p4 archive

Archive obsolete revisions to an archive depot.

Syntax

p4 [g-opts] archive [-h -n -p -q -t] -D depot  FileSpec[revSpec]

Description

Moves the specified revisions into a depot of type archive.

When files are moved into an archive depot, their last action is changed to archive. Commands that access file content, such as p4 sync and p4 diff, skip archive revisions, but commands that do not require access to file content, such as p4 filelog, continue to report metadata concerning the archived revisions.

Tip

If you want to disable server locks when running the p4 archive command, set the value of the the server.locks.archive configurable to 0.

Warning

Use p4 archive -p with caution. Only two commands in Helix Server remove file data: p4 archive -p and p4 obliterate.

Options

`-D depot`	Specify an archive depot to which files are to be archived.
`-h`	Do not archive head revisions.
`-n`	Do not archive revisions. Instead, report on which revisions would have been archived.
`-p`	Purge any archives of the specified files named in the archive depot. (The action for affected revisions is set to `purge` on completion. File contents are no longer accessible from `p4 restore`.)
`-q`	Quiet mode, which suppresses messages about skipped revisions.
`-t`	Archive text files (or other revisions stored in delta format, such as files of type `binary+D`)
`g-opts`	See Global Options.

Usage Notes

Can File Arguments Use Revision Specifier?	Can File Arguments Use Revision Range?	Minimal Access Level Required
Yes	Yes	`admin`

By default, only files stored in full (+F) or compressed (+C) are archived. The files must be in a local depot (not a remote or another archive depot), and must neither be copied nor branched to (or from) another revision.
To archive files stored in delta format, use the -t option. Be aware that there may be a computational cost associated with the manipulation of large numbers of RCS deltas.
You can use p4 archive -n for testing purposes before mounting the filesystem associated with the archive depot. Storage for the archive depot must be mounted before running this command without the -n option.
If a revision is stored in an archive depot, and the stored revision is accessible to the versioning service, end users can determine which archived revision they might want to be restored by using p4 print:
p4 print -A -o myOutputFile /archive/depot/myFile
This command redirects the contents of the archived file to myOutputFile without restoring the archived file. End users can then request that a Helix Server Administrator use p4 restore to restore the file.

Examples

`p4 archive file#3`	Archive revisions `1` through `3` of file If a single revision is specified as a file argument, `p4 archive` implicitly targets revisions #1 through the specified revision for archiving
`p4 archive file#3,3`	Archive revision `3` of file To archive only a single revision `rev`, use the form p4 archive file#rev,rev
To archive files stored in delta format, use the `-t` option:
`p4 archive -D archives -t //depot/....txt`	Use the `...` wildcard to archive the files with the `.txt` extension.
`p4 archive -D archives -t //depot/....txt@3,3`	Use the `...` wildcard to archive the files with the `.txt` extension that belong to changelist `3`.
`p4 archive -D archives -t //depot/....txt@3`	Use the `...` wildcard to archive the files with the `.txt` extension that belong to changelists `1` through `3`.

If Helix Server must manipulate a large numbers of RCS deltas, the computational cost might be noticable.

Related Commands

To create a depot	`p4 depot`
To restore files from an archive depot	`p4 restore`
To obliterate files without archiving them	`p4 obliterate`