Can I view and use my 10.3.1 services within an earlier version of ArcGIS for Desktop?

You can add 10.3.1 services to earlier versions of ArcGIS for Desktop and use them in the same way that you used them in the past, including as a layer in ArcMap. However, if your ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server site is federated with Portal for ArcGIS and the portal is configured with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), you must at least use ArcGIS 10.3 for Desktop.

If your 10.3.1 ArcGIS Server site is federated with Portal for ArcGIS and you are connecting from a pre-10.2 version of ArcGIS for Desktop, you must access your services through ArcMap using Add Data > Add Data from Portal for ArcGIS. You cannot connect to the server by clicking Add ArcGIS Server.

Can I publish a service to 10.3.1 using an earlier version of ArcGIS for Desktop?

Generally, you can use a 10.1 or later version of ArcGIS for Desktop to publish a service to a 10.3.1 server. However, there are some restrictions to publishing if you are attempting to take advantage of functionality exclusive to 10.3.1:

• If you're using web-tier authentication for your administrative connection, you must use 10.2 or later to publish.
• If you're publishing to a server that is federated with Portal for ArcGIS, you must use 10.2 or later to publish.
• If you're publishing a geoprocessing service, the ArcGIS for Desktop version must match ArcGIS for Server.

Can I use ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop to publish a service to an earlier version of ArcGIS Server?

Generally, you can publish services to a 10.1 or 10.2 version of ArcGIS Server using a 10.3.1 version of ArcGIS for Desktop. However, you will not be able to take advantage of any new 10.3.1 functionality until your server is upgraded to 10.3.1.

If you're publishing a geoprocessing service, the ArcGIS for Desktop and ArcGIS for Server versions must match.

Can I administer a 10.3.1 server using an earlier version of ArcGIS for Desktop?

No. You must use version 10.3.1 to administer a 10.3.1 server. In the scenario where you've upgraded to ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server but you have not upgraded Desktop, consider using the ArcGIS Server Manager web application to administer your server.

Can I administer a 10.0 server using a later version of ArcGIS for Desktop?

No. You must use version 10.0 to administer a 10.0 server. In the scenario where you've upgraded to ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop and you need to administer a server from an earlier version, consider using the ArcGIS Server Manager web application to administer the server.

Can I configure an earlier version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor with my 10.3.1 server?

No. To configure ArcGIS Web Adaptor with ArcGIS Server, both products need to be running version 10.3.1.

Can I install ArcGIS 10.3.1 Web Adaptor (IIS) on the same machine as a previous version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS)?

Yes. Beginning at 10.2.1, you can have a 10.2.1 version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) installed alongside one other previous version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor on the same machine. For example, you can have a 10.1 SP1 version and a 10.3.1 version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor installed on the same web server.

As with previous releases, the Web Adaptor's version must always match the version of ArcGIS Server. For example, you cannot configure a 10.3.1 version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor with ArcGIS 10.2 for Server.

If you want to upgrade a previous version of ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) to 10.3.1, you'll need to uninstall the old version and install the 10.3.1 setup. After installing 10.3.1, you'll need to configure the Web Adaptor with ArcGIS Server.

To learn more, see Installing ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS).

At 10.3.1, can I reuse a map cache I created in an earlier version so I don't have to re-create the cache?

Yes. Map caches from 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 are available immediately. With 10.0 caches, make sure your cache is sitting in a server cache directory registered with ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server (either by moving your cache or by registering its current location as a server cache directory). Then republish the service at 10.3.1with the same name it used in 10.0, and configure the service to point to the appropriate cache directory.

Beginning at 10.3, the compact cache storage format was improved to increase performance when consuming cached map and image services. Improvements also reduced the number of files created in the cache directory. If you want your existing cache to leverage these performance improvements, you'll need to upgrade the cache. For details, see Inside the compact cache storage format.

Using 10.3.1, can I connect to earlier versions of the geodatabase?

Yes. See Client and geodatabase compatibility for a list of compatible versions.

Can I publish services to ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server that contain data from a previous geodatabase version?

In most cases, the geodatabase version does not have to match the version of ArcGIS Server. For specific information on which geodatabase versions are supported with ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server, see Client and geodatabase compatibility.

Do I need to upgrade my geodatabase to use it as ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server's Managed Database?

A geodatabase version of 9.3 or later can be used as ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Server's Managed Database. To learn more about ArcGIS Server's Managed Database, see Copying data to the server automatically when publishing.