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Register a workgroup geodatabase with ArcGIS Server

As an ArcGIS Server administrator or a publisher in your organization, you can register data sources for ArcGIS Server web services, to store map and image caches, and for GeoAnalytics and raster analysis output storage.

To register a workgroup geodatabase with ArcGIS Server, the ArcGIS Server site must be licensed for workgroup.

The following is a summary of the steps you must take to register a workgroup geodatabase with an ArcGIS Server (workgroup) site:

  • Install the Microsoft SQL Server client on all client machines that are remote from the SQL Server Express instance.
  • Add the ArcGIS Server account to the database server.
  • Grant at least read-only privileges on the data to be published to the ArcGIS Server account.
  • Create a database connection (.sde file) to the workgroup geodatabase.
  • Import the .sde file to register the geodatabase with an ArcGIS Server site. You can do this in ArcMap or ArcGIS Server Manager.

The following sections provide more information on how to prepare your ArcGIS client to connect to a workgroup geodatabase and register it with an ArcGIS Server (workgroup) site.

Install the SQL Server client

When you use ArcGIS Enterprise workgroup, ArcGIS Server and the SQL Server Express instance must be installed on the same machine; therefore, you do not need to install the SQL Server client on the ArcGIS Server machine because the files that are needed to connect are installed with the SQL Server Express instance.

To connect to the SQL Server Express instance from a remote ArcMap machine, you must install the SQL Server client.

You can obtain and install the SQL Server client from the Microsoft Download Center provided it is a version supported by ArcGIS. Alternatively, you can download and install the SQL Server client from My Esri. Install the client on all computers where ArcMap is installed.

If you are installing the client on a 64-bit operating system, run the 64-bit executable; it installs both 32- and 64-bit files. If you run the 32-bit SQL Server client installation on a 64-bit operating system, it will fail.

Add the ArcGIS Server account to the database server

Workgroup geodatabases use operating system (OS) authenticated connections exclusively. When OS authentication is specified for the geodatabase connection, ArcGIS Server connects to the data using the ArcGIS Server account.

Add the ArcGIS Server account to the database server.

  1. Sign in to the client using a login that is a database server administrator and start ArcMap or ArcCatalog.
  2. Double-click the database server in the Catalog tree to connect to it.
  3. Right-click the database server and click Permissions to open the database servers Permissions dialog box.
  4. Add the ArcGIS Server account to the database server.
    1. Click Add user.
    2. Specify the location, local or domain, of your ArcGIS Server account.
    3. Type the name of your ArcGIS Server account and click Check Names to verify that the login name is valid.
    4. Click OK to close the Select User or Group dialog box.

      The login is added to the Database Server Users list.

    5. Click OK to apply your changes and close the Permissions dialog box.

By default, the ArcGIS Server account is added as a user in all geodatabases on the database server; however, no specific privileges are granted to this user in the geodatabases.

Next, you must grant the ArcGIS Server account access to the data that you want to register with ArcGIS Server.

Grant the ArcGIS Server account access to the data

You must grant the ArcGIS Server account access to the data in the geodatabase. If you will not publish editable feature services from the geodatabase, you only need to grant the ArcGIS Server user read-only privileges to the geodatabase. If you will publish editable feature services, grant read and write privileges on the data to the ArcGIS Server account. If you will register the geodatabase as the managed database, you must additionally grant write permissions to the ArcGIS Server account on the geodatabase.

  1. Under the Database Servers node in the Catalog tree, double-click the workgroup geodatabase you want to register with the server to connect to it.
  2. Open the geodatabase Permissions dialog box.

    Right-click the geodatabase, point to Administration, and click Permissions.

  3. Choose the ArcGIS Server user from the Database Server Users list and assign it permissions to the geodatabase.
    • For a registered database, click Read Only to grant read-only permissions to the ArcGIS Server account on all data in the geodatabase.
    • For a managed database, click Read/Write to allow the ArcGIS Server account to create datasets in the geodatabase.
  4. Click OK to save changes and close the Permissions dialog box.
  5. If you will publish editable feature services from a registered database, grant the ArcGIS Server account read and write privileges on the specific datasets to be edited. Only data owners can alter privileges on their datasets; therefore, if necessary, have the data owner perform the following steps:
  6. Right-click one of the datasets to be edited, point to Manage, and click Privileges.
  7. Choose the ArcGIS Server account from the Database Server Users list, click Read/Write, and click OK to close the dialog box.
  8. Repeat the previous two steps for each dataset that will be edited through a feature service.

Create a database connection file

To register a workgroup geodatabase with an ArcGIS Server site, you must reference a database connection (.sde file), not a database server connection (.gds file).

The easiest way to do this is to right-click the geodatabase under the database server in the Catalog tree and click Save Connection. A connection is created under Database Connections in the Catalog tree.

Once the file is created, you can import it when you register the geodatabase.

Register the workgroup geodatabase

You can register the workgroup geodatabase as a database or a managed database. This can be done from ArcGIS Server Manager or the Catalog tree in ArcMap or ArcCatalog. See the following topics for an explanation of registration options and how to register the geodatabase: