Frequently asked questions

This topic covers common questions about ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon Web Services.

Cloud Builder questions

• Can I deploy Portal for ArcGIS using ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services?
• Are my Amazon Access Key and Secret Access Key viewed or stored by Esri when I log in to ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services?
• How do I obtain a .prvc file to license my site if I have an Esri Developer Network (EDN) license?
• When I allow Cloud Builder to create a new key pair file, where does the file get placed on disk?
• Is ArcGIS Web Adaptor installed when I create my site with Cloud Builder?
• Cloud Builder displays the following message after I log in: Failed to get a list of custom configuration templates. Forbidden. What does this mean?
• Can I use Cloud Builder with a proxy server?

Deployment questions

• Why can't I make a remote desktop connection to my newly created ArcGIS Server site on Windows?
• After I launch an EC2 instance containing ArcGIS Server from Cloud Builder or CloudFormation, how can I be sure that ArcGIS Server was successfully configured?
• Is Windows Firewall enabled on the Esri AMIs?

General Amazon Web Services questions

• Is ArcGIS Enterprise supported in Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)?
• Why do I see an error about insufficient capacity when I click Launch to launch an instance?
• Why do I receive the message No password was found. when I try to retrieve the administrator password for my EC2 instance on Windows?
• I got a message in the AWS Management Console that my instance is scheduled for retirement. What does this mean?

Can I deploy Portal for ArcGIS using ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services?

No. ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services helps you build stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites and their associated geodatabases; it does not deploy other ArcGIS Enterprise components present on Esri Amazon Machine Images.

Are my Amazon Access Key and Secret Access Key viewed or stored by Esri when I log in to ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services?

No. When you use ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services, your Amazon Access Key and Secret Access Key are evaluated directly against Amazon's databases and are never sent to Esri servers.

How do I obtain a .prvc file to license my site if I have an Esri Developer Network (EDN) license?

Cloud Builder requires a .prvc file to license ArcGIS Server. EDN users can create a .prvc file in the following way:

1. Log in to My Esri to obtain your authorization number.

2. Using a text editor such as Notepad, create a file from the following template and insert your information, including the authorization number you obtained in the previous step.

   // User Information
   First Name=
   Last Name=
   Organization=
   Department=
   Email=
   Address 1=
   City=
   State/Province=
   Location=<country or region>
   Location Code=<country or region code>
   Zip/Postal Code=
   Phone Number=
   Your Organization=
   Your Industry=
   Yourself=
   
   // Features and authorization numbers
   ArcGIS Server=ECP...

3. Save the file with a .prvc extension.
4. In Cloud Builder, browse to the .prvc file when prompted for your License file.

When I allow Cloud Builder to create a new key pair file, where does the file get placed on disk?

The key pair is placed in the Windows Documents folder for your user name under ArcGISCloudBuilder on the machine where you are running Cloud Builder. For example, the path to your key pair file might look like C:\Users\myusername\Documents\ArcGISCloudBuilder\arcgis-TestSite.pem.

Is ArcGIS Web Adaptor installed when I create my site with Cloud Builder?

The Esri AMIs include ArcGIS Web Adaptor, but if you create a site using Cloud Builder, ArcGIS Web Adaptor is not configured because the Amazon load balancer used on these sites provides the same functionality of distributing incoming requests among the ArcGIS Server machines in your site. If you want to use the web adaptor, though, you can log in to your instance after you create your site and configure your ArcGIS Server site to use the web adaptor.

Cloud Builder displays the following message after I log in: Failed to get a list of custom configuration templates. Forbidden. What does this mean?

Although this message might have multiple causes, it can appear when your system time is out of sync with the actual current time. For example, if you live in a region where the time moves forward an hour during the summer months, and your computer's clock is not synchronized with this change, Cloud Builder cannot perform certain actions with Amazon EC2.

Can I use Cloud Builder with a proxy server?

No. ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services cannot be used to build a site when connecting to the Internet through a proxy server.

Why can't I make a remote desktop connection to my newly created ArcGIS Server site on Windows?

First, allow some time for the site to launch. If you used ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services to create the site, wait until all the site information appears in the My Sites window and you see such buttons as those used for stopping, updating, and deleting a site.

If you launched the site using the AWS Management Console or a CloudFormation template, right-click the instance in the AWS Management Console and click Get System Log. Once you see a message that Windows is ready to use, wait about 5 additional minutes before you attempt to log in.

Second, make sure you've added a rule to your site's security group allowing remote desktop connections through port 3389. This is described in Open an Amazon EC2 security group for ArcGIS.

After I launch an EC2 instance containing ArcGIS Server from Cloud Builder or CloudFormation, how can I be sure that ArcGIS Server was successfully configured?

You can check the health of the ArcGIS Server site by logging in to ArcGIS Server Manager for that site.

If you created your site through Cloud Builder, expand your ArcGIS Server site details in Cloud Builder to see the URL for ArcGIS Server Manager. You should be able to go to this URL and log in using the primary site administrator account you supplied when you created your site. A healthy site will have a running sample map service, along with the preconfigured services in the System and Utilities folders.

If you created your ArcGIS Server site using a Cloud Formation template, the URL for the site's ArcGIS Server Manager endpoint will be in the format http://<ArcGIS Server machine name>:6443/arcgis/manager.

Be sure to allow sufficient time for the site to launch before you make the above checks.

Is Windows Firewall enabled on the Esri AMIs?

Yes. Windows Firewall is enabled on the Esri Windows AMIs, and all ports are open that are necessary for ArcGIS Server, Portal for ArcGIS, and ArcGIS Data Store to run. Windows Firewall complements the Amazon security groups. To allow inbound access on a port, you must allow the port using both Windows Firewall and the Amazon security group.

See Windows Firewall and the ArcGIS Server AMIs.

Is ArcGIS Enterprise supported in Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)?

Yes. ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services gives you the option to launch an ArcGIS Server site within a VPC subnet. You can use Cloud Formation or the AWS Management Console to launch ArcGIS Server instances in VPC.

See Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and ArcGIS Enterprise.

Why do I see an error about insufficient capacity when I click Launch to launch an instance?

This is an error from Amazon EC2 meaning that it does not have the available capacity to meet your request for a new instance. If your deployment architecture permits, you may be able to work around this error by requesting an instance in a different availability zone or letting EC2 choose the availability zone for you. Other options are to try launching a different size of instance or launching the instance later.

Why do I receive the message No password was found. when I try to retrieve the administrator password for my EC2 instance on Windows?

This message can appear if you try to use Get Windows Password after you have stopped and started an EC2 instance. To avoid this error, the first time you log in, change the Administrator password to a value you can more easily remember.

I got a message in the AWS Management Console that my instance is scheduled for retirement. What does this mean?

You may see this message if your instance happens to be running on degraded hardware that Amazon needs to replace. If you see this message, you should stop your site and start it again.

Note that if you used ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services to create your site, use Cloud Builder to stop and start the site.

After you restart the site, the message should go away.