If you want or need to replace a machine in your deployment without losing content or interrupting service, you can use the Join Site operation to migrate machines running ArcGIS Server and Portal for ArcGIS, and a similar workflow can be used for machines running ArcGIS Data Store.
Note:
Each of these workflows involves temporarily having your old and new machines joined in a multimachine configuration. Keep in mind that while machines running different OS versions (such as Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016) can run in the same software component, machines running different operating systems (Windows and Linux) cannot coexist in this way.
Migrate a machine running ArcGIS Server
When this workflow is complete, your new machine replaces the old machine in your ArcGIS Server site.
To preserve content and configuration settings, the server directories and configuration store will be migrated from the local drive of the old machine to a shared location on your network, and finally to the local drive of the new machine. If you already have a multimachine ArcGIS Server site and these folders are located on a network share, omit steps 1 and 5 from the following workflow.
- Move the server directories and configuration store for the server from the old machine to a shared network location. This can either be done from the ArcGIS Server Manager, or from ArcGIS Desktop. The directories and config-store will remain in the shared location until the old machine has been unregistered from the site.
- Install ArcGIS Server on the new machine. Do not create a new server site at this point.
- Sign in to the new machine's ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory, click Join Site, and provide the URL and initial administrator account credentials for the old machine's ArcGIS Server site. When this operation is complete, both machines are in the site.
- From the administrator directory home page, browse to machines, click the old machine's name, and then click the unregister operation. Confirm the operation on the next page to unregister the old machine from the site.
- Move the server directories and configuration store from the shared location to the local drive of the new machine, mirroring the workflow in step 1.
- If your deployment is using a reverse proxy server or a third-party load balancer, and the webContextURL property set in your server's system properties still points to the old server machine, update the property. Browse to system > properties > update and modify the webContextURL property in the JSON string.
Migrate a machine running Portal for ArcGIS
When this workflow is complete, your new machine replaces the old machine hosting your ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
- Move the portal content directory from the old machine to a shared network location. Remember to copy the content from the old location to the new before changing the directory location. The content directory will remain in the shared location until the old machine has been unregistered from the site.
- Install Portal for ArcGIS on the new machine. Do not create a new portal at this point.
- Sign in to the new machine's ArcGIS Portal Administrator Directory, click Join Site, and provide the existing portal URL (in the format https://portalhost.domain.com:7443) and the credentials to its primary site administrator account. Both the old and new machines are joined to the portal.
- From the administrator directory home page, browse to Machines > unregister. On the subsequent operation page, select the old machine's name from the drop-down menu, and confirm Unregister to remove the old machine from the portal.
- Move the portal content directory from the shared network location to the local drive of the new machine, mirroring the workflow in step 1.
- If your deployment is using a front-end proxy or load balancer, and the privatePortalURL property set in your portal's system properties still points to the old portal machine's URL, update the property. Browse to System > Properties > Update Properties and modify the privatePortalURL property.
Migrate a machine running ArcGIS Data Store
When this workflow is complete, your new machine replaces the old machine hosting your ArcGIS Data Store.
- Install ArcGIS Data Store on your new machine.
- Register the new data store as a standby machine with the ArcGIS Server site using the ArcGIS Data Store configuration wizard.
- Sign in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory (URL format https://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/admin) and browse to data > items > /enterpriseDatabases > [ArcGIS Data Store] > machines. Select the new machine and click makePrimary. This promotes the new machine to the primary role and downgrades the old machine to a standby role.
- From the [ArcGIS Data Store] > machines page, click the old machine (now standby) and choose remove. This leaves the new machine as the sole item in your ArcGIS Data Store.