# Basic Helix Setup for Indie Developers #

Perforce has long been a popular SCM system among game
developers. Since Perforce is free for up to 20 users
(http://www.perforce.com/downloads/p4d), there is no excuse not
to try it even if you are a indie game developer.

When you work alone or in a small team time suddenly became a
scarce commodity. So how do you setup Perforce quickly and start
developing? Here is a quick recipe to get you started.


## In the cloud ##

To kick start a project with minimal fuss, you cannot go wrong
with a hosted solution.

  http://www.perforce.com/helix-cloud

Perforce also partnered with Assembla to provide free to
enterprise-grade Perforce service in the cloud:

  https://www.assembla.com/repositories/perforce?ref=PerforceWebsite-cloud

Read on if you prefer to host your Perforce service within your
premises for maximum flexibility.


##  WINDOWS ##

For Windows developers there is no reason not to take advantage
of our Windows installer available. Simply download it from our
website (http://www.perforce.com/downloads/p4d) and you will be
up and running in no time.


## Linux and other UNIX-like platforms ##


### Debian and Redhat

If you use a Debian or Redhat derived distribution you can
install helix using the packages available from:

[http://package.perforce.com](http://package.perforce.com)

See the page for more information.


### Other Linux and UNIX-like platforms ###


For other platforms there are a lot more options available but
here is a how one could get started quickly:

 * Create a dedicated, regular user on your machine to run the
   Perforce server (Perforce does not require root to
   function). For this example let's name this user as
   "perforce".

 * Download the Perforce server (P4D) and the command-line client
   (P4) from our website:

       http://www.perforce.com/downloads/p4d

	   http://www.perforce.com/downloads/p4

 * Made both binaries world executable:

       chmod +x p4d p4

 * Install "p4" to /usr/local/bin and "p4d" to the Perforce root
   directory. For this example we'll use /p4.

   (Avoid putting P4D in your shell search path to avoid running
   it accidentally or running the wrong P4D version if you have
   multiple versions installed.)

 * Configure P4D to start on system boot. This can be done with a
   init script or via the user crontab. For example, login as
   user "perforce" and run the following:

      echo '@reboot /p4/p4d -r /p4 -p 1666 -d -L /p4/log'|crontab -

   (There is a "-" sign at the end.)

Note that you should shutdown Perforce before system shutdown
to avoid any database inconsistency.

If you ever wondered why Perforce does not have a "p4 admin
start" command, we have an answer:

http://answers.perforce.com/articles/KB_Article/Why-Is-There-No-p4-admin-start-Command/


## Installing a Perforce Client ##

To submit files to the Perforce service, download one of the many
clients available from our website. P4V is a fine graphical
client for new users:

http://www.perforce.com/downloads/p4v

If you use an integrated development environment, be sure to
check and see if there is a Perforce integration available:

http://www.perforce.com/product/components/perforce-clients-tools

http://www.perforce.com/product/components/third-party-integrations#ide-integrations


## Backup ##

A good installation should also include a regular backup and this
involves creating a checkpoint of the metadata database and a
backup of the checkpoint plus the associated archive files.

For more information, please see:

http://www.perforce.com/perforce/doc.current/manuals/p4sag/chapter.backup.html#DB5-74301


## Further Information and Support ##

New to Perforce? Do checkout our resources page from our website:

http://www.perforce.com/resources

Have a specific question? Our knowledge base is just a search away:

http://answers.perforce.com/

Join our community for community support, news and more:

http://www.perforce.com/community


For product support, please contact support@perforce.com.