Handling Large Database Files

Support for database files larger than 2GB

Info & Tags

Article #:
53
Created:
12/15/06
Modified:
01/09/08

SUMMARY

Earlier versions of the Perforce Server, and some operating systems, limit Perforce database files (the db.* files in the P4ROOT directory) to 2GB in size.

DETAILS

The following combinations of operating system and Perforce Server will support database files larger than 2GB:

  • Linux x86 :
    • Large file support is only available for Linux kernels 2.4.0 and higher.
    • Use Perforce 2000.2/21749 or higher.
  • Windows NT/2000/XP:
    • All versions support large files.
    • Use Perforce 98.2/8127 or higher.
  • Solaris:
    • Large file support is only available for Solaris 2.6 and higher.
    • Use Perforce 98.2/7488 or higher compiled for Solaris 2.6 or higher.
  • FreeBSD:
    • All versions support large files.
    • Use Perforce 98.2/5713 or higher.
  • HP-UX:
    • Large file support is only available for HP-UX 11.11 and higher.
    • Use Perforce 2001.1/26433 or higher.
  • SGI:
    • Irix 6.2 and higher support large files.
    • Irix 5.3 will only support large files with an SGI-supplied upgrade for xfs.
    • Use Perforce 98.2/5713 or higher.
  • Tru64 Unix (aka Digital Unix, aka OSF/1):
    • All versions support large files.
    • Use Perforce 98.2/5713 or higher.

If any of your database files are approaching the 2GB file size limit imposed by your current installation, consider migrating your server to a system which supports large files.

Notes

The db.have file is most likely to hit this limit first. It stores the client "have" lists. In a pinch you can trim the size of this file by deleting unnecessary clients.