Arcgis Server is the backbone server software for ArcGIS Enterprise, designed to share your valuable geographic information across your organization and, if desired, to a wider internet audience. It achieves this by utilizing GIS services, enabling a server to efficiently manage and respond to information requests from various devices.
To effectively deploy ArcGIS Server, initial preparation is key. This involves setting up your hardware, installing the necessary software, and organizing your data before you can start publishing services. Once configured, a wide array of applications can be used to access and utilize these services.
ArcGIS Server Deployment Configurations
There are primarily two ways to configure ArcGIS Server to meet your organizational needs.
Integrated with ArcGIS Enterprise
The most recommended and common approach is to integrate ArcGIS Server as a component within an ArcGIS Enterprise organization. In this setup, ArcGIS Server is federated with an ArcGIS Enterprise portal. This integration is the optimal pattern for most users as it leverages the full capabilities of the ArcGIS ecosystem. Geographic data becomes accessible through layers and web maps within the organization’s portal. These items can then be seamlessly integrated into diverse applications, including user-friendly browser-based web apps and native mobile apps, often requiring minimal custom development.
Learn more about integrating ArcGIS Server with ArcGIS Enterprise
Stand-Alone ArcGIS Server
Alternatively, ArcGIS Server can be deployed in a stand-alone configuration, independent of an ArcGIS Enterprise portal. While this was a more prevalent pattern in earlier versions, it is now recommended for specific, limited use cases. Stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites are typically employed to deliver fundamental content and services as a data provider, often with relaxed security measures on the services. This approach allows users to develop their own applications to interact with the provided content. Typically, organizations utilizing stand-alone ArcGIS Server also have ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online to consume the data within various applications.
It’s important to note that stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites have the option to migrate to a federated ArcGIS Enterprise environment. For detailed guidance on this transition, refer to Migrating standalone ArcGIS Server to ArcGIS Enterprise.
Preparing Your Environment: Hardware, Software, and Data
ArcGIS Server is designed to operate on machines equipped with a 64-bit operating system. Its architecture is inherently scalable, allowing you to enhance processing power by adding more machines as your needs grow.
Review the system requirements for ArcGIS Server
Depending on your organization’s accessibility requirements, you might need to collaborate with your IT department to enable internet access to your server. When planning your infrastructure, consider that ArcGIS Server offers flexible deployment options, including installation on virtual machines or popular commercial cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Post-installation, ArcGIS Server is immediately functional. To integrate it with your existing web infrastructure, you can install ArcGIS Web Adaptor. Furthermore, publishing GIS services requires ArcGIS Pro to be installed on at least one machine within your organization. This machine doesn’t need to be the server itself, offering flexibility in your setup.
Publishing GIS Services
There are several methods to publish services to ArcGIS Enterprise, catering to different workflows and data types:
- Sharing from ArcGIS Pro to ArcGIS Enterprise: You can share web maps, web layers, and other items directly from ArcGIS Pro to your ArcGIS Enterprise portal. This streamlined process automatically publishes one or more GIS services to a federated ArcGIS Server site as part of the sharing workflow.
- Direct Publishing to Stand-Alone ArcGIS Server: GIS services can be published directly from ArcGIS Pro to a stand-alone ArcGIS Server site, bypassing portal federation.
- Publishing Hosted Feature Layers via Portal Upload: By uploading files like CSV files or zipped shapefiles directly into your portal, you can easily publish hosted feature layers.
When sharing items from ArcGIS Pro to ArcGIS Enterprise, such as web maps, mosaic datasets, or geoprocessing tools, a user-friendly wizard guides you through each step. This wizard proactively identifies potential performance bottlenecks in the resources you are publishing. It also intelligently scans registered data locations to pinpoint paths that require adjustment after the resource is moved to the server environment.
Learn about the types of services you can publish to ArcGIS Enterprise
During the service publishing process, you will configure capabilities that dictate how users can interact with your service. For instance, enabling the “Feature Access” capability allows web users to directly edit vector features within a map service. Another example is the “WMS” capability, which exposes your service using the standardized Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) specifications, ensuring interoperability.
Transitioning Services to the ArcGIS Pro Service Runtime
Starting with version 11.0, publishing services from ArcMap (including ArcPy scripts within ArcMap) to ArcGIS Server sites is no longer supported. ArcGIS Pro is now the designated application for service publishing.
While many services initially published from ArcMap will continue to function in newer releases, certain service types require re-authoring and republishing for compatibility. This includes geoprocessing services and services utilizing Server Object Extensions (SOEs) or Server Object Interceptors (SOIs).
Learn how to migrate services to the ArcGIS Pro service runtime
Extending Service Functionality
If your map or image service requires expanded functionality or specific business logic beyond its default capabilities, you can extend its base functionality through Server Object Extensions (SOEs). Alternatively, you can implement custom operating logic using Server Object Interceptors (SOIs).
These are advanced options that necessitate custom development but offer powerful ways to tailor your services. SOEs and SOIs can be deployed and shared on the server without requiring additional software.
The ArcGIS Enterprise SDK provides developers with the necessary tools, documentation, and samples for developing SOEs and SOIs in both .NET and Java environments.
To delve deeper into developing SOEs and SOIs, see Introduction to extending services.
Utilizing GIS Services
Once your GIS services are operational, they can be accessed and used across a wide range of applications, devices, and APIs that support HTTP communication. Here are some common examples:
- ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise Integration: You can create and save maps and apps within ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise that seamlessly display your published services. You can combine your own services with publicly available services from the web.
- Web Maps from ArcGIS Pro: When you share a map from ArcGIS Pro to your ArcGIS Enterprise portal as a web map, each layer within the map is automatically published as a service to a federated ArcGIS Server site, simplifying web map creation and sharing.
- Custom Application Development: The ArcGIS API for JavaScript, ArcGIS API for Python, and the ArcGIS Runtime SDKs empower developers to build custom applications that leverage your GIS services within uniquely designed interfaces.
- ArcGIS Pro Access: ArcGIS Pro can directly consume GIS services published by ArcGIS Server. Simply use the “Add Data” button in ArcGIS Pro to connect to and utilize these services.
- REST API Connectivity: Any application capable of making REST API service requests can connect to ArcGIS Server, enabling broad compatibility. This includes applications ranging from smartphone and tablet apps for tasks like finding nearby points of interest to enterprise-level desktop applications for customer management or resource planning.
Maintaining Your Server Environment
Effective long-term server management involves ongoing adjustments, including modifying settings, adding or removing services, and configuring security protocols. ArcGIS Server Manager, a web application included with ArcGIS Server, provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface for server administration. Through ArcGIS Server Manager, you can efficiently view server logs, manage service status (start and stop), publish service definitions, define user roles and security settings, and perform other essential administrative tasks.
For automation and scripting, ArcGIS Server offers a REST administrator API. This API allows you to automate server management tasks using your preferred scripting language. For example, you can create a Python script to periodically monitor the health of your services and send email notifications if a service is detected as being down. The ArcGIS Server documentation includes numerous scripting examples to assist with server administration automation scripting examples.
