Add a data store item

There are several types of user-maintained data stores you can connect to from your organization by adding a data store item. Each one requires you to provide different information and each is used for a different purpose.

Note:

Even though you add the data store to the portal, this process registers the data store with federated servers. Therefore, every machine in each federated ArcGIS Server site must be configured to access the database, folder, or cloud storage location.

If the user-maintained data store is already registered with one or more of the portal's federated ArcGIS Server sites—for example, you registered the data store in ArcGIS Pro 2.4 or earlier or ArcGIS Server Manager—do not use these steps to add the data store item. Instead, talk to your organization administrator about creating a data store item from an existing registered data store.

The following sections describe how to add connections to each type of data store. Use the links below to access instructions to add the user-maintained data store type you need.

• Folder
• Database (includes relational databases—with or without enterprise geodatabases in them—cloud data warehouses, and NoSQL databases)
• Cloud storage
• Big data file share

Add a folder data store item

Follow the steps below to add a folder data store item that connects to an existing network file share location:

1. Ensure the folder functions as a network file share (NFS) location.

   For more information on making data sources accessible, see Controlling access to data published from data store items.

2. Open the portal and sign in.

   You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click Data store.
4. Choose Folder for the type of data store item to create and click Next.
5. Type or paste the path to the folder in the Publisher folder path field.
6. Provide information for your data sources.

   If the ArcGIS clients used to publish the data will access data in one folder but the federated ArcGIS Server sites need to access a copy of the data in a second folder, you must provide information for both data sources.

   • If the publishing clients and the federated servers will access data in the same shared folder, leave the default setting, Same as publisher folder path.
   • If you have duplicated the data in two different file shares and want clients and the ArcGIS Server sites to reference different file shares, choose New path under Server folder path, and type the path to the second file share.
7. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
8. Choose the ArcGIS GIS Server and ArcGIS Image Server sites with which to register this data store.

   If you are unsure which sites fill these roles, contact your ArcGIS Server administrator.

   You can only select a site if the status is normal and if the site has access to the file location you specified in step 6.

   Note:

   If this data store is already registered with a federated server—for example, you registered with one of the federated servers in ArcGIS Server Manager—you cannot select that federated server from the list. If you do, you'll receive an error.

9. Click Next.
10. Type a title for the data store item.

    This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

11. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag; Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you have added previously.

12. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
13. Click Create connection.

Share the data store item with groups whose members need to create imagery layers or those who need to publish from files in the folder from ArcGIS Pro.

Add a database data store item

You can add a database connection file (.sde) that accesses content in a relational database, enterprise geodatabase, or cloud data warehouse to create a database data store item. If your organization has a Knowledge Server configured, you can provide connection information to a NoSQL database to store knowledge graphs.

Add a database connection

To create a database data store item that accesses data in a cloud data warehouse or a relational database (which can contain an enterprise geodatabase but does not have to), you will upload an existing database connection file (.sde file).

1. Create a database connection file that connects to a supported database or cloud data warehouse.

   Connect using credentials for an account or user that has access to the data you need and the required permissions on the data. You must save the credentials with the connection file. You cannot use an .odc file.

   For more information on making data sources accessible, see Controlling access to data published from data store items.

2. Open the portal and sign in.

   You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click Data store.
4. Choose the Database data store type and click Next.
5. Choose the type of database to connect to through the data store item.
   • Relational database—Choose this option to connect to a database or enterprise geodatabase.
   • Cloud data warehouse—Choose this option to connect to a cloud data warehouse.
6. Click Next.
7. Click Select File and browse to the database connection file (.sde) that accesses the database, enterprise geodatabase, or cloud data warehouse content you require.
8. Provide information for the data sources.

   In most cases, the clients used to publish layers from this data store will use the same database, enterprise geodatabase, or cloud data warehouse as the ArcGIS Server site. In which case, leave the default setting enabled—Same as publisher database connection.

   However, if your ArcGIS clients will access data in one enterprise geodatabase but the federated ArcGIS Server sites need to access a copy of the data in a second enterprise geodatabase, you must provide information for both data sources. In this case, choose New connection under Server database connection (.sde file), and choose the database connection file that the federated ArcGIS Server sites will use to connect to the data in the other geodatabase. This option is only supported when the data sources are enterprise geodatabases.

9. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
10. Select the ArcGIS GIS Server or ArcGIS Image Server sites with which you want to register this data store.

    If you are unsure which sites fill these roles, contact your ArcGIS Server administrator.

    You can only select a site if the status is normal and if the ArcGIS Server site has access to the data source location.

    Note:

    If this data store is already registered with a federated server—for example, you registered with one of the federated servers in ArcGIS Server Manager—you cannot select that federated server from the list. If you do, you'll receive an error.

11. Click Next.
12. Type a title for the data store item.

    This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

13. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag; Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you have added previously.

14. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
15. Click Create connection.

If you chose a federated ArcGIS GIS Server site with which to register a connection to a relational database, you, as the owner of the database data store item, can publish map image and feature layers in bulk from the data store item in the portal.

If members of your organization will publish data from this database connection in ArcGIS Pro, share the data store item with a group to which those members belong. This allows these members to publish data using the same database credentials to any of the federated servers you specified in step 10.

Connect to a NoSQL database

To store a knowledge graph in a supported NoSQL database that you control, you must add a NoSQL data store item to the portal and register it with the portal's Knowledge Server site.

You need one NoSQL database per knowledge graph that you create in ArcGIS Pro. The settings you use when creating the knowledge graph determine whether the NoSQL database can contain data before you create the data store item or whether it has to be empty. See Considerations for Neo4j databases used as NoSQL data stores, Considerations for ArangoDB databases used as NoSQL data stores, and the ArcGIS Knowledge Server system requirements for more information.

1. Open the portal and sign in.

   You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

2. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click Data store.
3. Choose Database and click Next.
4. Choose NoSQL database and click Next.

   The NoSQL database option is only present if the portal has a Knowledge Server configured.

5. Choose the type of NoSQL database to use.
6. Provide connection information to access the NoSQL database.
   • If you chose Neo4j in the previous step, type the connection URI, credentials to authenticate, and database name to connect to the Neo4j instance and database.

     See Neo4j Java driver documentation for connection requirements.

   • If you chose ArangoDB in the previous step, provide the host name or TCP address and port for all coordinator machines, credentials to authenticate, and the ArangoDB database name. If ArangoDB is configured to use SSL for communication, check the Use SSL check box.
7. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Knowledge Server site with which this data store will be registered.

   NoSQL data stores can only be registered with the portal's ArcGIS Knowledge Server site.

   You can only select a site if the status is normal and the ArcGIS Knowledge Server site can access the data source.

8. Click Next.
9. Type a title for the data store item.

   This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

10. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag; Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you have added previously.

11. If the organization administrator has configured content categories, click Assign Category and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.

    You can also use the Filter categories box to narrow the list of categories.

12. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
13. Click Create connection.

A data store item is created in your content.

Share the data store item with groups whose members will create a knowledge graph in ArcGIS Pro.

Add a cloud storage data store item

Add a cloud storage data store item to publish imagery layers from image files in a cloud storage location and to publish scene, tile, or vector tile layers that reference precreated caches in a cloud storage location.

1. To add a cloud storage data store, you must have an account with a supported cloud storage provider, and the cloud storage location must exist.

   For more information on making data sources accessible, see Controlling access to data published from data store items.

2. Open the portal and sign in.

   You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click Data store.
4. Choose Cloud Storage for the type of data store item to add and click Next.
5. Choose one of the cloud storage providers, click Next, and specify the credentials to connect to the cloud storage location.

   The information you must specify varies by provider type.

   • Amazon S3

     Provide the following to connect to an Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket:

     • Choose a credential type: either use an IAM role or an access key. If you use an access key, you must provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Amazon Web Services (AWS) account.
     • Choose the region where the bucket exists and type the name of the bucket.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom S3 endpoint, choose Custom from the Region drop-down menu and type or paste the URL to access the private cloud in the Private URL field.

     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

   • Google Cloud Storage

     Provide the following to connect to a Google Cloud bucket:

     • Provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Google Cloud account.
     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

   • Microsoft Azure Storage

     Provide the following to connect to a Microsoft Azure Blob storage location:

     • Choose one of the following authentication types. Each type requires different information to authenticate.
       • Microsoft Entra ID—Choose the identity type, either Service principal or User-assigned managed identity. Provide the credentials necessary for the identity type that you choose.

         Ensure that the user-assigned managed identity is assigned to the instances on which the hosting and federated ArcGIS Server sites are running. Also ensure that the user-assigned managed identity has at least read-only access to the storage account container. If more than one user-assigned managed identity is assigned to an instance or storage container, you must specify a client ID.

         If you use the service principal identity type, you must have Storage Blob Data Contributor access to the service principal account.

         Do not use this authentication method for Microsoft Azure storage locations if you will use this cloud storage data store for a big data file share.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about Entra ID authentication.

       • Shared Key—Provide the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account and the account key.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared key authentication.

       • Shared Access Signature—Provide a shared access signature (SAS) token and the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account.

         Generate the SAS token from the container level.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared access signature authentication.

       • Anonymous—Use this to access public containers for imagery layer workflows. This authentication method is not supported with any other workflows.

         Do not use this authentication method if you will use this cloud storage data store for a big data file share.

     • Choose the Azure storage domain where the Blob storage container exists.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom Azure Blob endpoint, choose Other from the Storage domain drop-down menu and provide the URL or DNS endpoint to access the storage location.

     • Provide the name of the Blob storage container.
     • To register a subfolder in the storage container, type the path to the folder.

   • Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

     Provide the following to connect to a Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 location:

     • Choose one of the following authentication types. Each type requires different information to authenticate.
       • Microsoft Entra ID—Choose the identity type, either Service principal or User-assigned managed identity. Provide the credentials necessary for the identity type that you choose.

         Ensure that the user-assigned managed identity is assigned to the instances on which the hosting and federated ArcGIS Server sites are running. Also ensure that the user-assigned managed identity has at least read-only access to the storage account container. If more than one user-assigned managed identity is assigned to an instance or storage container, you must specify a client ID.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about Entra ID authentication.

       • Shared Key—Provide the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account and the account key.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared key authentication.

       • Shared Access Signature—Provide a shared access signature (SAS) token and the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account.

         Generate the SAS token from the container level.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared access signature authentication.

       • Anonymous—Use this to access public containers for imagery layer workflows. This authentication method is not supported with any other workflows.

         Do not use this authentication method if you will use this cloud storage data store for a big data file share.

     • Choose the Azure storage domain where the Blob storage container exists.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom Azure Blob endpoint, choose Other from the Storage domain drop-down menu and provide the URL or DNS endpoint to access the storage location.

     • Provide the name of the Blob storage container.
     • To register a subfolder in the storage container, type the path to the folder.

   • Alibaba Cloud Storage

     Provide the following to connect to an Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket:

     • Provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Alibaba account.
     • Choose the region where the bucket exists and type the name of the bucket.
     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

6. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
7. Select the ArcGIS GIS Server and ArcGIS Image Server sites with which you want to register this data store. If you are unsure which sites fill these roles, contact your ArcGIS Server administrator.

   You can only select a site if the status is normal, which means the site can connect to the data source.

   Note:

   If this data store is already registered with a federated server—for example, you registered with one of the federated servers in ArcGIS Server Manager—you cannot select that federated server from the list. If you do, you'll receive an error.

8. Click Next.
9. Type a title for the data store item.

   This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

10. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag; Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you have added previously.

11. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
12. Click Create connection.

Share the data store item with groups whose members need to create imagery layers.

Add a big data file share

If your organization has an ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server configured, you can add a big data file share data store item that references an existing storage location.

The organization members with whom you share the big data file share data store item can use the files stored in the location as input to GeoAnalytics Tools or use the storage location to store data generated as output from GeoAnalytics Tools.

Before you proceed with the steps below, you must have an existing file share location or a storage location in the cloud that contains your data. See Get started with big data file shares for instructions.

1. Open the portal and sign in.

   You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

2. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click Data store.
3. Choose Big Data File Share for the data store type and click Next.

   This option is available only if the organization has a GeoAnalytics Server configured.

4. Choose one of the following storage locations and click Next.
   • File Share—Provide the path to a folder that is local to the ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site, or a network share that the machines in the ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site can access.
   • HDFS—Provide the path to an Apache Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) directory that the machines in the ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site can access, plus authentication credentials.
   • Hive—Provide the URI for an Apache Hive metastore database and authentication credentials.
   • Cloud Storage—You can choose an existing cloud storage data store item or provide information to create a cloud storage item that you'll use as a big data file share data store.

     Tip:

     The options for creating a cloud storage item are described in the previous section.

   See Get started with big data file shares for descriptions of the specific information you must provide for each of the options above.

5. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site with which this data store will be registered.

   Big data file shares can only be registered with the portal's ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site.

   You can only select a site if the status is normal and it can access the storage location you specified in step 4.

6. Click Next.
7. Type a title for the data store item.
8. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

   Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag; Federal, land is considered two tags).

   As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you have added previously.

9. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
10. Click Create connection.

When you create a big data file share data store, two or three items are created in your organization—a big data file share item, a big data file share data store item, and—if you created a cloud storage data store—a cloud data store item. These items are interdependent, but you will only interact with the big data file share item unless you have to delete the items.