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Support a mix of public and private services

Your ArcGIS Server site can be configured in a manner in which some of your services are available anonymously (public) while other services are secured and only accessible to authorized users (private). This is useful if you want two modes of access into your site.

To support a mix of public and private services, you will need to do the following:

  1. Configure ArcGIS Server security. The security settings define how users and roles are managed and how users are authenticated. For information on configuring security, see Configure ArcGIS Server security.
  2. Restrict access to your GIS web services. By default, services hosted by ArcGIS Server are public and available to everyone with network access to your site. To make your services private and only accessible to an authorized set of users or applications, see Control access to your services.

If you chose the ArcGIS Server token-based authentication security setting, you have successfully configured a site that hosts public and private services. Applications that connect to your site without providing credentials will be able to see all public services. For instructions on configuring your applications to access the private services, see Access ArcGIS token-secured web services.

If you chose the Web Tier authentication security setting, you'll need to install two ArcGIS Web Adaptors. The Web Adaptors provide two entry points into your site: one for public access and one for private access. You can install both Web Adaptors on a single web server or install them on separate web servers. To learn more about the Web Adaptor, see About the ArcGIS Web Adaptor.

Once you have installed and configured the first Web Adaptor, configure it to allow anonymous access. For instructions, consult the product documentation for your web server. Clients will use this Web Adaptor to access your site's public services.

Secure the second Web Adaptor using an authentication mechanism supported by your web server. For instructions, consult the product documentation for your web server. Clients will use this Web Adaptor to access your site's private services for which they have been given access, plus all public services.