Restore web GIS

If any part of your web GIS fails, you can restore your deployment using the webgisdr utility and a backup file you previously exported. Note that any items or services created since the last export will be lost. Also note that map service caches are not included in the backup you created using the webgisdr utility. You need to copy these cache folders manually.

You can reference the properties file you created for the web GIS export if you don't need to change any settings. However, if you need to change the backup file location, want to specify a specific backup file, or need to provide different portal administrator credentials, create a new properties file.

Follow these steps to restore your web GIS deployment to the same machines (or machines with the same fully qualified names) from which you created the backup file:

1. If you moved the backup file to a new location or you want to restore an earlier file than the most recent backup file, you need to update the SHARED_LOCATION value in the properties file.

   Legacy:

   At Portal for ArcGIS 10.4, this property was SHARED_FOLDER.

   You can edit the same properties file you used when you created your backup file, but then you must remember to change the SHARED_LOCATION value in this file back to the backup location before you create the next backup. To avoid this, you can make a copy of the properties file specific for the import operation. For the purposes of this example, a copy of the file named toimport.properties is created and altered.

   By default, the most recent backup file is restored. To restore an earlier file, specify the file name in the SHARED_LOCATION path. For example, if you want to restore backup file Sep-08-2015_17-10-44.webgissite from C:\temp, set SHARED_LOCATION = C:\temp\Sep-08-2015_17-10-44.webgissite.

   Be sure the domain account that runs the ArcGIS for Server, Portal for ArcGIS, and ArcGIS Data Store has read access to the folder where the backup file is stored.

2. Open a command window on the Portal for ArcGIS machine, change directories to the location of the webgisdr utility, and run the utility with the import option.

   The default location of the webgisdr utility is C:\Program Files\Portal\tools\webgisdr.

   Syntax for the webgisdr is as follows:

   webgisdr --{export | import} --file <location and name of properties file>

   In this example, the properties file (toimport.properties) was saved in the user-created folder C:\propfiles.

   webgisdr --import --file C:\propfiles\toimport.properties

   Note that the property file does not have to be in the same folder you saved it in when first created. If you do move it, specify the new folder location with the --file parameter.

3. If your web GIS includes map service or hosted tile layer caches, manually move the backup copies you made, and place the files in the original arcgiscache directory.