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Documentation | 2025.3

# Upgrading a tarball installation

The section describes how to upgrade a P4 Code Review tarball installation to a newer release.

The following process attempts to minimize downtime, but a short period of downtime for P4 Code Review users is unavoidable. There should be no downtime for your P4 Server. After a successful upgrade, all P4 Code Review users are logged out.

If you are using P4 Code Review in a production environment, we encourage you to test this upgrade process in a non-production environment first.

- P4 Code Review runtime dependencies change between releases, you must check that your system satisfies the P4 Code Review runtime dependencies before starting the upgrade, see Runtime dependencies.

- P4 Code Review no longer supports PHP 8.0 version.

- P4PHP should be upgraded to the version included in the new P4 Code Review release.
  - If you have already configured PHP to use the P4 Code Review-provided P4 API for PHP (as recommended), this happens automatically.
  - If you have manually installed P4 API for PHP in some other fashion, configure P4 Code Review to use the version of P4 API for PHP included in the new P4 Code Review tarball before you perform any of the upgrade steps below. See PHP configuration for details.

  P4 Code Review package and tarball installations: two versions of P4 API for PHP are supplied for PHP 8 version supported by P4 Code Review. They are located in the p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64 directory.

  - perforce-php8x.so compatible with systems using SSL 1.0.2
  - perforce-php8x-ssl1.1.1.so compatible with systems using SSL 1.1.1
  - perforce-php8x-ssl3.so compatible with systems using SSL 3.0.0 (by default, Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 uses SSL 3.0.0)

  Where x is the version of PHP 8.

  P4 Code Review no longer supports PHP 8.0 version.

  If the perforce.ini file is not pointing at the correct version of P4 API for PHP and you connect to an SSL enabled P4 Server:

  - The P4 Code Review web-page will not load and you might see a Connection Reset error.
  - There might be an undefined symbol: SSLeay message in the Apache error log

- Review the PHP requirements before you upgrade P4 Code Review, see PHP.

- Review the P4 Server requirements before you upgrade P4 Code Review, see P4 Server requirements.
- P4 Server 2020.1 and later, permissions have changed for viewing and editing stream spec files in P4 Code Review. To view and edit stream spec files in P4 Code Review, the P4 Code Review user must have admin permissions for the entire depot //...

- If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review 2017.2 or earlier, run the P4 Code Review index upgrade after you have validated your upgrade. This is the last step of the upgrade and ensures that the review activity history is displayed in the correct order on the Dashboard, and Reviews list pages.

- If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review 2020.2 or earlier and have userids that contain the forward slash (/) character, add AllowEncodedSlashes NoDecode to the VirtualHost block of your /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/perforce-swarm-site.conf file. For more information about the VirtualHost block, see Apache configuration.

## PHP and Apache 2.4 installation

RHEL does not have PHP 8 and Apache 2.4 by default so you must upgrade your system before you can upgrade P4 Code Review. This process is only required the first time you upgrade to PHP 8. If you have already upgraded to PHP 8 and Apache 2.4, see Configure Redis on the P4 Code Review machine.

Carry out the following steps:

The following notes are applicable for RHEL 8 and RHEL 9:

- As part of the PHP upgrade process your Apache 2.2 server will be stopped and disabled, if you are currently using the Apache 2.2 server for any other applications they will stop working. You will either need to upgrade these applications to work with PHP 8 and Apache 2.4 or move them to another server.

- RHEL 8: Use the Remi repository configuration package (remi-release-8.rpm) to give P4 Code Review access to PHP 8 and to LibreOffice which is part of the optional package install. Use the epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm repository configuration package to give P4 Code Review access to EPEL packages.

- RHEL 9: Use the Remi repository configuration packages (remi-release-8.rpm and remi-release-9.rpm) to give P4 Code Review access to PHP 8 and to LibreOffice which is part of the optional package install. Use the epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm and epel-release-latest-9.noarch.rpm repository configuration package to give P4 Code Review access to EPEL packages.

- P4 Code Review 2020.2 and later: these versions of P4 Code Review uses the Remi repository for RHEL 8 and RHEL 9. This provides PHP 8.x installed in the standard file system structure. This means that the old httpd24-httpd version of Apache is no longer needed, and the standard system version of Apache is being used again.

  The SCL Apache site configuration file was installed at this location for P4 Code Review 2019.1 to 2020.1:

  /opt/rh/httpd24/root/etc/httpd/conf.d/perforce-swarm-site.conf

  If this exists when P4 Code Review is upgraded to 2020.2 and later, this file is copied to /etc/httpd/conf.d/perforce-swarm-site.conf if there is no file at the destination. It is also re-written to change references from /var/log/httpd24 to /var/log/httpd

  If a site configuration file for P4 Code Review already exists in /etc/httpd, the copy and re-write is not performed.

  After upgrade, httpd24-httpd is disabled.

- To avoid seeing the Apache HTTP server Linux test page when you start the Apache server, comment out the content of the welcome.conf file located in the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ directory.

- To avoid loading the Apache HTTP server example configuration instead of the P4 Code Review configuration when the Apache server starts, rename the autoindex.conf file located in the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ directory to z-autoindex.conf or similar. This is required because Apache runs the first conf file it finds in the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ directory (alphabetical order) and that must be the perforce-swarm-site.conf file.

This section describes how to install PHP 8 and Apache 2.4 on your system using a repository .

1. This process is only required the first time you upgrade to PHP 8. Install PHP 8 and migrate the P4 Code Review Apache configuration to use Apache 2.4.

   Follow the instructions for your OS distribution, see RHEL 8 or RHEL 9 below:

   - RHEL 8 (run these commands as root):

     1. Deploy the epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm repository configuration package to give P4 Code Review access to EPEL packages:

     dnf install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

     2. Deploy the Remi repository configuration package to give P4 Code Review access to PHP 8 (only required the first time you upgrade to PHP 8):

     dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm

     3. Install the yum-utils package to give access to the yum-config-manager command:

     dnf install yum-utils

     4. Enable the optional channel for some dependencies:

     subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-8-server-optional-rpms

     5. Install the Default/Single version of PHP 8:
        1. Enable the module stream for PHP:

        dnf module reset php

        2. Install PHP.

        If you want to install PHP 8.4 use the following command:

        dnf module install php:remi-8.4

        To install a specific version of PHP, replace the PHP 8.4 reference in the above command.

        3. Run an upgrade for PHP:

        dnf update

     If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review 2019.3 to P4 Code Review 2021.1 or later, remove the P4 Code Review PHP 7.1 files:

     yum remove $(yum list installed | grep php71 | awk '{print $1}')

     6. If you are upgrading from Apache 2.2, disable your Apache 2.2 HTTP server so that is does not automatically start:

     systemctl disable httpd

     7. If you are upgrading from Apache 2.2, stop your Apache 2.2 HTTP server:

     systemctl stop httpd

     8. If you have any special php.ini configuration options set, copy the php.ini file to the /etc/php.d/ directory, for example:

     cp /etc/opt/rh/rh-php72/php.d/php.ini /etc/php.d/php.ini

     9. Copy the perforce-swarm-site.conf file to the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ directory if it is not already in there, for example:

     cp /opt/rh/httpd24/root/etc/httpd/conf.d/perforce-swarm-site.conf /etc/httpd/conf.d/perforce-swarm-site.conf

     10. Replace the /log/httpd24 filepath with /log/httpd/ in the perforce-swarm-site.conf file using the sed command:

     sed -i "s#/log/httpd24/#/log/httpd/#g" /etc/httpd/conf.d/perforce-swarm-site.conf

     11. Enable your Apache 2.4 HTTP server so that it automatically starts:

     systemctl enable httpd

     12. Start the Apache 2.4 HTTP server:

     systemctl start httpd

     13. Check that SELinux is working correctly for your system. For instructions on configuring SELinux on RHEL, see SELinux configuration.
   - RHEL 9 (run these commands as root):
     1. Run an upgrade for PHP, this will also upgrade the P4 Code Review packages:

     dnf update

     2. If you didn't run dnf update in the previous step, run the P4 Code Review package upgrade now:

     yum install helix-swarm helix-swarm-triggers helix-swarm-optional

     If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review 2019.3 to P4 Code Review 2021.1 or later, remove the P4 Code Review PHP 7.1 files:

     yum remove $(yum list installed | grep php71 | awk '{print $1}')

     3. Optional, ImageMagick: when ImageMagick is enabled, P4 Code Review can display the following image formats: BMP, EPS, PSD, TGA, TIFF.

        1. Install ImageMagick:

        yum install ImageMagick

        2. Restart the web server to so that ImageMagick is picked up.

        systemctl restart httpd

     4. Check that SELinux is working correctly for your system. For instructions on configuring SELinux on RHEL, see SELinux configuration.
2. PHP 8 and Apache 2.4 are now installed, configure the P4 Code Review Redis service on the P4 Code Review machine, see Configure Redis on the P4 Code Review machine.

## Configure Redis on the P4 Code Review machine

Follow the instructions for the P4 Code Review version you are upgrading from:

- Upgrade from P4 Code Review 2019.1 and earlier

- Upgrade from P4 Code Review 2019.2 and later

### Upgrade from P4 Code Review 2019.1 and earlier

P4 Code Review requires Redis to manage its caches and by default P4 Code Review uses its own Redis server on the P4 Code Review machine. P4 Code Review caches data from the P4 Server to improve the performance of common searches in P4 Code Review and to reduce the load on the P4 Server. Redis is included in the P4 Code Review Tarball installation.

This section describes how to configure the P4 Code Review Redis service on the P4 Code Review machine. Do not change the default values of the following configuration files if you are using the P4 Code Review Redis server.

If required, you can use your own Redis server instead of the P4 Code Review Redis server. For instructions on how to configure P4 Code Review to use your own Redis server, see Use your own Redis server.

P4 Code Review has two Redis binaries in SWARM_ROOT/p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64/:

- redis-server-swarm
- redis-cli-swarm

1. Configure the Redis cache database, enter the following details in the redis-server.conf file in /opt/perforce/etc/:

    bind 127.0.0.1
    port 7379
    supervised auto
    save ""
    dir /opt/perforce/swarm/redis

Default values:

- The default settings are shown below, the redis-server.conf file contains more detailed information about the Redis configuration for P4 Code Review.
- On P4 Code Review systems with a large number of users, groups, and projects, start-up time can be improved by persisting the memory cache. You can persist the memory cache by disabling background saves and enabling append saves, see the redis-server.conf file comments for detailed information.

- bind 127.0.0.1 - Redis server IP address (loopback interface)
- port 7379 - Redis server port number
- supervised auto - detects the use of upstart or systemd automatically to signal that the process is ready to use the supervisors
- save "" - background saves disabled, recommended.
- dir /opt/perforce/swarm/redis - the directory the Redis cache database is stored in.

To fine-tune your Redis server settings, make your changes in the Laminas Redis adapter. For information about the Laminas Redis adapter, see the Laminas Redis Adapter documentation.

2. The Redis cache database must be running before P4 Code Review starts so we recommend setting it up as a service so that it starts automatically at boot time.

The following example script will:

- run the Redis service as the Perforce user
- use the configuration file in /opt/perforce/etc/redis-server.conf
- assume the database server is installed in /opt/perforce/swarm/p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64/

To configure Redis as a service, add a script with the following content in /etc/systemd/system

redis-server-swarm.service

    [Unit]
    Description=Redis Server for Swarm
    After=network.target

    [Service]
    ExecStart=/opt/perforce/swarm/p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64/redis-server-swarm /opt/perforce/etc/redis-server.conf
    ExecStop=/opt/perforce/swarm/p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64/redis-cli-swarm shutdown
    Restart=always
    RestartSec=10
    StandardOutput=syslog
    StandardError=syslog
    SyslogIndentifier=redis
    User=perforce
    	Group=perforce

    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Create the `SWARM_ROOT/data/config.php` file if it does not already exist. The redis block of the `SWARM_ROOT/data/config.php` file contains the password, namespace, host and port details of the P4 Code Review Redis server:

    <?php
        // this block should be a peer of 'p4'
        'redis' => array(
            'options' => array(
                'password' => null, // Defaults to null
                'namespace' => 'Swarm',
                'server' => array(
                    'host' => 'localhost', // Defaults to 'localhost' or enter your Redis server hostname
                    'port' => '7379', // Defaults to '7379' or enter your Redis server port
                ),
            ),
            'items_batch_size' => 100000,
            'check_integrity' => '03:00', // Defaults to '03:00' Use one of the following two formats:
                                          // 1) The time of day that the integrity check starts each day. Set in 24 hour format with leading zeros and a : separator
                                          // 2) The number of seconds between each integrity check. Set as a positive integer. Specify '0' to disable the integrity check.
            'population_lock_timeout' => 300, // Timeout for initial cache population. Defaults to 300 seconds.
        ),

Configurables:

- password: Redis server password. Defaults to null and should be left at default if using the P4 Code Review Redis server.
- namespace: the prefix used for key values in the Redis cache. Defaults to Swarm and should be left at default if using the P4 Code Review Redis server.

If you have multiple P4 Code Review instances running against a single Redis server, each P4 Code Review server must use a different Redis namespace. This enables the cache data for the individual P4 Code Review instances to be identified. The namespace is limited to ≤ 128 characters.

If one or more of your P4 Code Review instances is connected to multiple P4 Servers, the Redis namespace includes the server label and the character limit is reduced to ≤ 127 characters, see Multiple P4 Server instances.

- host: Redis server hostname. Defaults to localhost and should be left at default if using the P4 Code Review Redis server.
- port: Redis server port number. Defaults to 7379. P4 Code Review uses port 7379 as its default to avoid clashing with other Redis servers that might be on your network. It should be left at default if using the P4 Code Review Redis server. The default port for a non-P4 Code Review Redis server is 6379.
- items_batch_size: Maximum number of key/value pairs allowed in an mset call to Redis. Sets exceeding this will be batched according to this maximum for efficiency. Defaults to 100000.

The default value of 100000 was chosen to strike a balance between efficiency and project data complexity. This value should not normally need to be changed, contact support before making a change to this value.

- check_integrity: In some circumstances, such as when changes are made in the P4 Server when P4 Code Review is down or if errors occur during updates, the Redis cache can get out of sync with the P4 Server. P4 Code Review can run a regular integrity check to make sure that the Redis caches and P4 Server are in sync. If an integrity check finds an out of sync cache file, P4 Code Review automatically updates the data in that cache.

The check_integrity configurable specifies when the Redis cache integrity check is run. Set as a specific time of day (24 hour format with leading zeros) or a number of seconds (positive integer) between checks. Disable the integrity check with '0'. Defaults to '03:00'.

- population_lock_timeout: specifies the timeout, in seconds, for initial cache population. If you have a large P4 Code Review system, increase this time if the initial cache population times out. Defaults to 300 seconds.

Now that the P4 Code Review Redis service is configured for the P4 Code Review machine, start your P4 Code Review upgrade, see Upgrade P4 Code Review.

### Upgrade from P4 Code Review 2019.2 and later

P4 Code Review requires Redis to manage its caches and by default P4 Code Review uses its own Redis server on the P4 Code Review machine. P4 Code Review caches data from the P4 Server to improve the performance of common searches in P4 Code Review and to reduce the load on the P4 Server. Redis is included in the P4 Code Review Tarball installation.

If you are using your own Redis server instead of the P4 Code Review Redis server, upgrade your Redis server to the version supplied with your P4 Code Review upgrade.

P4 Code Review has two Redis binaries in SWARM_ROOT/p4-bin/bin.linux26x86_64/:

- redis-server-swarm
- redis-cli-swarm

If the Redis binaries supplied with your new version of P4 Code Review have been updated, your Redis server is automatically upgraded to the new Redis server version. Your original Redis configuration files will not be changed. Do not change the default values of the Redis configuration files if you are using the P4 Code Review Redis server.

Restart the Redis server:

If the Redis binaries have been updated and you are running Redis as a service (recommended), you must restart the Redis server to use the new Redis server version.

1. Run the following command to restart the Redis server:

systemctl restart redis-server-swarm

2. You are now running the updated Redis server version.

On P4 Code Review systems with a large number of users, groups, and projects, start-up time can be improved by persisting the memory cache. You can persist the memory cache by disabling background saves and enabling append saves, see the redis-server.conf file comments for detailed information.

3. Now that the P4 Code Review Redis service is configured for the P4 Code Review machine, start your P4 Code Review upgrade, see Upgrade P4 Code Review.

## Upgrade P4 Code Review

The steps in this section describe how to upgrade P4 Code Review using the provided archive file. `SWARM_ROOT` refers to the current P4 Code Review installation.

1. Download the new TAR file from Download Helix Swarm.

2. Expand the new `swarm.tgz`:

   tar -zxf swarm.tgz

   The contents of `swarm.tgz` are expanded into a top-level folder named `swarm-version`, where `version` corresponds to the version downloaded. This directory is identified as `SWARM_NEW` below.

3. Move `SWARM_NEW` to be a peer of `SWARM_ROOT`:

   mv SWARM_NEW SWARM_ROOT/../

4. Copy the `SWARM_ROOT/data/config.php` file from `SWARM_ROOT` to `SWARM_NEW`:

   cp -p SWARM_ROOT/data/config.php SWARM_NEW/data/

5. Create the queue token directory:

   mkdir SWARM_NEW/data/queue

6. Copy the existing trigger token(s):

   sudo cp -pR SWARM_ROOT/data/queue/tokens SWARM_NEW/data/queue/

7. Configure the ImageMagick policy.xml file to allow P4 Code Review to create thumbnails if it is not already configured:

1. Open the ImageMagick policy.xml file for editing:

/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml

2. Disable lines with the pattern below for the following <filetype>s: PS, PS2, EPS, PDF, or XPS:

<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="<filetype>" />

3. Save the policy.xml file.

8. Assign correct ownership to the new P4 Code Review's data directory:

   sudo chown -R www-data SWARM_NEW/data

   The www-data user above is an example of what the web server user name might be, and can vary based on distribution or customization. For example, the user is typically apache for Red Hat and www-data for Debian/Ubuntu.

9. Update your triggers, see Update your triggers .

## Update your triggers

Do not install the P4 Code Review extension on your P4 Server if you intend on using P4 Code Review triggers.

1. Copy the new P4 Code Review trigger script to your P4 Server machine. The trigger script is `SWARM_ROOT/p4-bin/scripts/swarm-trigger.pl`, and requires installation of Perl 5.08+ (use the latest available) on the P4 Server machine. If P4 Code Review is using SSL, then the triggers also require the `IO::Socket::SSL` Perl module.

   Do not overwrite any existing trigger script at this time. Give the script a new name, for example: `swarm-trigger-new.pl`.

2. Configure the P4 Code Review trigger script by creating, in the same directory on the P4 Server machine, `swarm-trigger.conf`. It should contain:

   If you already have a `swarm-trigger.conf` file, no additional configuration is required.

       # SWARM_HOST (required)
       # Hostname of your Swarm instance, with leading "http://" or "https://".
       SWARM_HOST="http://my-swarm-host"

       # SWARM_TOKEN (required)
       # The token used when talking to Swarm to offer some security. To obtain the
       # value, log in to Swarm as a super user and select 'About Swarm' to see the
       # token value.
       SWARM_TOKEN="MY-UUID-STYLE-TOKEN"

       # ADMIN_USER (optional) Do not use if the Workflow feature is enabled (default)
       # For enforcing reviewed changes, optionally specify the normal Perforce user
       # with admin privileges (to read keys); if not set, will use whatever Perforce
       # user is set in environment.
       ADMIN_USER=

       # ADMIN_TICKET_FILE (optional) Do not use if the Workflow feature is enabled (default)
       # For enforcing reviewed changes, optionally specify the location of the
       # p4tickets file if different from the default ($HOME/.p4tickets).
       # Ensure this user is a member of a group with an 'unlimited' or very long
       # timeout; then, manually login as this user from the Perforce server machine to
       # set the ticket.
       ADMIN_TICKET_FILE=

       # VERIFY_SSL (optional)
       # If HTTPS is being used on the Swarm web server, then this controls whether
       # the SSL certificate is validated or not. By default this is set to 1, which
       # means any SSL certificates must be valid. If the web server is using a self
       # signed certificate, then this must be set to 0.
       # set the ticket.
       VERIFY_SSL=1

   Fill in the required SWARM_HOST and SWARM_TOKEN variables with the configuration from any previous P4 Code Review trigger script, typically `swarm-trigger.pl`.

   The ADMIN_USER and ADMIN_TICKET variables were used by the 'enforce triggers' in P4 Code Review 2019.1 and earlier. They can be removed unless you are explicitly disabling workflow and using the deprecated 'enforce triggers'.

   P4 Code Review 2015.4 and earlier: P4 Code Review trigger script files were available as shell scripts in these earlier P4 Code Review versions, typically `swarm-trigger.sh`.

   P4 Code Review must now use a Perl trigger script file, typically `swarm-trigger.pl`.

3. On Linux: ensure that the script is executable:

   sudo chmod +x swarm-trigger-new.pl

4. Rename the new trigger script:

   On Linux:

   mv swarm-trigger-new.pl swarm-trigger.pl

   On Windows:

   ren swarm-trigger-new.pl swarm-trigger.pl

5. Update the triggers in your P4 Server.

   - The swarm.shelvedel shelve-delete trigger line was added to P4 Code Review in version 2018.1 and updated in version 2020.1.

     - Upgrading from P4 Code Review 2017.4 and earlier: add the `swarm.shelvedel shelve-delete` trigger line to the P4 Server trigger table if it is not already present, see Installing triggers
     - Upgrading from P4 Code Review 2018.x and 2019.x: replace the existing `swarm.shelvedel shelve-delete` trigger line in the P4 Server trigger table with the one supplied in the P4 Code Review version you are upgrading to.

   - Workflow feature:

     The Workflow feature is enabled by default in P4 Code Review 2019.2 and later. The trigger lines required when workflow is enabled are different to those required when workflow is disabled:

     - Workflow feature enabled (default):
       - Comment out the swarm.enforce.1, swarm.enforce.2, swarm.strict.1, and swarm.strict.2 trigger lines in the P4 Server trigger table if they are present, see Installing triggers
       - Add the `swarm.enforce change-submit`, `swarm.strict change-content`, and `swarm.shelvesub shelve-submit` trigger lines to the P4 Server trigger table if they are not already present, see Installing triggers
     - Workflow feature disabled:

       Comment out the `swarm.enforce change-submit`, `swarm.strict change-content`, and `swarm.shelvesub shelve-submit` trigger lines in the P4 Server trigger table if they are present, see Installing triggers

   1. Run the P4 Code Review trigger script to capture (using Ctrl+C on Windows and Linux) the trigger lines that should be included in the Perforce trigger table:

      On Linux:

      ./swarm-trigger.pl -o

      On Windows:

      path/to/perl swarm-trigger.pl -o

   2. As a Perforce user with super privileges, update the Perforce trigger table by running `p4 triggers` command and replacing any `swarm.*` lines with the previously captured trigger line output (using Ctrl+V on Windows and Linux).

   If you previously customized the P4 Code Review trigger lines, perhaps to apply various Trigger options, be sure to repeat those customizations within the updated trigger lines.

## Replace your old P4 Code Review instance with your new P4 Code Review instance

Downtime occurs in this step.

Replace your old P4 Code Review instance with your new P4 Code Review instance. Run the following command:

sudo apache2ctl stop; mv SWARM_ROOT SWARM.old; mv SWARM_NEW SWARM_ROOT; sudo apache2ctl start

If you see the following error message when you start P4 Code Review, P4 Code Review is using the wrong version of P4 API for PHP. The latest version of P4 API for PHP is included in the P4 Code Review tarball but you must configure P4 Code Review to use that version of P4 API for PHP. For instructions about how to configure P4 Code Review to use the new version of P4 API for PHP, see PHP configuration.

### Reload the P4 Code Review config cache

As an admin user, delete and reload the P4 Code Review configuration cache from the Cache Info tab of the System Information page. Navigate to the User id dropdown menu, select System Information, select the Cache Info tab, and select Reload Configuration. For more information, see Cache Info.

## Validate your upgrade

When P4 Code Review starts it verifies the Redis cache, during this time you cannot log in to P4 Code Review. The time taken to verify the Redis cache depends on the number of users, groups, and projects P4 Code Review has. Start-up time can be improved by persisting the memory cache. You can persist the memory cache by disabling background saves and enabling append saves in the redis-server.conf file, see Redis server configuration file.

Check that your new P4 Code Review instance is working correctly by doing the following:

1. Create a new changelist that:
   1. Contains at least one modified file
   2. Contains the #review keyword in the changelist description
2. Right click on the new changelist in P4V and click Shelve Files...

Do not select Request New Review... because this method uses the API and will not fully test the P4 Server extension.

This is also true if you are using P4 Code Review triggers instead of the P4 Server extension.

3. Check that a new review is created for the changelist.

- If a review is created, the P4 Server extension is working. If you are using P4 Code Review triggers instead of the P4 Server extension and the review is created, the triggers are working.
- If a review is not created, see Troubleshooting: Review not created.

## P4 Code Review index upgrade

If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review 2017.2 or earlier you should run the index upgrade, this ensures that the review activity history is displayed in the correct order on the Dashboard, and Reviews list pages.

If you are upgrading from P4 Code Review version 2017.3 or later, the index upgrade step is not required.

The index upgrade process can be configured to suit your P4 Code Review system specifications. See Upgrade index for details.

Run the upgrade as an Admin user by visiting the following URL:

    http://SWARM-HOST/upgrade

After the P4 Code Review upgrade, on the first visit to some P4 Code Review pages, users might see a message to perform a browser hard refresh. This happens because we are updating the UI and content of some P4 Code Review pages, so the user's page cache is no longer valid and requires a hard refresh to load the upgraded page. For example, for Chrome on Windows/Linux [CTRL]+[F5].

## Secure your P4 Code Review installation

To make your P4 Code Review installation more secure apply the following recommendations for HTTP and P4 Code Review implementation through security groups.

### HTTP

Here is a list of best practices to use when port 80 is exposed for HTTP traffic:

- Redirect to HTTPS: If Port 80 needs to be open to support legacy systems or specific use cases, ensure that all HTTP traffic is redirected to HTTPS to encrypt data in transit.

- Use HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) headers: Implement HSTS headers to force browsers only to use secure HTTPS connections when interacting with your server.

- Close port 80: If there is no requirement to use HTTP, Port 80 must be closed entirely to prevent any unencrypted data transmission.

- Implement SSL/TLS (secure sockets layer and transport layer security) certificates: Ensure that your server is configured with a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable secure HTTPS connections.

- Firewall configuration: Configure firewalls to block or filter access to Port 80, particularly from untrusted networks.

- Continuous monitoring and auditing: Regularly monitor network traffic and audit server configurations to ensure that unnecessary ports are not exposed and that data is transmitted securely.

When you implement HTTPS, you must make the following changes:

1. Modify your cron job for the P4 Code Review workers.

   Edit the cron configuration file to point to your HTTPS URL, for example, https://HOSTNAME/. For more information about how to edit the cron configuration file, see Set up a recurring task to spawn workers.

   To verify if the cron configuration file points to your HTTPS URL, run the following curl statement:

   curl https://myswarm.host/queue/worker

2. Modify the P4 Code Review Extension or Trigger configuration.

   If you are using the P4 Code Review extension run the following command and change ExtConfig’s P4 Code Review URL to be your new HTTPS URL:

   p4 extension --configure Perforce:helix-swarm

   If you are using triggers, edit swarm-trigger.pl configuration file and set your SWARM_HOST to be https.

3. Edit the external_url in the `SWARM_ROOT/data/config.php` file’s environment block to point to your HTTPS URL. This URL is used in emails, Jira links, and P4 Code Review test’s pass-and-fail outgoing URL parameters.

   If you make a configuration change, P4 Code Review will not use it until the configuration cache has been reloaded, this forces P4 Code Review to use the new configuration.

   You must be an admin or super user to reload the P4 Code Review config cache. Navigate to the User id dropdown menu, select System Information, click the Cache Info tab, and click the Reload Configuration button.

4. Modify the P4 Server's P4.Swarm.URL property. For more information about P4 Server integration, see Client integration.

   If your Apache server is listening on both HTTPS and HTTP in perforce-swarm-site.conf file, you must set the auto_register_urlconfigurable in the p4 block to false and correctly configure the P4.Swarm.URL property .

   If your Apache server is listening only on HTTPS and if the auto_register_urlconfigurable in the p4 block is set to true (default value), an Apache restart will correct the property.

   To get all your current values for P4.Swarm.URL property, run:

   p4 -Ztag property -A -l -n P4.Swarm.URL

   Ensure that the P4.Swarm.URL property points to your HTTPS URL.

5. Modify the URL of all applications. Any other applications that reference the URL should be switched to using the HTTPS URL.

### P4 Code Review implementation through security groups

Here is a list of best practices for implementation using security groups or the user's preferred setup:

- Use a trusted proxy: Ensure to only use a trusted proxy, such as allow lists, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), and API Gateways.

- Backend servers and other proxies or load balancers should be disabled: Ensure that direct access to backend servers and other proxies or load balancers is disabled, except through the trusted proxy mentioned above. This will prevent unauthorized access while ensuring that all requests are filtered through the trusted proxy.

- Continuous monitoring and logging of the X-Forwarded-For header: Implement monitoring and logging on the X-Forwarded-For header to track and identify any suspicious activities. This can help in identifying and preventing potential malicious activity or security threats.

- Use a secure protocol: Implement a secure protocol such as HTTPS to encrypt the communications between the client and the load balancers, and between the load balancer and backend server to prevent eavesdropping or tampering with the X-Forwarded-For header.

- Configure X-Forwarded-For header: Configure the processing mode of the X-Forwarded-For header (append, preserve, or remove) based on specific technical or security requirements.

All done!

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