Add an ArcGIS Server site to ArcGIS Enterprise on Microsoft Azure

The base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment on Microsoft Azure includes a GIS Server site that is configured as the portal's hosting server. You can enable additional functionality by adding the following ArcGIS Server sites to the Enterprise deployment as federated servers:

• ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server

  Add an ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site to the Enterprise deployment to allow members of the ArcGIS Enterprise organization to run GeoAnalytics Tools.

  The portal's hosting server must be configured with a spatiotemporal big data store for you to add a GeoAnalytics Server site to an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. If you did not create a spatiotemporal big data store when you deployed ArcGIS Enterprise, add one before proceeding with the steps to add an ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site.

• ArcGIS GeoEvent Server

  Add a GeoEvent Server site to enable real-time, event-based data streams to your organization and to archive streamed data.

  You must have an ArcGIS GeoEvent Server license to add a GeoEvent Server site to an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

  To archive the real-time data streamed through GeoEvent Server, the portal's hosting server must be configured with a spatiotemporal big data store. If you did not create a spatiotemporal big data store when you deployed ArcGIS Enterprise, add one.

• ArcGIS Image Server

  Add an Image Server site to the Enterprise deployment so that image services you publish to the federated Image Server automatically create items in the ArcGIS Enterprise organization. If members of the organization need to run raster analysis tools, you can configure this site as the portal's raster analysis server.

  Add a second ArcGIS Image Server site to the deployment if you require an image hosting server to host the image layers generated when members of the organization run raster analysis tools.

  You must have an ArcGIS Image Server license to add an Image Server site to your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

• ArcGIS Mission Server

  An ArcGIS Mission Server site is a required component of ArcGIS Mission.

  You must have an ArcGIS Mission Server license to add a Mission Server site to your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

• ArcGIS Notebook Server

  ArcGIS Notebook Server is a federated server that allows you to use Python to perform spatial analysis, create data science and machine learning workflows, manage GIS data, and automate administrative tasks for your ArcGIS Enterprise portal.

  To use ArcGIS Notebook Server, you must install and configure Mirantis Container Runtime on the ArcGIS Notebook Server instance on Azure.

• GIS Server

  You can federate additional GIS Server sites with the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to run map and feature services you publish from ArcGIS Pro. When you publish these services to a federated server, they are automatically added as items in the organization.

  You must have an additional ArcGIS GIS Server license (beyond the one used for your hosting server) to add a GIS Server site to your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

• ArcGIS Knowledge Server

  An ArcGIS Knowledge Server site is a required component of ArcGIS Knowledge. The site must be licensed for ArcGIS Knowledge Server.

  The hosting server must have an ArcGIS Data Store graph store configured for you to use the ArcGIS Knowledge Server site.

• ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server

  An ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server site is a required component of ArcGIS Workflow Manager.

  See License Workflow Manager for licensing requirements.

Obtain a license from Esri

To deploy a federated ArcGIS Server site, you need an ArcGIS Server license for the server role you are configuring.

Once these licenses are available to your account, you can download them from My Esri.

Add a federated server to an ArcGIS Enterprise portal in Azure

Follow the instructions in the following sections to create an ArcGIS Server site and federate it with an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment you created using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure.

Connect and begin configuration of the federated server site

Start Cloud Builder, sign in to your Microsoft Azure account, and choose to create a federated server.

1. Start ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure.
2. Sign in to Microsoft Azure.

   If you want to use the Microsoft Azure Government cloud and have an Azure Government subscription, check U.S. Government Cloud.

   Note:

   The account you use to connect must be assigned the following roles at minimum:

   • The Azure Reader role at the subscription scope level
   • The Azure Contributor role at the resource group scope level if you will use resource groups that you create outside Cloud Builder

3. Choose an Entra ID tenant, click Next, choose the Azure subscription that contains the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to which you want to add an ArcGIS Server site, and click Next.
4. Ensure the V2 Sites option is selected and click Deploy a new site.
You can no longer add federated servers to V1 deployments.
5. Choose Federated Server.
6. Choose one of the ArcGIS Server roles depending on the functionality you need.
   • GIS Server
   • GeoEvent Server
   • Image Server
   • GeoAnalytics Server
   • Notebook Server
   • Mission Server
   • Knowledge Server
   • Workflow Manager Server
7. Click Next to proceed to the Site Options settings.

Specify site options

Specify a resource group, choose how many machines to include in the site, and choose the virtual machine image that will be used to create the machines.

1. From the Deployment Resource Group drop-down list, choose the resource group used by the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment with which you are federating the new ArcGIS Server site.
2. Choose a deployment type.

   The deployment type option is not available for ArcGIS GeoEvent Server sites; they always contain only one machine.

   • If you are deploying a test or demonstration site or only want one machine in the ArcGIS Server site, choose the Single machine option. Only one Azure machine will be used for the federated site.
   • To distribute processing and connection loads across multiple machines, choose Multi machine.
3. If you're federating an ArcGIS Image Server site, choose one of the following Server Function options:
   • Image Hosting—Choose this option if the site will host dynamic image services for the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. If you choose this option, you must include a raster store with the deployment. Each ArcGIS Enterprise deployment can have one image hosting site.
   • Raster Analysis—Choose this option if you're adding the site to provide raster analysis functionality for the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. If you choose this option, you must include a raster store with the deployment. Each ArcGIS Enterprise deployment can have one raster analysis site.
   • None—Choose this option if the site doesn't need to fill either of the other two roles and if users will primarily publish cached image services. You can have as many of these federated sites as you require.
4. To avoid duplication of Azure resource names in resource groups, Cloud Builder allows you to prefix resources with a specified string. Check Prefix Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Resource names with and provide up to three alphanumeric characters.

   Cloud Builder automatically populates this value with a random two-character string. To change the string, type a different prefix to add to Azure resource names such as load balancers and availability sets.

   Prefixes must start with an alphabetic character.

   Adding a prefix avoids duplication of resource names and allows you to categorize resources according to your requirements for managing in the Azure portal or billing.

   For disaster recovery configurations, create multiple resource groups with the same prefix.

5. Choose the machine image to use: a managed image, an image in the Azure Compute Gallery, or an image you create.

   The image must exist in the same region used by the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment with which you are federating the new ArcGIS Server site.

   • To use an Esri image, choose the image from the drop-down list.
   • To use an image that is already in the image list, choose Managed Images and then choose the image from the drop-down list.
   • To use a machine image in the Azure Compute Gallery, choose the gallery from the Select Gallery drop-down list, choose the machine image from the Select Image drop-down list, and choose the ArcGIS software version to include on the image from the Select Version drop-down list.
   • To create an image from a source VHD file, choose Managed Images, and follow these steps:
   1. Click the Add button next to Select Image.
   2. Type a name for the image and click Check Availability to ensure the name is unique.

      The image name can contain only letters, numbers, underscores (_), dots (.), and hyphens (-). The name must start with a letter or number and end with a letter, number, or underscore.

   3. Choose or create a resource group in which to store the image.
   4. Choose the region in which to create the image.

      Use the same region that contains the .vhd file from which you create the image.

   5. For Source Disk, click the button to browse to the .vhd file in your storage account. Choose the storage account that contains the file, choose the file, and click OK.

      The storage accounts available on the Select Image Disk dialog box are based on the region you chose in the previous step.

   6. Choose the type of image to create.

      HDD uses magnetic storage. SSD images use faster, solid-state drives.

   7. For Size, choose the image size.

      The image size determines the minimum size of the operating system disk (C:\) of the virtual machine created from the image. You can increase the size of the provisioned disk for the virtual machine created from the image, but you cannot decrease the size below the image size.

      See the Microsoft Azure documentation for more information about Azure managed disks.

   8. Click Create to create the image.
6. Optionally, add one or more user-assigned managed identities for authentication purposes when accessing an Azure Blob storage container used for the configuration store or cloud storage data stores.
   1. Click the Add button in the Assign User Managed Identity section.
   2. Choose the subscription that contains the identity.
   3. Choose the user-assigned managed identity from the Identity drop-down list and click Add.

   Tip:

   The Azure Storage Blob Data Owner role and Storage Table Data Contributor role must be assigned to the user-assigned managed identity to access the configuration store. See the Microsoft Azure documentation for instructions to assign a role to a user-assigned managed identity.

7. If you're adding an ArcGIS Image Server site, you can designate the site to fill one of the following roles:
   • Image Hosting Server—Acts as the site that runs image services.
   • Raster Analysis Server—Adds support for raster analysis tools.

   See Configure and deploy raster analytics for information about these roles.

8. Click Next to proceed to the Federation Options settings.

Specify the portal with which to federate

Specify the ArcGIS Enterprise portal to which the federated server will be added.

1. Choose your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment from the drop-down list.
2. Type the username and password for the login you specified for the portal administrator when you created the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.
3. Click Next to proceed to the Machine Options settings.

Specify machine options

Specify credentials for the virtual machine administrator and enable optional machine settings such as automatic shutdown and automatic operating system updates. You can also add the machines to the same Entra ID domain as the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

Additional options on this Cloud Builder page vary depending on whether you create a single-machine or multiple-machine site and what type of federated server you create.

1. Type a username and password for Machine Administrator.

   This is the Windows login you will use to administer the virtual machines in the site, and you will need it when you upgrade the deployment. The same login and password are used for all machines in the site.

   The username must contain three or more characters and contain no spaces, and it cannot be admin or administrator. The password must meet Windows Server complexity requirements.

2. If you're creating a single-machine site, click the Configure Virtual Machine button to define specifications for the machine (or machines) in the ArcGIS Server site.

   ArcGIS Server is licensed by core. See the Azure compute unit information in the Microsoft Azure help to determine how many virtual cores are present on each type of Azure virtual machine.

Tip:

You can change disk types and sizes after you deploy.

3. Choose the time zone you want your virtual machines to use.
4. Click Domain Join Options to add the federated server machines to the same Entra ID as the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.
   1. On the Domain Join Options dialog box, check the Join Existing Windows Domain check box.
   2. Provide the name of the Entra ID domain.
   3. Provide the username and password for the domain administrator.
   4. Click Apply.
5. If you're creating a single-machine federated site, type a Name for the virtual machine.

   Note:

   If you later configure a second site for disaster recovery, give the primary and secondary sites an identical name, but place them in separate virtual networks and in separate resource groups that have been assigned the same prefix.

6. If you check the box next to Enable automatic operating system updates, Microsoft Azure will apply updates to the operating systems on your virtual machines.
7. If you do not require access to your deployment during specific hours of the day, you can configure the machines to shut down at a specific time each day. To do this, check the box next to Enable daily automatic shutdown and set the shutdown time from the drop-down list.

   The time is in the time zone you chose for the virtual machines.

   Shutting down machines allows you to save money because the machines are not running when you do not need them. However, the machines do not automatically restart; you must restart each machine in the deployment when you need them again. You can restart the machines from Cloud Builder or the Microsoft Azure portal.

8. If you're creating a multiple-machine site, you can accept the default machine name prefix or type a prefix to add to the virtual machine names.

   Cloud Builder automatically populates this value with a random two-character string. To change the string, type a different prefix to add to Azure resource names such as load balancers and availability sets.

   Prefixes must start with an alphabetic character.

   Adding a prefix avoids duplication of resource names and allows you to categorize resources according to your requirements for managing in the Azure portal or billing.

9. If you're creating a multiple-machine site, you can accept default machine types, sizes, and names or define your own.
   • Use default names and sizes for the machines—All virtual machines in the site will be the same type with the same disk sizes, based on the virtual machine image you chose on the Cloud Builder Site Options page. The ArcGIS Server site will contain two machines.
   • Specify names and sizes for the individual machines—When you choose this option, Cloud Builder presents you with the Machine Names page, where you will choose the number, types, and sizes of machines in the deployment and the machine names.

   ArcGIS Server is licensed by core. See the Azure compute unit information in the Microsoft Azure help to determine how many virtual cores are present on each type of Azure virtual machine.

10. Click Next.
    • If you're creating a GIS Server site, clicking Next takes you to the Database Options settings.
    • For all other federated ArcGIS Server roles, if you're creating a multiple-machine site and you chose the Specify names and sizes for the individual machines option, clicking Next takes you to the Machine Names settings.
    • For all other federated ArcGIS Server roles, if you're creating a multiple-machine site with default machine names and sizes, clicking Next takes you to the License and Credentials settings.

Specify database options

You can register a database with the GIS Server site or ArcGIS Image Server site that you add as a federated server. Use the database to store source data for ArcGIS Server web services.

When you register a database at the time of adding the federated server site, the database always contains an enterprise geodatabase. When registered while federating a GIS Server site, the database is always registered as the site's managed database.

Tip:

You can use Cloud Builder to add a database to the site after you finish federating. When you register the database after creating and federating the site, you have additional options for registration; however, these additional options are only applicable when you register the database with a GIS Server site.

1. Choose the type of database to register with the site.
   • If you do not want to register a database with the site at this time, choose None from the Database Type drop-down menu and proceed to the next step.

     Note:

     If you are creating an ArcGIS Image Server site that will function as the image hosting server or raster analysis server of the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, you must either register a database containing a geodatabase as the site's raster store after federating, or you must create and configure an Azure file share and sign in to ArcGIS Server Manager for the ArcGIS Image Server site and register the file share as a raster store. If you do not do this, the site will not function properly as an image hosting or raster analysis server.

   • If you choose a database service (Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance, or Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL), create or choose an existing database server and database, and provide a username and password for the database administrator and for a user who has permissions to create data in the database.

     If these resources don't exist, Cloud Builder will create them.

     Note:

     Cloud Builder will only create Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL (Flexible Server) instances. However, if you have an existing single-server instance, you can choose it.

   • If you choose Microsoft SQL Server, follow these steps to create and register a database:
   1. Type a name for the virtual machine that will host the Microsoft SQL Server database.
   2. Click Machine Options and choose a SQL Server version from the Image drop-down menu.
   3. Use the default machine type and size, or click the Configure Virtual Machine button to specify the disk types, machine type, and disk sizes for the virtual machine.
   4. Click Apply to save the machine settings.
   5. Type a name for the database.

      The name must meet SQL Server requirements.

   6. Type a username and password for the database administrator.

      This username and password will also be used for the machine administrator.

   7. Type a username and password for a database user who will have permissions to create tables in the database.
2. Click Next.
   • If you're creating a multiple-machine site and you chose the Specify names and sizes for the individual machines option on the Machine Options settings page, clicking Next takes you to the Machine Names settings.
   • If you're creating a single-machine site or if you're creating a multiple-machine site but you chose to accept default machine names and sizes, clicking Next takes you to the Database options.

Configure machine names, numbers, and other settings

If you're creating a multiple-machine site and need to customize the machine settings, you can specify the number of machines in the ArcGIS Server site, the names of the machines in the site, the name of the file server machine, and the specifications for each of the machines.

1. Click the plus (+) or minus (-) buttons to change the number of machines in the ArcGIS Server site.
2. You can type a different name for any of the machines in the deployment.

   Note:

   All machines in the same deployment should include the same two- to three-character prefix.

3. To change the type and size of any of the virtual machines, and to add disks to any of the machines, click the Configure Virtual Machine button .
4. Click Next.
   • If you're adding a GIS Server, ArcGIS Image Server, or ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site, proceed to the cloud storage options.
   • For all other federated sites, proceed to the License and Credentials settings.

Add cloud storage

If you're creating a GIS Server site or ArcGIS Image Server site that is not filling the function of image hosting server or raster analysis server, you can register a cloud storage location with the site as a data store. This is similar to registering a cloud store in ArcGIS Server Manager. This does not create a data store item in the portal. If you require a data store item, do not add the cloud storage location in Cloud Builder; instead, add the data store item in the portal after the deployment is created.

If you are creating an ArcGIS Image Server site that is filling the function of image hosting or raster analysis server, you must create a cloud storage location and register it as part of the site's raster store, because it is required to store service data or the data generated as a result of analysis on these sites.

1. Click the Add button .
2. Click the Browse button (...) to choose a folder in an existing Blob storage container or create a container.

   The Select Blob Container appears.

3. Choose an existing storage account from the Storage Account drop-down list or click the Create button to create an account.
4. From the Authentication Type drop-down list, choose the method to use to authenticate connections to the container.
   • AccessKey—When you choose this option, Cloud Builder will obtain the access key for the account.
   • UserAssignedIdentity—This option is available if you added a user-assigned managed identity to the machines in the deployment when you configured site options. If you choose this option, choose one of the identities from the Identity drop-down list.
   • SASToken—Provide the token in the SAS Token field. See the Microsoft Azure help for information about SAS tokens for Blob storage containers.
   • ServicePrincipal—If you configured a service principal for the account used for the deployment, provide the tenant ID, client ID, and client secret for the service principal. See Microsoft Azure help for an explanation of service principals.

     To use the storage location as a raster store or to store service caches, the Azure Storage Blob Data Contributor role must be assigned to the service principal. To use the storage location as a user-managed cloud storage data store, the Azure Storage Blob Data Reader role must be assigned to the service principal.

5. Choose an existing folder or subfolder in the storage account or click the Create a container button to define a new container name.
6. Click OK to close the Select Blob Container window.
7. Optionally, for ArcGIS Image Server sites that are not an image hosting server or raster analytics server, check the box next to one of the following options to register the cloud storage location for additional uses:
   • Register as Raster Store—Registers the cloud storage location to store output from raster analysis tools.
   • Register as Cache Directory—Registers the cloud storage location to be used by the ArcGIS Image Server site to build and store caches for the cached image services that are published to the site.
8. For ArcGIS Image Server sites that are functioning as an image hosting server or raster analytics server, you must check Register as Raster Store.
9. Optionally, for GIS Server sites, check the box next to Register as Cache Directory to use the cloud storage location to build and store caches for cached map services (map image layers) that are published to the GIS Server site.
10. Click Add to register the cloud storage location with the site as a data store.
11. Click Next to proceed to the License and Credentials settings.

Provide licenses and credentials

Specify the ArcGIS Server license file, a URL context for the site, as well as authentication information for the site and Windows service administrators.

1. Browse to the location of your ArcGIS Server license file.

   The license must include the server role you chose on the Site Options settings page.

2. Provide a context name for the ArcGIS Server site's URL. The context is the identifier in the URL that routes you to the correct site.

   For example, in the following URL, mygisserver is the context: https://mydeployment.domain.com/mygisserver.

3. Type a username and password for Site Administrator.

   This is the ArcGIS Server primary site administrator account. Keep track of this information, because you will need it when you manage the deployment.

4. Type a username and password for ArcGIS Service Account, which is the Windows login under which the ArcGIS Server service will run.

   Keep track of this information, because you will need it when you manage the deployment.

5. Click Next to proceed to the Deployment Options settings.

Specify deployment options

Deployment options include specifying storage locations for deployment artifacts and choosing logging settings.

1. Choose or create a storage account for your deployment. To create a storage account, follow these steps:
   1. Type a name for the storage account.

      Names must be unique. Click Check Availability to confirm the storage account name is unique.

   2. Choose the Azure region where your storage will reside.
   3. Choose an existing resource group for the storage account or create one.
   4. Choose the type of redundancy for your storage account: Geo-Redundant, Locally Redundant, or Read-Access Geo-Redundant.

      See Azure Storage redundancy in the Microsoft Azure documentation for a description of each option.

   5. Specify the kind of Azure storage account to use: Storage (a legacy account type), StorageV2 (a basic account type), or BlobStorage (only supports Azure Blob storage).
   6. Once the storage account is created, click Close.
2. Check Use Azure Cloud Storage for the configuration store if you want to store the ArcGIS Server directories in Azure Cloud Storage.

   Placing directories in Azure Cloud Storage makes them highly available. If you do not check this option, the directories are stored on disk on the virtual machine used as the file share for the federated server site.

3. If you check Use Azure Cloud Storage for the configuration and content store, choose which storage option to use.
   • Choose Azure Files (SMB) to store your ArcGIS Server configuration store and directories in Azure Files.

     Note:

     Azure Files (SMB) is not recommended for production sites.

     This is the only option available for ArcGIS Mission Server sites at this time. Therefore, if you're adding an ArcGIS Mission Server site to a production ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, do not use cloud storage for the configuration store.

   • Choose Azure Blobs and Tables to store the ArcGIS Server configuration store in Azure Blob Storage. Directories will be stored on the ArcGIS Server machines.
4. Optionally, if you check Use Azure Cloud Storage for the configuration and content store?, specify an Azure storage account that is in the same region you used for the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.

   You can use the same storage account used for the deployment or create a new storage account. To create a storage account in the region group for this site, follow these steps:

   1. Click the Add button .
   2. Type a name for the storage account.

      Names must be unique. Click Check Availability to confirm the storage account name is unique.

   3. Choose the type of redundancy for your storage account: Geo-Redundant, Locally Redundant, or Read-Access Geo-Redundant.

      See Azure Storage redundancy in the Microsoft Azure documentation for a description of each redundancy option.

   4. Click Create. When the storage account is created, click Close to return to Deployment Options.
5. If you use the Azure Blobs and Tables option, choose one of the following from the Authentication Type drop-down list, and provide credentials necessary for each authentication type.
   • AccessKey—When you choose this option, Cloud Builder will obtain the access key for the account.
   • UserAssignedIdentity—This option is available if you added a user-assigned managed identity to the machines in the deployment when you configured site options. If you choose this option, choose one of the identities from the Identity drop-down list.
   • ServicePrincipal—If you configured a service principal for the account specified in the previous step, provide the tenant ID, client ID, and client secret for the service principal. See Microsoft Azure help for an explanation of service principals.

     The Azure Storage Blob Data Owner role and Storage Table Data Contributor role must be assigned to the service principal.

6. Click Next to view a summary of your settings.

Review the summary and federate the site

Ensure the ArcGIS Server deployment contains what you need, and create and federate the site.

You can also estimate costs for the infrastructure you chose and export the deployment options so you can automate the creation of future federated server sites.

1. Review the settings in the Summary pane. If anything needs to be changed, click Back to go to the page where you need to change the information.

   Tip:

   Click Save Summary to save your site configuration information to a text file so you can refer to it for information such as usernames or machine names.

2. Click Generate Cost Estimate to calculate the approximate cost of the Azure infrastructure you will use in your deployment. When you finish generating the estimate, click Close.

   This estimate does not include data storage costs.

3. Click Save Automation Artifacts to export an archive file (.zip file) containing information and files you can use in automation scripts to re-create this deployment.
   1. Browse to a location on the local disk where the archive file will be created and type a name for the file.
   2. Choose the type of automation format you will use.
   3. Click Generate to create the file.
4. When all settings are correct and you have saved the files you need, click Finish to create your ArcGIS Server site.
5. If you federated an ArcGIS Notebook Server site, you must complete the following steps:
   1. Make a Remote Desktop connection to each ArcGIS Notebook Server machine on Azure.
   2. Install and configure Mirantis Container Runtime on each ArcGIS Notebook Server machine.
   3. Copy the ArcGIS images to the ArcGIS Notebook Server machines and run the post installation utility.

      See Configure ArcGIS Notebook Server after installation (Windows containers) for instructions.

6. If you federated an ArcGIS GeoEvent Server site, open Global Settings in ArcGIS GeoEvent Manager and set the REST Receiver Base URL to the external fully qualified domain name for the site (https://<fqdn>/).