4search * //...

5. Set the password:

p4 -u p4search passwd

6. Get a ticket for the user with one of the following commands based on the on the security level of the P4 Server:

   - Security level 4 and lower: create an all hosts ticket:

   p4 -u p4search login -ap

   - Security level 5 and higher: create a local host ticket:

   p4 -u p4search login -p

7. Set the values in the default.config.properties configuration file.

## Related topics

- P4 Server requirements.

Your search for returned results