Join additional machines to an ArcGIS Notebook Server site (Windows containers)

ArcGIS Notebook Server supports multiple-machine sites. In a multiple-machine site, each machine must have the same configuration, with the same OS, identical Mirantis Container Runtime setup, and mapped network drive with the same drive letter for the workspace directory.

Install and configure a multiple-machine site

When you intend to set up a multiple-machine ArcGIS Notebook Server site, there are additional steps to follow in this installation guide.

1. Review the system requirements for ArcGIS Notebook Server to verify that each machine qualifies. On each machine, adjust the firewalls to open port 43 for communication from each machine in your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

   The installed version of ArcGIS Notebook Server and its license file must be the same on each machine. Enter the same ArcGIS Notebook Server account during each installation. It's recommended that you use a domain or Active Directory account, but if you choose a local account, it must exist on each machine with an identical name and password combination. Keep in mind that the account you specify does not have to be part of the Administrators group.

2. Ensure that you have already done the following during the installation process:
   1. Install Mirantis Container Runtime on each machine. On each machine, download the Docker images provided by Esri and save them to a location the system can access.
   2. Install and authorize ArcGIS Notebook Server on each machine. You can also silently install the software.
   3. ArcGIS Notebook Server supports Windows containers with Mirantis Container Runtime. Download the container images that correspond to your installation from My Esri and run the command line post installer utility (located at <ArcGIS Notebook Server installation directory>\tools\postInstallUtility) to install the Docker container images for ArcGIS Notebook Server. Repeat this step on all ArcGIS Notebook Server machines. Follow the steps to configure ArcGIS Notebook Server after installation.
3. Create and share two directories on your network. One should be for the configuration store and the other for some of the server directories. The workspace directory should remain on a UNC share mapped as a network drive when using Mirantis Container Runtime. Grant read and write permissions for these two directories to the ArcGIS Notebook Server account on each machine (make sure to do this on both the Sharing tab and the Security tab of Microsoft File Explorer).

   Note:

   Shared network directories that are hidden or use special characters (such as $) are not supported by ArcGIS Notebook Server.

   • Even if the directories reside on the same machine that you will use when creating the site, you must still manually create and share the directories and reference them through a network (UNC) path.
   • If the ArcGIS Notebook Server account does not exist on the machine (such as when you put the configuration store and server directories on a file server), you need to create the ArcGIS Notebook Server account using the same name and password that you used in all the other machines in your deployment.
   • If you are using a group managed service account (gMSA) for the ArcGIS Notebook Server account, you must allow service accounts to have full control permissions on the Sharing and Security tabs. From the Permissions editor, click Add, and open the Object Types. dialog box. Check the box for Service Accounts.
4. From one of your machines, create an ArcGIS Notebook Server site. Ensure you use the paths for your server directories and configuration store that you set up earlier.
5. Once the previous steps have been completed, you can join each additional machine to the site you've created using a configuration wizard. If you prefer to join the site from the command line, see step 6.
   1. From the first additional machine, open the ArcGIS Notebook Server Configuration Wizard.
   2. Review and follow the instructions provided in the wizard, and click Continue.
   3. Click Join Existing Site.
   4. Enter the site URL and credentials for your ArcGIS Notebook Server site as created in step 4.
   5. Repeat substeps a through d for each additional machine you want to join to the site.
When additional machines are joined to the site, they are considered equal in the site; there is no primary machine.
6. As an alternative to using the configuration wizard, you can join the machine to the site using a command line utility, as follows:
   1. Ensure you're signed in to the machine with the ArcGIS Notebook Server account.
   2. Open a command prompt and run the utility, which is located at <ArcGIS Notebook Server install directory>\tools\JoinSiteUtility\joinsite.bat. The following are the command line parameters for the utility:

      Parameter	Description
      -u or --username	The username of the primary site administrator. The username cannot contain these characters: \/:*?|<>
      -p or --password	The password for the primary site administrator. The password cannot contain these characters: \/:*?|<>
      -f or --file	The configuration store connection file for the joinsite utility.
      -s or --siteUrl	The URL of the existing ArcGIS Notebook Server site to join, in the format https://notebookserver.domain.com:11443.
      -h or --help	Displays command line help and exits.

      An example command for the utility:

      <ArcGIS Notebook Server install directory>\tools\JoinSiteUtility\joinsite.bat -u notebookPSA -p my.Password3 -s https://notebookserver.domain.com:11443

      If the account credentials and site URL are entered correctly, the utility will join the machine to the ArcGIS Notebook Server site. Repeat this step for each additional machine.

Set up a mapped network drive for the workspace directory

This is an optional process that is only necessary if you plan to set up a multimachine Notebook Server site.

1. Create a UNC share for the ArcGIS Notebook Server workspace directory on a separate machine that is accessible to the Notebook Server.

   Note:

   This directory must have read-write access to the ArcGIS Notebook Server Windows run-as account. It is recommended that you create a UNC share for the ArcGIS Notebook Server workspace directory on a machine separate from the machine participating in the ArcGIS Notebook Server site. There is a known issue in which SMB shares created on the same machine as the Notebook Server will disconnect when restarting the machine.

2. On the Notebook Server machine, open a PowerShell window as an administrator.
3. Save your ArcGIS Notebook Server user account password as a secured string for later using the following command:

   $password = ConvertTo-SecureString '<password>' -AsPlainText -Force

4. Add credential support to the PowerShell functions:

   $credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential('<domain\username>', $password)

5. Mount the folder with the Persistent flag set:

   New-SmbGlobalMapping -Persistent $true -RemotePath <shared folder path> -Credential $credential -LocalPath <unassigned drive letter>:

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 on all machines participating in the ArcGIS Notebook Server site and assign the same drive letter for the mapped drive on all machines.
7. Use the shared network drive created in the previous step to configure the workspace directory when creating the ArcGIS Notebook Server site.