Enhanced Studio Pack on AWS
The Enhanced Studio Pack contains all the tools you need to do world-class development in a single, pre-configured environment. Use these instructions to deploy everything you need with the infrastructure required to support large projects, big files, and all your team members.
- Define Your AWS Environment
- Find Your Deployment Outputs
- Your Credentials
- Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Visual Client (P4V)
- Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Sync
- Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Swarm
- Connect to Helix Plan
- Update Firewall Rules to Allow Additional Users
- Authenticating to the Helix Core Operating System
- Need Support?
Define Your AWS Environment
- To deploy your Enhanced Studio Pack on AWS, click on the template link (you will receive one after signing up).
- Create or log in to your AWS account.
- In the AWS CloudFormation Stack Deployment interface, you will see a list of parameters that define how your Perforce environment will be set up. Before you start editing parameters to create your stack, choose your region.
By default, N. Virginia is selected. This template supports all regions except opt-in regions, China regions, and GovCloud regions.
We recommend selecting a region closest to your end users or a region that meets your compliance/security needs.
Then define your parameters:
Stack Name
- Create a name following your organizations standard naming convention. If you don't have a standard convention, we recommend making the name easy to recognize. For example, perforce-${environment}-${team/department}
- If you deploy multiple instances of the Perforce Enhanced Studio Pack in the same region, create unique names for each. For example: production, team a, or team b. CloudFormation Stack names must be unique within an AWS region. If you get the error "Stack [XYZ] already exists," double check that your chosen stack name is unique.
VPC Network Configuration
Your VPC contains all the network settings that give you access to use your Perforce Helix Core software in the cloud.
- To start, you must whitelist at least one IP address. We recommend using the public IP address of the machine you are using to set up the stack on AWS.
- Replace 1.1.1.1 with your IPv4 address. Find your IP address >>
- /32 will remain unless there is a continuous block of IP addresses that need to be whitelisted. You can always add and delete IP addresses after you deploy.
Perforce Helix Core Server Configuration
Define how you want the Helix Core server to be setup. Certain admin actions will require SSH access, for example operating system updates, Helix Core updates, reviewing logs, or expanding volume size. Daily use will not require SSH.
- To set up SSH, select an existing key or create a new one from your EC2 dashboard.
- The remaining fields in this section are optional. Once you are using the tool, you can adjust these at any time.
- If you know how much data you are using today, you may consider adjusting your Depot Volume Size to 1.5x your current data usage.
Helix Plan (Formerly Hansoft) Configuration (Optional)
- To use the Perforce project management tool, select ‘True.’
- Helix Plan will be deployed to your AWS environment on its own server. We do not recommend adjusting resource defaults for initial setup.
Not sure you will use Helix Plan right away? Deploy now and stop the Helix Plan server until you are ready to start using. This will reduce your cloud operating costs.
Helix Swarm Configuration (Optional)
- To use Helix Swarm — the Helix Core code review tool — select ‘True.’
- Helix Swarm will be deployed to your AWS environment on its own server. We do not recommend adjusting resource defaults for initial setup.
Other Parameters
The Environment parameter is used in both resource naming and the tag on all resources.
Environment default is “prod.” We do not recommend changing this name. But it can be done if your needs require it.
Create Your Stack
Once you have defined all parameters:
1. Check the two boxes for AWS CloudFormation Capabilities.
2. Click Create Stack.
3. Click on the Stack Info tab and wait for the Status to change to CREATE_COMPLETE. Once the deployment is complete proceed to the next section, Find Your Deployment Outputs.
4. Estimate your monthly expense with the AWS calculator.
Find Your Deployment Outputs
Once your deployment is complete, you will see the status change to CREATE_COMPLETE.
Make sure you have the parent stack selected and click on the Outputs tab. In our example, the parent stack Name is Enhanced-Studio-Pack.
If you navigated away from your deployment, the following screenshots show where to find your parent stack.
From the CloudFormation Main Page
- If you are on the CloudFormation main page, find the Stack Name you selected in the Defining Your Environment Section.
- Click the Stack Name hyperlink.
![Enhanced Studio Pack - Stack Name Hyperlink]()
From the Stack Details Page
- If you are on the Stack Details page, find the Stack Name you selected in the Defining Your Environment Section in the list of Stacks.
- Select it.
![Enhanced Studio Pack - Environment Section]()
Please take note of the following key outputs:
- HelixCoreInstanceID
- P4CommitPublicIP
These will be used in future sections.
Your Credentials
Refer to section Find Your Deployment Outputs for details on where to find these values.
Helix Core Credentials
Use the following connection details for connecting to Helix Core using Helix Visual Client (P4V) and the Helix Core Command-line (P4 CLI).
Server = ssl:<P4CommitPublicIP>:1666
User = perforce
Password = <HelixCoreInstanceID>
<P4CommitPublicIP> and <HelixCoreInstanceID> correspond to AWS CloudFormation outputs found in the Find Your Deployment Outputs section.
Example:
Server = ssl: 52.186.76.48:1666
User = perforce
Password = i-0d25def7ae812ce0a
Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Visual Client (P4V)
- Download Helix Visual Client (P4V).
- Enter in the connection details on the Remote Server tab:
Server = ssl:<P4CommitPublicIP>:1666
User = perforce
Password = <HelixCoreInstanceID> - Click OK.
- Establish connection by clicking the checkbox “Trust this fingerprint” and click Connect.
- In the displayed password prompt, enter the password for the perforce user, which defaults to <HelixCoreInstanceID> output value.
![P4V: Open Connection]()
![P4V: Trust Fingerprint]()
![P4V: Enter Password]()
- For more information, see the P4V User Guide.
Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Sync
- Download Helix Sync.
- Enter in the connection details:
Server = ssl:<P4CommitPublicIP>:1666
Username: perforce
Password = <HelixCoreInstanceID> - Click Connect.
![Helix Sync: Login Screen]()
- For more information, see the Helix Sync User Guide.
Access Your Helix Core Server Using Helix Swarm
- Open your browser.
- Navigate to http://<SwarmPublicIP>
- Login using the following details:
Username: perforce
Password: <P4CommitInstanceID> - Click Log in.
- For more information, see the Helix Swarm User Guide.
Connect to Helix Plan (Formerly Hansoft)
- Download the Helix Plan client.
- Open the Helix Plan Client.
- Login using the following details:
Helix Plan Server: < HansoftPublicIP>
Port: 50256 - Click Connect.
- For more information, see the Helix Plan User Guide.
- To connect to the Helix Plan server using the Helix Plan Server Administrator application, no username is required. The password is the output value of <HansoftInstanceID>.
Update Firewall Rules to Allow Additional Users
If you have users who will connect to Perforce from a different IP address than the one used to deploy, you will need to update your firewall rules to grant them access.
Review the AWS documentation for updating Security Group rules.
Follow these steps for getting to your Security Group.
- Navigate to the EC2 console.
- Select your Helix Core instance.
- Select the Security tab.
- Open the Security Group.
- From this page you can update/remove/add new whitelist entries by click on the “Edit inbound rules” button.
- Review your changes. Then click Save rules.
The table below provides the port number for each product the user may need access to:
Product | Service Type | Port Number |
Helix Core | TCP | 1666 |
Helix Swarm | HTTP | 80 |
Hansoft | TCP | 52560 |
Authenticating to the Helix Core Operating System
Username: rocky
Server: <P4CommitPublicIP>
Example command:
ssh -I /path/to/ssh/private/key [email protected]
Now you are logged in as the rocky user. To perform any Helix Core administration task, switch to the perforce user and log into Helix Core with the following commands:
sudo su - perforce
p4login -v 1
You are now logged into Helix Core (P4D) as the perforce user. You have the P4 CLI binaries in your $PATH
To perform OS administration, you can become root with the following command:
sudo -s
Need Support?
Support can be reached by emailing: [email protected]
When emailing support, please include details about your Helix Core server configuration.
- Go into Helix Visual Client P4V.
- Click Help.
- Click System Info.
- Copy and paste the contents of System Info into your email to support.
