Skip To Content

Create an enterprise geodatabase in SQL Server on AWS

If you created an ArcGIS Server on Amazon Web Services (AWS) instance using the Esri AMI that includes SQL Server and you are using an ArcGIS for Server Enterprise license, you can create geodatabases using the Create Enterprise Geodatabase geoprocessing tool.

Note:

The Create Enterprise Geodatabase tool cannot be used to create a geodatabase in Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) for SQL Server or a SQL Server Express instance licensed with ArcGIS for Server workgroup. To create geodatabases (or additional geodatabases) in a SQL Server RDS, see Create a geodatabase on Amazon Relational Database Service for SQL Server. To create geodatabases in a SQL Server Express instance licensed with ArcGIS for Server workgroup, see Creating additional workgroup geodatabases.

When you use ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services to launch your instance, two enterprise geodatabases are created in SQL Server. If you want additional geodatabases—for example, if you want to customize the name or location of the geodatabases you use, or you have multiple departments that maintain their own discrete data and require their own geodatabases—you can create additional geodatabases.

When you manually set up your site using the AWS Management Console, no geodatabases are created. If you want to use enterprise geodatabases in SQL Server with your ArcGIS Server on Amazon Web Services instance, you must create them.

Follow these steps to create an enterprise geodatabase in SQL Server to use with your ArcGIS Server on Amazon Web Services instance:

  1. Make a remote desktop connection to your ArcGIS for Server instance, logging in as the administrator.

    You must open the RDP port (3389) in your security group to do this.

  2. Start ArcMap and open the Catalog window or start ArcCatalog.
  3. Open the Create Enterprise Geodatabase tool.

    You can search for or browse to this tool, which is located in the Geodatabase Administration toolset of the Data Management toolbox.

  4. Choose SQL Server from the DBMS Type drop-down list.
  5. In the Instance text box, type or paste the public DNS of the instance where SQL Server is installed.
  6. In the Database text box, type a name for the database you want to create to contain your geodatabase.
  7. Check Operating System Authentication.
  8. Uncheck Sde Owned Schema.
  9. Browse to the keycodes file on the ArcGIS for Server instance to populate the Authorization File text box.

    When you authorized ArcGIS for Server, a keycodes file was written to Program Files\ESRI\License<release>\sysgen.

  10. Click OK to run the tool.

    If you encounter any errors, extended errors will be written to a log file (GDBCreateGeodatabase<#>.log), which is created in the directory specified for your %TEMP% variable on the computer where the tool is run.

You now have a new geodatabase.

Related topics