Can I upgrade directly to Portal for ArcGIS 10.3.1?

Yes. For example, if you have version 10.2.1 installed, running the 10.3.1 setup will automatically upgrade it 10.3.1. There is no need for you to obtain and install each released version in order to upgrade to 10.3.1.

Do I need to uninstall my previous version of Portal for ArcGIS before installing Portal for ArcGIS 10.3.1?

No, but you can. If you have an earlier version of Portal for ArcGIS installed, the setup will automatically begin the upgrade to 10.3.1. When the installation has finished running, you'll create the initial administrator account to complete the upgrade. If you uninstall the earlier version and then install 10.3.1, the same behavior applies.

What is the order for upgrading my Portal for ArcGIS deployment to 10.3.1?

There is no particular order you must follow to upgrade your deployment to 10.3.1 unless your deployment includes ArcGIS Data Store. In that case, ArcGIS Server must be upgraded before you upgrade the data store.

An important point to consider is that your portal will be offline during the upgrade. If your deployment includes a federated ArcGIS Server site, your portal and federated site will be offline during the upgrade.

If you have registered items in your portal from a non-federated ArcGIS Server site, you do not need to upgrade the server to 10.3.1 to use the site's services with your portal. Services from previous versions of ArcGIS Server can be consumed by Portal for ArcGIS 10.3.1.

Do I need to reauthorize when upgrading to 10.3.1?

No. Your previous authorization will be preserved and reconfigured for use in 10.3.1.

How long does the upgrade take to complete?

The time it takes to complete the upgrade varies depending on how much content your portal contains and how many accounts are registered. For example, a small organization (hundreds of users and content items) running Portal for ArcGIS on a machine with 8 cores may take 50 minutes to upgrade. Conversely, a large organization (tens of thousands of users and content items) running Portal for ArcGIS on a machine with 8 cores may take over 3 hours to upgrade.

The time it takes to complete also depends on how many components and customizations you deployed. For example, if you configured ArcGIS Pro licenses with your organization, have multiple federated ArcGIS Server sites and ArcGIS Data Store, or if your portal is highly customized, it will take longer to upgrade than if you deployed Portal for ArcGIS and one federated ArcGIS Server.

Do I need to back up any information before performing the upgrade?

If you are using ArcGIS Data Store with your portal's hosting server, create a full backup of the data store before upgrading.

You'll also need to back up any customization you configured for your portal (such as properties you modified in config.js) and the certificate keystore (C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Portal\etc\ssl\portal.ks) containing certificates you've imported into the portal. If you heavily customized the previous version of your portal, it is recommended that you install 10.3.1 on a separate machine and prototype your portal upgrade.

Conversely, your content, services, site information, and security settings are all automatically backed up and preserved when upgrading. General settings you edited through the portal website, such as adding your organization's logo and name to the website, are also preserved when upgrading. You don't need to manually back up this information before upgrading.

To ensure you have enough disk space to support the automatic backup during upgrading, determine the amount of space allocated to the portal's content, index, db, and temp directories. Validate that the amount of free space available on disk is at least 2.5 times this amount. If not, allocate at least 2.5 times more space on disk. The portal upgrade will need this free space to successfully back up and upgrade your portal's content, site information, and security settings. The default location for these directories is C:\arcgisportal. If the content directory resides on a different machine, the same recommendation applies.

When the upgrade completes, the backed up information is retained on disk. For example, you'll see this information denoted with _10.<version number> appended to the end of the directory. It's recommended you move this information to another location to save disk space.

Do the ArcGIS Web Adaptor and Portal for ArcGIS product versions need to be in sync?

Yes. You cannot configure an earlier version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor to work with Portal for ArcGIS 10.3.1. The Web Adaptor version must always match the installed version of Portal for ArcGIS.

If you cannot update your current Web Adaptor, you can alternatively install a 10.3.1 version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor alongside your previous version on the same machine. For example, you can retain your 10.1 SP1 version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor and install 10.3.1 on the same web server.

For full instructions, see the following topics:

• Installing ArcGIS 10.3.1 Web Adaptor (IIS)
• Installing ArcGIS 10.3.1 Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Windows
• Installing ArcGIS 10.3.1 Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Linux

If I've federated ArcGIS Server with my portal, do I need to upgrade ArcGIS Server when I upgrade the portal?

Yes. For your portal deployment to function correctly, your portal and ArcGIS Server versions need to be the same. If the ArcGIS Server site you've federated with the portal includes multiple machines, upgrade your GIS servers sequentially. If you have ArcGIS Web Adaptor (single or multiple) configured with your ArcGIS Server site, you also need to update the Web Adaptors to the same version as ArcGIS Server.

If I've federated ArcGIS Server with my portal, should I unfederate before upgrading?

No. It's strongly recommended that you do not unfederate when you upgrade your portal deployment. Doing this will adversely impact your portal deployment. For example, when you unfederate, all hosted service items remain in the portal but they are disconnected from their services in ArcGIS Server. This means that members will not be able to access, share, or use these services in the portal. Additionally, any existing ArcGIS Server services that were imported during the federation process are removed from the portal and are no longer available.

If I have a hosting server that uses ArcGIS Data Store, do I need to upgrade the data store when I upgrade the portal?

Yes. Your portal, ArcGIS Server, and ArcGIS Data Store versions need to be the same. During the upgrade process, always upgrade ArcGIS Server before you upgrade the ArcGIS Data Store with which it is configured.

As mentioned above, if the ArcGIS Server site you've federated with the portal includes multiple machines, upgrade your GIS servers sequentially. If you have ArcGIS Web Adaptor (single or multiple) configured with your ArcGIS Server site, you also need to update the Web Adaptors to the same version as ArcGIS Server.

If I've configured ArcGIS Pro licenses with my organization, do I need to upgrade ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS License Server Administrator when I upgrade the portal?

No. Earlier versions of ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS License Server Administrator are compatible with 10.3.1. However, it's highly recommended you upgrade ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS License Server Administrator to take advantage of new functionality and bug fixes. You are not required to reconfigure ArcGIS Pro licenses after upgrading Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS License Server Administrator, or ArcGIS Pro.

When upgrading Portal for ArcGIS or ArcGIS License Server Administrator, members with ArcGIS Pro licenses will be unable to access ArcGIS Pro during each upgrade. If members are currently logged in to ArcGIS Pro, they will see a message stating that the program will be closed in twenty-four hours because ArcGIS Pro cannot connect to the licensing portal. Members can complete or save their work within this time period.

I've configured a highly available portal, how do I upgrade my configuration?

If you've configured a highly available portal, there are very specific steps you'll need to follow to complete the upgrade. These steps are outlined in the topic Configuring a highly available portal. Once you've upgraded your portal configuration, proceed with upgrading the remaining ArcGIS components in your organization as outlined below.

What else do I need to consider before upgrading my portal?

• If you changed the Portal for ArcGIS account, you'll need to perform some additional steps when upgrading. This is because the Portal for ArcGIS service is reconfigured to run under the Windows native Local System account after upgrading. The upgrade steps below include full instructions for configuring the upgraded portal to use the existing account.
• If you moved the portal's content directory to a shared network directory, you'll need to perform some additional steps when upgrading. The upgrade steps below include full instructions for configuring the upgraded portal to use the existing content directory.
• If you moved the portal's index, db, or temp directories to a shared network directory, you'll need to move them back to a local directory before performing the upgrade. Portal for ArcGIS does not support these directories being placed on a network share; they must be local to the portal machine. The upgrade steps below include full instructions for moving these directories back to local directories.
• If you published applications based on configurable app templates, check to see if the app template was retired. Retired configurable app templates may not function or display correctly once you upgrade your portal. You will need to re-create these apps using new app templates. Note that if your portal is several releases old, you need to check the retired templates for each release. For example, if you're upgrading from Portal for ArcGIS 10.2, check the list of retired templates for all releases between 10.2 and the current release.

After upgrading, the portal website does not display correctly, displays an error message, or I can't log in. What's wrong?

Clear your browser's cache (including cookies). These errors are typically due to leftover information from the previous version of the website being cached in the browser. If you still can't log in, make sure you are using the initial administrator account or an account that has administrative privileges to your portal.

After upgrading, I don't see all of my items, groups, and users in my portal. What's going on?

After installing the software and specifying the initial administrator account, you're required to reindex your portal. This step completes the upgrade of your portal. Initially, you may not see all of your items, groups, and users because the reindex is not complete. Depending on the number of users and volume of content in your portal, it will take some time for the reindex to complete. For example, a small organization (hundreds of users and content items) running Portal for ArcGIS on a machine with 8 cores may take 15 minutes to reindex. Conversely, a large organization (tens of thousands of users and content items) running Portal for ArcGIS on machine with 8 cores may take over 3 hours to reindex.

You can check the status of the reindex by following the steps below. When the store and index counts are equal, the reindex and upgrade is complete.

When I access the portal website after installing 10.3.1, I see a software authorization error stating that the number of registered members in the portal exceeds the maximum number that the portal has been licensed for. How do I resolve this issue?

In Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.1 and later versions, the portal's named user licensing model is enforced. You will no longer be able to add more members into your portal than what it is currently licensed for. If the number of members your portal is licensed for is exceeded at 10.3.1, you will see a software authorization error message when accessing the portal website with an account that has administrative privileges. Additionally, users will not be able to create new accounts and members without administrative privileges will not be able to sign in to the portal. See Enforcement of named user licensing to learn more about how to resolve these issues.

When attempting to create the initial administrator account when upgrading my portal, I receive the message There was an error creating your initial administrator account. How do I resolve this to complete the upgrade?

If you receive this error when creating the initial administrator account, information in the portal logs can help you resolve the issue. Often, this error may occur if network connectivity was temporarily lost when creating the account. To access the logs, browse to the logs directory and open the most recent log file (for example, C:\arcgisportal\logs\<machine name>\portal\portal-20141201.095803-8596-0.0.log). If necessary, you can share this information with Esri Support.

I enabled Operations Dashboard through my portal; do I need to update it after upgrading?

Yes. If you previously created an item referencing Operations Dashboard, or if you deployed the app to your portal, you'll need to update the item and redeploy the app after you upgrade your portal. For full instructions, see Upgrade Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS.