An ArcGIS Enterprise deployment optimized for your needs may require several machines or a machine with a large amount of memory or disk space. Using a cloud deployment through Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides flexibility and scalability for deploying the machines you require. To simplify the creation of ArcGIS Enterprise deployments on AWS, use ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services.
ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services includes a graphical user interface application (starting with ArcGIS 10.7.1) and the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder Command Line Interface for Amazon Web Services utility, which allows you to automate cloud deployments of ArcGIS Enterprise. To use either of these applications, confirm you meet the prerequisites and download the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services file from My Esri.
Prerequisites
Before you run the Cloud Builder app or command line utility, you need the following items. Ask your IT administrator if you are unsure how to obtain them.
- An AWS account.
- An AWS access key and corresponding secret key, or an AWS profile name set on the machine where you will run Cloud Builder.
- License files for Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS GIS Server, and any ArcGIS Server licensing roles you have in addition to the base deployment. All license files must be for the same ArcGIS version.
- An SSL certificate file or files (.pfx) and corresponding passwords.
- A Microsoft Windows machine on which to run Cloud Builder.
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 or later installed on the machine where you'll run Cloud Builder.
- Install the latest 64-bit version of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio on the machine where you will run the Cloud Builder app.
Accept AWS terms and choose a template
Before you use an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for the first time, you must read and accept the AWS Marketplace terms. New versions of an AMI are considered new AMIs; therefore, you must complete this step before using each new release of the Esri ArcGIS Enterprise AMIs.
Download ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services
Download the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services file from My Esri and double-click the file to extract its contents to a local drive.
The default extraction location is C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\CloudBuilder\AWS, but you must be a Windows administrator to extract to this location or to run Cloud Builder from this location. Specify a different location for the extracted files if you are not a Windows administrator or the person running Cloud Builder is not a Windows administrator.
ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for AWS 10.7.1 is supported on the following Windows operating systems:
| Operating system | Latest update or service pack tested |
|---|---|
Windows 10 Home, Pro, and Enterprise (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows 7 Ultimate, Professional, and Enterprise (64 bit)* | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows Server 2019 Standard and Datacenter (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and Datacenter (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter (64 bit) | January 8, 2019 update |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (64 bit)* | January 8, 2019 update |
ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app
Use the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app if you want an interactive experience for provisioning resources and deploying ArcGIS Enterprise on AWS. Decide what ArcGIS components you need before deploying, as the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app does not currently include functionality to alter an existing deployment.
- Deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on a single Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance and the federated servers you require.
- Create a highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment and the federated servers you require.
- Create a stand-alone ArcGIS Server site.
To open the app, browse to the location where ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services were extracted and double-click the cloudbuilder.exe file.
Set preferences (optional)
You can set a default AWS region for your deployment and a default size for the root drives of the Amazon EC2 instances in the deployment. As you move through the app, the region and drive size options will be prepopulated with the preference values you set.
To set these preferences, open the app, sign in to your AWS account, and click the Preferences link at the bottom of the Deployments page of the app.
Manage deployments
Once you create a deployment using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services, the deployment appears in a list of existing deployments when you open the app. From this list, you can do the following:
ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder Command Line Interface for Amazon Web Services
The ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder Command Line Interface for Amazon Web Services utility is an intuitive tool for automating cloud deployments of ArcGIS Enterprise.
To complete a multiple-machine deployment of ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder CLI for AWS, you use two JSON files, your Microsoft Windows computer's command prompt, and the AWS Management Console in your browser. The two JSON files—one to prepare for installation and another to deploy—can be modified from the sample files provided as part of your download from My Esri.
Note:
When working in AWS, be sure your browser is always set to the correct AWS region (such as us-west-1 or eu-east-2), and that your JSON files refer to the same region.
Use a text editor, such as Notepad ++, to edit the JSON files. Once you alter the JSON files, open a Command Prompt console, change directories to the folder where you extracted Cloud Builder, and run the cloudbuilder.exe. Specify the correct JSON file and the required command to prepare (PREP), CREATE, or DELETE a deployment.
- cloudbuilder.exe PREP -j <prepfilename.json>
- cloudbuilder.exe CREATE -j <createfilename.json>
- cloudbuilder.exe DELETE -j <createfilename.json>
- The PREP command automates several tasks needed before creating a deployment. It creates a network stack and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket for your deployment, uploads all necessary authorization files and the SSL certificate to the bucket, and imports your SSL certificate to AWS Certificate Manager. The PREP command is only necessary the first time you create a specific ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, if you have not already done these steps manually.
- The CREATE command creates a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, and can create and federate one additional machine for each ArcGIS Server licensing role you specify. Once you have run the command to create your initial deployment, you can run it later with an updated file to add more sites to the deployment. See Base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to learn more about its architecture and capabilities.
- The DELETE command deletes your deployment and associated AWS resources. It can only delete a deployment created using the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder CLI for AWS.