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Quick-start guide

Do the following to deploy ArcGIS for Server on Amazon Web Services (AWS):

  1. Create an Amazon account and make sure it includes Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) access.
  2. Before using the ArcGIS Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) for the first time, accept terms in the AWS Marketplace.
  3. Deploy a GIS server or web GIS on AWS.
  4. Use ArcGIS for Desktop to publish a test map service to your new site. Because you haven't yet registered any data locations with the server, the data will be copied to the server automatically when publishing. That's okay for this exercise as long as you don't put a lot of data in your test map.
  5. Connect to the Services Directory of your site to verify that the service published successfully.
  6. Optionally perform more detailed administrative tasks using the AWS Management Console. The console allows you to change the specs of your GIS server machines, detach and attach storage drives, alter security groups, and so forth.

Once your deployment exists on AWS, you can access it and begin sharing data and maps. As an initial test, follow the steps appropriate to your deployment.

If you deployed a web GIS, follow these steps:

  1. Use the URL in the CloudFormation output tag to access the portal.
  2. Sign in with the initial administrator account credentials you provided the CloudFormation template.
  3. Go to My Content and click Add Item > From my computer.
  4. Browse to a supported item on your local computer, such as a CSV file containing x, y coordinates or shapefile. Depending on the file type you choose, you can publish a feature layer when you upload the file.

If you deployed a GIS server, follow these steps:

  1. In the Catalog window in ArcMap, add an ArcGIS Server connection to your new site.
  2. Use ArcGIS for Desktop to publish a test map service to your new site. Because you haven't yet registered any data locations with the server, the data will be copied to the server automatically when publishing. That's okay for this exercise as long as you don't put a lot of data in your test map.