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Create a highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment using the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for AWS app

The ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app can guide you through the creation of an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. You have two options at this time:

  • Create a deployment that contains a single Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance containing the components of a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment and the hosting server's directories.
  • Create a highly available deployment that contains a minimum of three EC2 instances: two that contain base ArcGIS Enterprise components, and one for hosting server directories.

With both these options, you can include additional instances for federated ArcGIS Server sites and additional instances for a spatiotemporal big data store.

At this time, you must include additional components as part of the deployment you create with the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app; you cannot use the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app to add components to an existing ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. You can create ArcGIS Server sites and federate them in the ArcGIS Enterprise portal interface, but the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for AWS app will not recognize or display these servers as part of your deployment.

When you create a highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, three Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances are created. The base ArcGIS Enterprise components are present on two of the instances. One EC2 instance is the primary portal, relational, and tile cache data store machine and the other is the secondary portal and standby relational and tile cache machine. Both instances are part of the hosting server site. The third instance is used for ArcGIS Server directories and, optionally, the configuration store and portal content directory. This configuration is shown in the following diagram:

A highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment on AWS with three EC2 instances

When you use the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app, an Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket is created in the Amazon us-east-1 region to store resources for your deployment. Cloud Builder manages this deployment bucket. Do not delete, rename, or modify this S3 bucket or its contents, as doing so can result in your deployment being out of sync with Cloud Builder.

The following sections walk you through using the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for AWS app to create a highly available base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, plus optional instances for federated servers and a spatiotemporal big data store.

Prerequisites

You need the following before you can create an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services:

  • Obtain an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account. Ensure you have the AWS account credentials, such as an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key, and that they have access to required AWS services.
  • ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services uses an Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Amazon Machine Image. Therefore, for each new release of an Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Amazon Machine Image (AMI), you must accept terms in the AWS Marketplace.
  • Download and extract ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services.
  • Obtain a Portal for ArcGIS license file and an ArcGIS GIS Server license file for the portal's hosting server.
  • Obtain ArcGIS Server license files for the federated server roles you require.
  • Purchase SSL certificates from a certifying authority, and configure them for the domains you will use in your ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon Web Services deployment.

Create a deployment

After you complete the prerequisites, follow these steps to create a highly available ArcGIS Enterprise portal with (or without) additional components:

  1. Browse to the location where ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services is installed and double-click the Cloudbuilder.exe file to open the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Amazon Web Services app.
  2. Connect to your Amazon Web Services account using one of the following methods:
    • Type the access key ID and secret access key for your account and click Sign In.
    • Choose the Amazon Web Services profile you defined on the machine where you're running Cloud Builder and click Sign In. See AWS documentation for information on configuring a local profile.

    Once Cloud Builder connects to your AWS account, it proceeds to the Deployment page.

  3. Click Add Deployment.

    The Choose a Deployment Type page opens.

  4. On the Choose a Deployment Type page, choose ArcGIS Enterprise. Click Next to proceed to the Define the ArcGIS Enterprise Deployment page.
  5. Select Highly Available to create two Amazon EC2 instances that each contain the base ArcGIS Enterprise components plus a file server instance.
  6. (Optional) To add federated servers to the base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, click the arrow next to Choose Additional Servers (Optional) and check the box next to each federated ArcGIS Server role you require.

    See ArcGIS Server licensing roles for more information.

    Tip:

    When you select ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server, the Spatiotemporal Big Data Store option is automatically selected, because it is required when using a GeoAnalytics Server. Be aware, though, that unchecking the box next to ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server does not uncheck the box next to Spatiotemporal Big Data Store, as you may still want the spatiotemporal big data store for other functionality.

  7. (Optional except when you federate an ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server) To add a spatiotemporal big data store to your Enterprise deployment, click the arrow next to Add Spatiotemporal Big Data Store (Optional) and check the box next to Spatiotemporal Big Data Store.

    For information on when you need a spatiotemporal big data store, see Apps and functionality that require ArcGIS Data Store.

  8. Click Next to proceed to the General Configuration Parameters Details page.
  9. Choose the AWS Region in which you want your resources deployed.
  10. Choose the operating system to be used on your Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances: either Ubuntu or Windows. If you chose to include ArcGIS Notebook Server in your deployment, Ubuntu is selected by default and cannot be changed.
  11. Type a name for your deployment. This name must be unique. When Cloud Builder verifies the name is unique, you'll see a verified symbol Verified.
  12. Specify an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to use for your deployment's virtual network.
    • If the VPC exists, choose it from the drop-down list.
    • To create a VPC, click the Create New VPC button Create New VPC. Type a name for the VPC, use the default range of IP address or specify a range of IP addresses in a Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) block, and click Create. Each subnet ID will be created in different, randomly selected AWS zones. See AWS documentation for more information on VPCs and CIDR blocks.
    • If you create a VPC outside of Cloud Builder, such as in AWS Management Console, while Cloud Builder is open, click the Refresh VPCs button Refresh VPCs to update the VPC ID list.
  13. If you choose an existing VPC, be sure there are two different subnets in the Subnet1 ID and Subnet2 ID drop-down lists.

    Subnet1 ID and Subnet2 ID should be in different availability zones in the AWS region in which you are creating your deployment.

  14. Choose an Amazon EC2 Key Pair to use for your deployment's virtual network.
    • If the key pair exists, choose it from the drop-down list.
    • To create a key pair, click the Create New Key Pair button Create New Key Pair, type a name for the key pair, and click Create. See AWS documentation for more information on Amazon EC2 Key Pairs.
    • If you create key pairs outside of Cloud Builder, such as in AWS Management Console, while Cloud Builder is open, click the Refresh Key Pairs button Refresh Key Pairs to update the Key Pair list.
  15. Click Next to proceed to the Configure Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) page.
  16. Configure an elastic load balancer for the ArcGIS Enterprise portal and each federated server (if any) included in your deployment. Repeat these substeps for the portal and each federated server. Remember that elastic load balancers and domain names must be unique per site and portal.
    1. Choose or upload the SSL certificate (.pfx) that is mapped to your domain.

      • If the SSL certificate exists in the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket in your account—for example, if you uploaded the certificate when you created another deployment—choose it from the SSL Certificate drop-down list.
      • If you need to upload your certificate, click the Upload New SSL Cert button Upload New SSL Cert, browse to the location on your local disk where the certificate file resides, type the password for your .pfx file, and click Create.

    2. If you chose the certificate from the SSL Certificate drop-down list, type the certificate's password in the SSL Certificate Password field.
    3. Choose a load balancer from the Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) list or create an elastic load balancer. If all the load balancers in the list are in use, click the Create New ELB button Create New ELB, type a name, and click Create.
    4. In the Site Domain field, type the name of the domain that is specified in your SSL certificate. Click Validate to ensure you typed the correct domain.
  17. Click Next to proceed to the ArcGIS Credentials page.
  18. Type a user name and password for the initial portal administrator account (which is also the administrator for all federated servers in your deployment). Type the password again in the Re-Enter Password field to ensure you typed the password you intended.

    The user name for the portal administrator must contain at least three ASCII alphanumeric characters, must start with a letter, and cannot contain any special characters other than an underscore (_).

    The password for your portal administrator must be at least eight alphanumeric characters. The password can also contain dots (.), underscores (_), and at symbols (@). The password cannot contain spaces.

  19. If your deployment uses EC2 instances running Windows, proceed to the next step. If your deployment uses EC2 instances running Ubuntu, proceed to step 20.
  20. Type a password for the Windows account that will be used to run the service accounts for all ArcGIS components. The account name is always arcgis. Type the password again in the Re-Enter Password field to ensure you typed the password you intended.

    The service account follows Microsoft Windows password enforcement policies.

  21. Click Next to proceed to the ArcGIS Enterprise Configuration Details page.
  22. Provide information for the Amazon EC2 instances to be used in your deployment.
    1. Choose an instance type from the ArcGIS Server Instance Type drop-down list. The list contains only those types that are supported for use with ArcGIS Enterprise. However, not all instance types are supported in all AWS regions. See the AWS calculator for information on specifications and pricing for each instance type. If no price is listed for an instance type in the selected region, that instance type is not available.
    2. Every ArcGIS Server site, including the hosting server, uses a file server to store ArcGIS Server directories. Choose the EC2 instance type you want to use for this file server machine.
    3. In the Drive Size Root field, type the size you want, in GB, for the root drive on the ArcGIS Enterprise and file server instances.
  23. If your deployment includes a spatiotemporal big data store, choose an instance type and the number of machines you want the spatiotemporal big data store to contain. The Instance Type list contains only those instance types supported for a spatiotemporal big data store. For information on specifications and pricing for each instance type, see the AWS documentation.
  24. Choose or upload your Portal for ArcGIS and ArcGIS Server license (or licenses). Be sure the licenses are for the same ArcGIS release as the release of Cloud Builder you are using and that the ArcGIS Server license file is for the correct role you need. For the hosting server, you must have an ArcGIS GIS Server license.
    • If your license files already exists in the Cloud Builder S3 deployment bucket in your account—for example, if you uploaded the files when you created another deployment—choose the license files from the license drop-down lists.
    • If you need to upload any of the license files to the Cloud Builder S3 deployment bucket, click the Upload button Upload, browse to the file on your local disk, and click Upload.
  25. Use the Configuration Store Type drop-down menu to choose where to store the portal content directory and ArcGIS Server configuration store. Click Next after you make your selection.
    • Cloud Store—Choose a cloud store if you want to use AWS storage services for the portal content directory and ArcGIS Server configuration store.
    • File System—Choose a file system if you want the content directory and configuration store on an EC2 instance.
  26. If you did not include any federated servers with your deployment, proceed to step 30.
  27. If you included federated servers in your deployment, you need to specify configuration details for each federated server site. The information you provide varies depending on the type of federated server you need to configure. Click Next to provide the information necessary for each federated server in your deployment. There will be a separate page for each federated server type.
  28. Provide information for the Amazon EC2 instances to be used in your site.
    1. Choose an instance type from the ArcGIS Server Instance Type drop-down list. The list contains only those types that are supported for use with an ArcGIS Server site, but you must have licensing appropriate for the number of cores present in the type you choose. Also be aware that not all instance types are available in every AWS region. See AWS documentation for information on specifications and pricing for each instance type and information on what instance types are available in each region.
    2. For all federated server types except an ArcGIS GeoEvent Server site, choose how many EC2 instances you need in the site from the Number of ArcGIS Server Instances drop-down list. ArcGIS GeoEvent Server sites on AWS are always a single instance at this time.
    3. Every ArcGIS Server site uses a file server to store ArcGIS Server directories. Choose the EC2 instance type you want to use for this file server machine.
    4. In the Drive Size Root field, type the size you want, in GB, for the root drive on the ArcGIS Server and file server instances.
  29. For federated ArcGIS GIS Server and ArcGIS Image Server sites, you can include an enterprise geodatabase into which you can load source data. Choose the type of Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) you want to use to store the geodatabase and the instance class and storage space available for the instance. The database will be registered with your federated site.

    If you do not want to include an enterprise geodatabase registered to the site, leave Type of Database Service set to None.

    For more information on Amazon database services, see the AWS documentation.

  30. Choose or upload the license file appropriate to the federated ArcGIS Server role and verify that the license file is for the same ArcGIS release as the release of Cloud Builder you are using.
    • If your license file already exists in the S3 deployment bucket in your account—for example, if you uploaded the file when you created another deployment—choose the license file from the license drop-down list.
    • If you need to upload the license file to the S3 deployment bucket, click the Upload New Server License button Upload New Server License, browse to the file on your local disk, and click Upload.
  31. For all federated server types except ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server, choose the location for the site's configuration store.
    • Cloud Store—Choose a cloud store to use Amazon DynamoDB and S3 to house the configuration store.
    • File System—Choose a file system if you want the configuration store on an EC2 instance.

    ArcGIS GeoEvent Server sites always use a file system for their configuration stores.

  32. Click Next to proceed to the deployment summary.
  33. Review the deployment summary.
  34. When the summary information is correct, click Create.

    Do not close the deployment page or Cloud Builder until creation completes.

    Once deployment completes, you can view the deployment logs by clicking the log links. Log files are stored in location\Logs\Log in the directory where you extracted Cloud Builder. Error log files are stored in location\Logs\ErrorLog. Click Close to open a list of all your deployments.

When the deployment is created successfully, the deployment status shows Completed, and you can open the portal by clicking the link for the deployment Type. Sign in to the portal using the site administrator credentials you provided in step 18 and proceed with configuring your portal.